Doublewide Food Truck Is Serving Lacy-Edged Smashburgers

Smashburgers with ultra-thin patties are on trend right now, and Doublewide is dishing them up from its mobile food business. Co-owner Nathan Madson is from Sheridan, Wyoming, and has worked in kitchens since age fourteen. He moved to Denver seven years ago to pursue his hospitality career and landed a job at Mercantile Dining and Provision, which is where he met Kevin Clay, who is from Aurora.

"Honestly, I only had experience from cooking at home, like box mac and cheese and stuff," Clay says. "I had never broken a chicken down or done any cooking stuff. I had no idea what mise en place was or anything about cooking. No knife skills, nothing."

Madson adds, "I remember when Kevin started at Mercantile. I remember thinking, man, this guy's not gonna last very long. But he stuck with it and tried really hard. After a couple of months, we worked side by side, and it was just like magic, almost. I would turn around and he would have something already done for me. We just had really good chemistry in the kitchen."

After the pandemic, the two started working together at Somebody People. "That was when Snipeburger started popping up and Little Arthur's started making more of a name for himself around town, and I started going to some of those pop-ups," Clay says. "The experience there and the energy, the love for the food and the community and how accessible it was.... Seeing everybody smile and stuff was something that you don't miss out on in fine dining, but you lack it a little when you're in the kitchen all the time."
Inspired by what others were doing Clay began to think about launching a food truck of his own. "Kevin had mentioned that he wanted to do it and for a long time, I wasn't into it as much," Madson admits. "But once I really started to think about it and once I ate at some of the pop-ups around town, I was hooked. ...I wanted to do something a little more accessible for people and that's what really drove me into wanting to do this."

The core idea for Doublewide was to use quality ingredients and focus on the little things that make simple foods delicious. Originally, the plan was to offer a vegan menu inspired by Madson and Clay's experience at Somebody People, but about a week before they launched, they called an audible. "I'm such a burger fiend," Clay says. "Honestly, I've had a smashburger every day for about six months — I just love simple stuff."

Madson and Clay launched the truck on June 16 last year. "On our first day, we just pulled up on the side of the road and opened our gates, and I don't know, we expected people to just come, and then nobody came and we were like, oh man, we've got to figure this out," Madson recalls. "I think my mom and sister came out. We didn't really know what to do."
To access more customers, the team started reaching out to breweries they liked and began gaining traction thanks in large part to their smashburgers. Not to be overlooked, though, is the vegetarian mushroom sandwich, which sings with earthy flavors and shows off Mason and Clay's fine-dining experience. They use local purveyor Jacob's Mushrooms and top the sandwich with arugula, aioli and pickled onions.

"I think we can bring something really cool to Denver — something unique," Madson says. "Right now, it's not too crazy, but we have plans to get a little crazier. We're gonna do some beer dinners and tasting dinners in the future. Probably this summer, we're going to be doing stuff like that and just kind of having fun with our menu."

"We are here producing food for the people," Clay concludes. "We love the people and we love what we do. We put everything we can into making people smile. We just want to spread the love."

To get a taste of Doublewide's smashburgers, follow it on Instagram @doublewide.co.