(upbeat music) - I'm here with Ernest Harris, co-owner of The Can Opener here in downtown Durham.

Ernest, thank you so much for sitting down with me.

Tell me about The Can Opener.

- Okay, so The Can Opener is a food truck park with a coffee bar hall on the inside.

So you can come and you can sit inside and get your drinks.

You can come outside, get your food.

You can be covered from the elements at all times.

We have quite a few local craft beers and some from out of the area here, but you can also get wines, cocktails, we have great baristas who are always coming up with new drinks and coffee ideas.

And it's always something new, fresh, exciting, interesting, but you can come out and get some of Durham's nicest food truck food.

- [Deb] I love the concept.

How did it come together?

- The Can Opener is pretty unique in that most places where you see food trucks, they're asked to come there by the owners of the establishment.

But here, the owners of the establishment are the food trucks that are here.

So Bulkogi, myself, Chick-N-Que, and Gussie's Greek, we all came together to build this establishment for us.

Bulkogi is a Korean barbecue.

Gussie's is authentic Greek cuisine.

Chick-N-Que is chopped chicken barbecue.

So everything we do is chicken or some type of poultry or fowl.

The breakfast truck right now is Queen Express.

- And what's feedback been like from your customers?

- Oh, they love it.

They love it because it's so relaxing.

It's a good family location.

It's a good date night.

How could you not like it if you have the outdoors?

We have an upstairs area with a good view of this area here in Durham.

- [Deb] And I think one of the views includes that bridge.

Tell me about the name, the Can Opener.

- When our realtor first came to us about this building and he told us that it was right next to the Can Opener Bridge, immediately it was like, we'll call it the Can Opener.

(upbeat music) - I'm in Durham along Gregson Street at one of the most notorious bridges, not just in Durham, but actually all over the world.

- It originally was at 11 feet, eight inches.

And so when some of the commercial trucks would come through, the top of the truck would hit the bridge and it would peel it off.

So almost like a can opening it.

You know what I mean?

So it's been pretty amazing.

While we were working on the space, four or five vehicles hit the bridge while we were here.

- Oh my goodness.

- Then the first week that we were here, a shrimp truck from Savannah, Georgia hit the bridge and it peeled, it crumpled up a piece of it.

If you come out, you'll see it.

A lot of people think it's artwork, but it's actually the top of a 26 foot refrigerated shrimp truck.

- Oh, that's what's hanging out here.

- It peeled it and crumpled it up.

- It is kind of artistic.

- Yeah, the first week.

- Well, we have managed to pick a perfect day to be out here.

- It is beautiful.

- We'd love for this to be a destination point for them.

- I think it already is.

(laughing) Ernest, I have had so much fun sitting down and talking with you.

I look forward to looking around a little bit more.

- All right.

(upbeat music) - The Can Opener Food Truck Park is located in Durham at 205 South Gregson Street.

The park features a rotating lineup of food trucks, including Chick-N-Que, Gussie's Greek, and Bulkogi.

For hours, the food truck schedule, and special events, visit canopenerdurham.com or follow the Can Opener Durham on Instagram.