Based out of Huntingdon, REBELZ food truck has certainly made its mark in State College throughout the past few months.
REBELZ offers a “hodgepodge of American and European comfort cuisines” from classics like sliders and tacos to globally-inspired fusion cuisine, such as pierogies. On top of that, it also curates unique options such as taco hot dogs, buffalo pierogies, also known as “buffalogies,” and much more.
Under chef Karley Miller’s direction, the REBELZ team works seamlessly together to make some amazing culinary treats for its surrounding community.
“We have a lifetime of experience helping each other,” Miller said. “We laugh together, cry together, fight together and win together. That’s what a family does. When it comes to cuisine, together we strive to make each meal so perfect that you feel like you are family.”
Miller has always loved cooking since she was 7 years old. She spent her childhood watching her mom in the kitchen, which made her curiosity about the food industry grow.
Once she turned 12, Miller realized that her dream was to open up a food truck, rather than a restaurant. She found that doing so would allow her to travel all over and meet new people.
“12-year-old me was like, ‘I want to make all the friends in the world,’ and here I am doing exactly that,” Miller said.
Miller started the food truck during her senior year of high school in 2020, and it has grown ever since.
“I grew up in the kitchen and around food,” she said. “When I hit sophomore year, I did a culinary arts program at a local career and technology center until my senior year.”
REBELZ made its first appearance in State College just last spring at the Meridian and Calder Commons housing complexes downtown.
Miller wanted to give a fresh option with late hours to attract everyone coming home from the bars and nights out. The Millers even have a big heater for their customers when it’s cold at night.
“Late nights are definitely our best crowd,” Miller said. “There was a time our point of sale system wasn’t working and everyone’s name was going in as Joe. We had all these Joes and had to figure out who had what order. It was funny. It was our first time here at the Meridian, but everyone was so calm and patient about it. We all were able to joke around about it.”
Miller and her family have enjoyed every second of serving and getting to know Penn State students so much that they decided to return for another season this fall.
“I like to consider a lot of my customers as family,” Miller said. “Everyone is positive and makes conversation with me. I always ask my customers how their week has been and get to know them, which makes having the food truck even better. Now, I have a bunch of friends that keep coming back to hang out and eat some food.”
Unlike most food trucks, REBELZ specializes in late-night eats and sets up shop Thursday through Saturday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. in different downtown spots.
On top of doing late nights, throughout the week Miller brings the food truck to corporate events and birthday parties around Pennsylvania. You can also find them among the options outside Beaver Stadium before Penn State football home games this season.
“People think it’s easy owning a food truck,” she said. “People look at me and other small business owners and think that we’re rich, but we’re not. People think it’s easy but it’s a lot harder than it looks. You have to be devoted to succeeding. It’s more work than a lot of people think.”
REBELZ will be closing up shop for the season later this November, though, it will be back in State College in the spring.
During the winter season, Miller plans to pick up a side job while also spending time practicing new recipes for the food truck.
“My first offseason since opening up REBELZ, I worked at Arby’s for fun, and last season I worked at a coffee job,” said Miller. “I’ve just been picking up jobs during that time just for fun.”
Although it still has a few weekends left in State College, once spring comes, you can find REBELZ late at night on Thursdays at Calder Commons and Saturdays at the Meridian.
