Walker Bowen will debut his new food truck Friday at The Barrel, joining the list of brave entrepreneurs starting new concepts during the pandemic. Lib’s Diner will serve classic diner bites and mains like chili cheese fries, Southern deviled eggs, gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and burgers.
“I’m calling it a classic diner with a culinary twist,” said Bowen, who explained the name for the truck came from a long line of Elizabeths in his family. “When the coronavirus started, I had some money saved up, and we’ve been working on building the company since April.”
Bowen has spent time at notable restaurants throughout the Southeast since an internship at Magnolias brought him to Charleston in 2013. During some time in Asheville, he worked at Tupelo Honey and James Beard Award-winning tapas bar Curate before returning to Charleston to be the executive chef at Coastal Crust, later moving on to run the kitchen at Saltwater Cowboys.
Bowen’s fiance Tara Satterthwaite is also an experienced member of the food and beverage industry, working as the lead server at Melfi’s and Le Farfalle before the pandemic.
Bowen and Satterthwaite are hitting the ground running with Lib’s Diner — they have already booked 25 pop-ups through Nov. 13 after starting Aug. 14 at The Barrel on James Island.
“I wanted to do something that’s James Island-esque because that’s where we are based out of,” Bowen said. “Beachy, diner-style, laid back, but everything is scratch-made.”
For more information on Lib’s Diner and to book a private event, visit libsdiner.com.
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