Coronavirus: Florida carnival worker creates taste of fair with food drive-thru

RIVERVIEW, Fla. — It’s carnival season, but the sound of music, the whoosh of rides and the smells of food are missing because of the coronavirus. One Florida carnival food vendor, however, decided that if you can’t go to the carnival, he can bring the carnival to you.

Sort of.

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Matthew Lautherk, of Riverview, organized 15 friends, family members and employees and created a food mini-midway, serving customers carnival food, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Lauther set up a drive-thru in an abandoned farmer’s market in the Tampa suburb, calling it “Taste of the Fair to Go,” and has been serving food for three weeks, the newspaper reported.

“I’ve got the five main fair food groups,” Lauther told the Times. “Pizza, cotton candy, doughnut burgers, funnel cakes and fried Oreos.”

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The drive-thru is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lauther said his team has been serving funnel cakes, turkey legs, chicken on a stick, corn dogs and chicken tenders to nearly 500 customers a day.

Customers stay in their cars to pick up their orders. Lauther has set up a Facebook page where he posts menus and photographs of his operation.

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Lauther’s business passed a health inspection earlier this month and got a permit to operate as a food truck establishment. He is marketing his concept, and his workers are taking orders on GrubHub and DoorDash.

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Lauther, who grew up in Riverview and has been in the carnival business since he was a youth, said his operation also keeps his friends financially stable.

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“It’s like we can just live in the present again and not worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow or in the future," Lauther told the Times.