Woody’s Goodies food truck now a thing of the past; owner moving on to new adventure

April 3, 2022 By Carol Britton Meyer

The closing of Woody's Goodies food truck at Hingham Shipyard last week marks the end of an era, and while owner James Wood and his popular food service will be missed -- and he will miss his loyal customers -- he's looking forward to a new adventure.

His final day serving customers was last Thursday. "My decision was based on the fact that my truck got a rejection sticker and the high cost of major repairs to fix it; my numbers have not been even close to my earlier sales since COVID; and also that [I have another business opportunity], which equals a tough decision to make," Wood told the Hingham Anchor.

From a business standpoint, the boats have not made a full comeback since the pandemic. Considering inflation and other factors, he wasn't able to turn much of a profit.

"I feel badly -- like I am letting my loyal customers down, but they are the reason I am now looking forward to owning my own restaurant," he said. " I can’t thank everybody enough for all the support and love throughout the years, which have helped me realize my dream."

Wood is in the process of taking over ownership of the Red Rose at 800 Broad St. in Weymouth's Jackson Square, and he would love for his former customers to stop by.

"I will really miss all my customers and being at the Shipyard," he said. "Even though I loved operating the food truck, it was a lot of wear and tear on me," he said. "My mind tells me I want to stay because I love my customers, but my body is telling me something different. I’ve hung in there for the last month just for them, but 17-hour workdays, seven days a week, are no longer possible."

Woody has also seen very little of his family -- his wife, Natalia, and his children, Giavanna, 12, Bella, 5, and Scotty, 2 -- over the past month -- another factor that played greatly into his decision.

Now Wood is looking forward to operating his new restaurant.  Everything is going well," he said, noted that Natalia "is a big part of running the Red Rose."

The restaurant will offer a full pizza menu, an appetizer board of tasty offerings every day, along with specialty items. "I welcome my old customers to stop by and see me there," he said. "I would never have been able to do it without them, and they can feel a part of helping me achieve the restaurant."

Tasty menu offerings include crab rangoon, cheeseburger sliders, chicken burritos, fish and chips, sirloin tips,  blooming onion petals, and more.

The bar pizza dough is made in-house daily, featuring homemade sauce topped with in-house fresh-cut cheese. The pizza menu includes Mexican taco pizza with crispy onion and a lacing of cheese and "spinach and baby bella" -- with pineapple, jalapeno, hamburg, pepperoni, buffalo chicken, linguica, and other toppings.

Woody was in the food truck business for more than 25 years -- nearly half of those based at the Shipyard, where business was brisk up until the pandemic hit, forcing temporary closure of the food truck. Before that, he had his own pizza business, with food truck operators as his primary customers.

Woody set up his food truck at the Shipyard after Steve Bonczek -- who had operated a food truck there for 30 years -- retired -- with his blessing.

"What appeals to me about the food truck business is that I'm my own boss," Woody said earlier. "Plus I love interacting with the same people every day. It's an unbelievably fun job, telling customers the same dumb jokes over and over again. I always look forward to seeing every one of them every single day."

Over the years, Woody's customer base reached between 400 to 500 loyal patrons from Hingham, Marshfield, Scituate, Cohasset, Norwell, Hanover, and other communities -- including those who stopped by every day and others who ordered food occasionally on the way to the boat.

While Wood and Woody's Goodies, will be missed, his customers can still connect with him through his new restaurant.

Maintaining a positive attitude is important to Woody. "I firmly believe that in the end it will all work out," he said when his food truck reopened at the Shipyard during the pandemic.

"That always seems to be true no matter how much you worry -- for that reason I have not worried one bit [during this challenging time]."

His positive attitude has paid off with his new adventure, and his loyal customers and the Hingham Anchor team wish him success!