LISBON

Chris MacDonald of Windham had planned to just sell loaded tater tots from the food truck he’d purchased and was fixing up when opportunity knocked on the door.

A family friend, Randy Crafts, owns property next to Big Dipper Ice Cream on Route 196 in Lisbon and he asked his parents if there was anyway they could sell seafood from the site. MacDonald’s parents own The Lost Gull Fish N’ Chips in Oxford.

And thus, MacDaddy’s Seafood & Tots was born.

The food truck has been set up for a couple of months, striving to grab a good customer base as long as people keep coming to the truck.

There’s only so much you can produce from a 16-foot food truck, MacDonald said recently between customers. The menu is pretty impressive, however.

There’s a full slate of sides and appetizers, sandwiches, seafood rolls, dinner boxes and kids meals — and, of course, loaded tater tots — all made with fresh ingredients. The lobster rolls aren’t filled with lobster salad or fillers, but are instead bursting with large pieces of lobster with light mayonnaise and topped with some paprika.

MacDaddy’s also has specials, such as the poutine tater tots MacDonald recently offered that were popular enough to graduate to the regular menu. Playing around with different combinations is always fun, he said. Whenever he goes out to eat, MacDonald is doing research.

One of the most served items is the cheese tots — topped with cheddar Jack cheese and cheese sauce and bacon for $1 more. The nacho tots are also popular and tots also come with pulled pork and cheese.

Everyone’s had baked tater tots, Mac- Donald said, which sometimes aren’t baked all the way through and just don’t taste great, he explained. But the college he attended served them fried, and it was a whole new experience. Then he tried an eatery in Portland that served loaded fried tater tots.

There’s also plenty of seafood on Mac- Daddy’s menu, including Maine fried clams, scallops, haddock, and homemade clam cakes made by MacDonald’s father who has worked in the seafood business for 15 years.

There’s also burgers, chicken tenders and hot dogs if you don’t like seafood and aren’t feeling love for the tater tots. Mac- Daddy’s will do fries instead of tots upon request.

“I’ve been cooking for a while,” said the 27-year-old MacDonald.

He used to call himself a banker by day and cook by night, since he used to work at a bank. Then he bought the food truck last September. Getting it up and running was a lot more work than he’d anticipated, but there was no turning back.

When he opened, not surprisingly, it was slow at first. Then a woman returned to the truck for a second time, saying she’d posted about his food truck on a Lisbon community Facebook page.

He introduced himself through the page and soon, he was slammed. His Facebook page meanwhile has been getting five-star reviews.

“We have good food,” he said.

Helping with that, his family has fostered strong connections in the seafood industry.

It’s a long commute to Lisbon from Windham but the community has been very supportive of the new business, MacDonald said. Customers have been understanding that it takes a little longer to get food out of a little truck. Counting himself and his wife and business partner Amanda Martimucci-Mac- Donald, there are seven employees of MacDaddy’s.

It has helped having the long established Big Dipper Ice Cream next door, which has sent a lot of foot traffic over to MacDaddy’s.

“A lot of people get ice cream first,” MacDonald said, before ordering at his truck. He added, “It’s interesting how good dairy and fried food go together.”

He can’t say yet if he’ll be back next summer, but “so far, so good.” Describing himself as ambitious, he can envision someday opening food trucks in other locations.

“I like being my own boss and being responsible for my living,” he said.

MacDaddy’s Seafood & Tots is open for the summer seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. along Route 196, next door to Big Dipper Ice Cream.

dmoore@timesrecord.com

When & where

• MACDADDY’S SEAFOOD & TOTS is open for the summer seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. along Route 196, next door to Big Dipper Ice Cream.