Filling a niche

While Julie Avery sat in the shade at the corner of Clark and Pearson roads in Paradise, a truck driver passed and leaned on the horn. After the bellow rippled away, Avery, owner of the Julie’s Grill trailer stationed in the parking lot of Ace Hardware, laughed and said, “We get to deal with that all day.” Avery opened Julie’s Grill at the beginning of June, offering quickly prepared breakfast and lunch eats at one of the busiest intersections in town. Avery’s family roots in Paradise go way back—“100-plus years,” she says. She currently lives in Chico but grew up in Paradise and attended high school there. After the Camp Fire, which claimed homes of her family members, she seized an opportunity to feed the rebuild effort, filling a food niche that has her considering an expansion. Julie’s Grill, at 5720 Clark Road, is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 or 2:30 p.m. Avery stepped away from her crew of helpers on a recent morning to catch up with the CN&R.

What do you cook at Julie’s Grill?

We have hot dogs—Polish dogs, kraut dogs, chili dogs—and then … we have hamburgers, cheeseburgers, bacon burgers, Philly cheesesteaks. Actually, we call them Paradise cheesesteaks, which are really popular. French fries. We do breakfast burritos. We do have a veggie burger, and we also have a chicken sandwich that we do. So, we have a little bit more variety there.

How’s the reception been so far?

Well, you’re working with truck drivers, and they want hearty food. … They’re really happy to see us here. I do get a lot of acknowledgment for my business. People are getting to know it, and that’s one of the reasons why I want to expand. I want to offer them more.

Where would you expand?

Well, I have a trailer right now I’m looking at, and I would leave it here. I would park it here with the hot dog cart and then possibly take this one and move it across the other side of town. Possibly towards the Magalia area.

Did you have previous experience in the food industry?

Nope.

How has starting out been?

A lot of blood, sweat and tears. Yeah, it’s been really interesting. It’s a lot of work. People think that, you know, running a food trailer, “Oh, that’s gotta be easy.” And it’s not easy. It’s a lot of hard work. I work 12-hour days at least six days a week. It doesn’t end.

Any advice?

Don’t give up. Don’t give up. It’s worth it.

That sounds like advice that could apply to the town, too.

Yes. Yep. Don’t give up. Keep pushing forward. Paradise is going to rebuild again. It’s a great community. There’s a lot of support up here. It’ll never be the same, but it will be great again.