Food truck owners look to revive The Stand in IR
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Alexis Heimerl, left, and Alyssa Marheine announced the purchase of The Stand earlier this summer. The building is undergoing renovations and the mural on the top will be redone. (Submitted photo)
Alexis Heimerl, left, and Alyssa Marheine, both Iron River natives, stand next to their food truck Banaltras. Earlier this summer they purchased The Stand in Iron River. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)
Alyssa Marheine and Brody and Braelynn Heimerl work on The Stand in Iron River. Marheine and Alexis Heimerl, who own Banaltras food truck, purchased the building in June and plan to operate the business year round. (Submitted photo)
Alexis Heimerl, left, and Alyssa Marheine announced the purchase of The Stand earlier this summer. The building is undergoing renovations and the mural on the top will be redone. (Submitted photo)
Alexis Heimerl, left, and Alyssa Marheine, both Iron River natives, stand next to their food truck Banaltras. Earlier this summer they purchased The Stand in Iron River. (Marguerite Lanthier/Daily News photo)
Alyssa Marheine and Brody and Braelynn Heimerl work on The Stand in Iron River. Marheine and Alexis Heimerl, who own Banaltras food truck, purchased the building in June and plan to operate the business year round. (Submitted photo)
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IRON RIVER -- The owners of Banaltras food truck have purchased a landmark business in Iron River and are bringing it back to life.
Banaltras owners Alexis Heimerl and Alyssa Marheine bought the The Stand in June and are now having the building totally renovated.
"It's a complete gut," Marheine said.
Much of the work is being completed by family. Marheine's husband, Shane, owns Marheine Services, and he is doing much of the renovation. Heimerl's husband, Nathan, has helped with demolition but also serves as a driver for the food truck.
During summer months, The Stand has served treats such as ice cream and root beer to generations of Iron County residents and visitors.
Banaltras, which means nurses in Irish, was opened last summer by Marheine and Heimerl, who are nurses. They have continued to expand its menu options, many of which will be available in the new building.
They decided to open the truck because they realized "that in Crystal Falls there weren't very many food, coffee options. There was somebody on Facebook asking where they could get coffee and that's when we were like, 'Oh my gosh, we could do a mobile coffee truck,'" Heimerl said.
"We started it pretty much with cold brew coffee," Marheine added.
"And now we expanded into a full drink menu and we do food, and we do concession stuff, like candy and chips," Heimerl said.
Their ideas for drinks come from much trial and error and mix and match, Marheine said. They have a lot of base ingredients, then add other flavors.
"We kinds of make them up, like what sounds good," Heimerl said.
After about a month of only drinks, they expanded into food options such as walking tacos, fajitas, chicken wraps and nachos. They offer different items depending on where the truck sets up -- at a soccer game, for example, they'll have hots dogs, chips, candy and other snack items.
Once the new building is finished, including repainting the mural on the top, they plan to be open year-round.
Recently they trained in Ohio on how to operate the new espresso machine they purchased.
"We'll be expanding to hot coffee. This coffee trailer is specifically just cold brew, but we'll do the hot espresso and everything in the new location," Heimerl said.
"And then the drive-thru of the location will be open all year long," Marheine said. "And in the summer, we'll expand at the location into the ice cream, and treats that people are used to being able to get there, and probably offering a very limited daily special menu."
They are hoping to have renovations done by the end of summer to start offering some selections at the new location, 513 Lalley Road in Iron River.
To find Banaltras, check their Facebook page until they can set hours at the new location, Marheine said. Next summer, they plan to do some selected events with the food truck.
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Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.