Meet Janey’s Heart Attack Shack
Some people start a food truck because they love cooking.Some start one because they have a great recipe.
And then there’s Janey Burik, who spent years feeding people simply because she believed they shouldn’t have to go without.
Today, Janey is the woman behind Janey’s Heart Attack Shack, a food truck serving up smoked meats, loaded mac bowls, burgers, tenderloins, fried favorites, desserts and plenty of other creations that come out of the mind of someone who freely admits that her brain never shuts off.
Janey started her food truck in October 2024, but her story began long before that.
The “Trucker Lady”
During the early months of COVID, Janey saw a Facebook post from a truck driver who was sitting for hours waiting to unload. Restaurants were closed or refusing service to drivers who couldn't walk through a drive-thru, truck stops were shutting down services, and these drivers were spending long stretches of time on the road trying to keep supplies moving.
Janey was angry.
Not angry at the drivers..... angry that people who were working to keep everyone else supplied were struggling to get something as basic as a meal.
So she decided to do something about it.
Within about two weeks, Janey had organized a weekly meal service at a weigh station near the Iowa-Minnesota border on I-35.
She was allowed three hours a week and could bring only a handful of helpers because of COVID restrictions.
So she got to work.
Janey would stay up through the night cooking. She made most of the hot food herself, while community members began making desserts and salads and volunteering to help serve. Local businesses donated meat, chips, fruit, pop and other supplies.
The meals were prepared, packaged with utensils and napkins for sanitation, and ready for the truckers when they pulled in.
And there were a LOT of them.
About 300 truck drivers could come through in those three hours.
What started as one woman seeing a need quickly became a community effort.
The truckers began talking about it over their CB radios, telling other drivers where to stop if they were coming through the area.
Before long, Janey became known as the “Trucker Lady.”
But what seems to have mattered most to Janey wasn't becoming known.
It was the people.
She remembers the smiles, the tears, the truckers who wouldn't pull away until she came out to meet them, and the people who would recognize her years later and say, “I remember you from the weigh station.”
Those moments still bring tears to her eyes.
A heart for helping
The trucker meals weren't Janey's first experience with feeding people and helping her community.
For years, she's held bake sales and raised money for families and children who needed a little extra help at Christmas. She's hosted Christmas parties complete with food, games, prizes, toys, Santa and crafts.
Helping people has simply been part of who she is.
And her family saw that, too.
Janey lost her mom five years ago and her dad two years ago. Her parents' words stayed with her, particularly her dad's encouragement to stop spending all of her energy doing for everyone else and finally do something for herself.
Janey and her dad talked about the food truck and even tossed around ideas for names.
Then, about three months after losing her dad, Janey took the leap.
She ordered the truck.
And she jumped in with both feet.
The road hasn't exactly been smooth...
If you know Janey's story, you know there has been a LOT between that decision and today.
Her first year in business took off faster than she expected. Then came one problem after another, including a major engine failure, expensive repairs, damage to the truck and four months without income.
And she's still dealing with mechanical issues.
But Janey's philosophy seems to be pretty simple:
One day at a time. Keep going.
She's faced plenty of reasons to quit, but she hasn't.
And maybe that's because this food truck was never just about selling food.
It's about people.
It's about doing something she loves.
And it's about finally taking the dream she spent so many years putting toward other people and making it her own.
So... what exactly is coming to Y'allternative Market?
Well, let's just say the name Heart Attack Shack isn't exactly accidental.
Janey smokes her own meats and makes her own jalapeño sauces, and she's constantly coming up with something new.
Some of her customer favorites include:
- Smoked meat sandwiches
- Mac bowls topped with smoked pork or brisket
- Tenderloins
- Pizza burgers
- Her Heart Attack Burger
- Loaded tots
- Burgers and other specialty creations
- Desserts, sides and more
And if you've followed Janey for any amount of time, you probably already know that you shouldn't assume today's menu will look exactly like yesterday's menu.
Remember: her brain never shuts off.
That means there's always a chance Janey has dreamed up something new.
Come meet the Trucker Lady
We're so excited to have Janey's Heart Attack Shack joining us at the Y'allternative Market on Main!
Her story is a pretty perfect example of what we love about this market.
It's not just about the things people make and sell.
It's about the people behind them.
The stories. The hard work. The crazy ideas. The family members who encouraged them. The setbacks they've overcome. The communities that helped them along the way.
And sometimes, it's about a woman who saw a bunch of hungry truck drivers during a really difficult time and thought:
“Well, somebody needs to feed them.”
So she did.
Come hungry, say hello to Janey, and see what she's cooking up for us!
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