I first heard about DANK about a month ago when Robert was telling me some Black folks were serving tacos not too far from where we lived. Color me shocked when I saw what they slanging on a Tuesday night. Birria tacos are rising in popularity, especially on IG. The only other place I can think of that serves Birria tacos is local spot Jimmy’s Tacos down in Ybor.

DANK is a Black- and woman-owned business that’s really popping in these streets. I got to talk to co-owners/partners Ashleigh “Kirby” Cleveland and Chalamar “Chy” Harris about DANK and everything they do from caterings to their meal prep subscription plan Slightly Secret Eat Club. From what they told me about the club, I need to go ahead and join.

“When Dank (stylized “DANK”) co-founders/partners Ashleigh “Kirby” Cleveland and Chalamar “Chy” Harris first started their business, they weren’t sure how it was going to turn out.

“We had no equipment, no financing, and no previous experience building a food truck. We just knew if we bought one, we’d figure it out,” Harris told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. 

Harris and Cleveland met while in the marching band at Miles College, a historically Black college located outside of Birmingham, Alabama. The story of Dank, an acronym for Delicious Ass Nomadic Kitchen, goes like this: Back in 2014, a friend had a challenge—if she entered a bodybuilding competition, then Harris had to launch the food business he’d been talking about. Once his friend entered (she placed second, by the way), Cleveland and Harris got the ball rolling on their new endeavor in early 2015.

“I got with Kirby and we talked about it. The next month, Kirby made a down payment on a food truck and we had a custom trailer built,” Harris explains.”

If you’re interested in ordering DANK foods, go here. To read more of the story, go here.