Chef Tim Love goes truckin’, plans new menu items for Pilot Flying J truck stops

Chef Tim Love is taking cowboy cuisine to the truck stop.

Love will create new menu items for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based Pilot Flying J truck stops, the company announced Monday.

“It’s an amazing deal,” Love said Monday. He’ll contribute new menu items and menu upgrades for 750 locations, he said: “It takes a lot to get this thing ramped up.”

Love’s flagship restaurant, Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Fort Worth, celebrated its 17th anniversary last week. The University of Tennessee graduate opened a Lonesome Dove in Knoxville last year.

Privately-owned Pilot Flying J serves 1.3 million patrons daily at locations including the Alliance area of north Fort Worth and Weatherford. The truck stops include PJ Fresh Marketplace coffee shops, delis and pizzerias, along with chain fast-food.

“I’ve always been a big fan of the brand … and have been visiting locations regularly over the years,” Love said in a news release. “There is certainly a need to challenge the status quo for those on the go.”

Love will develop distinctive food items for locations in the Southwest, the company’s announcement said. He described them as “easy to carry and easy to eat.”

Besides Fort Worth and Knoxville, Love operates a Lonesome Dove in Austin. He also operates the Woodshed Smokehouse barbecue restaurant, White Elephant Saloon and Love Shack burger grill in Fort Worth, and will consult on a menu for a skyline bar in an upcoming SpringHill Suites in the Historic Stockyards.

Love also owns Queenie’s Steakhouse and its late-night pop-up Back Dough doughnut shop in Denton, with another Back Dough planned in west Fort Worth. A second Woodshed will open later this year in Houston.

This story was originally published June 12, 2017 at 2:09 PM with the headline "Chef Tim Love goes truckin’, plans new menu items for Pilot Flying J truck stops."