A new food truck has rolled into Coles Landing at 566 Wilbur Ave. in Swansea, serving up grilled cheese sandwiches and smashburgers from a rolling kitchen parked right along one of the town's busiest commercial strips. The Big Cheese announced it was officially open for business on Tuesday, led by chef and owner Matt Cafarella, who is aiming to turn the truck into a hub of handcrafted comfort food with unique twists on the classics.
According to the Fall River Herald News, the truck has already put up a grand opening banner at Coles Landing and is serving flavor-packed food for takeout, with nearby picnic tables available for anyone who wants to eat on site. The Big Cheese is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 7 p.m., and the operation also offers catering services and can be booked for private events, per the same report.
A Spot With a Track Record for Food Trucks
The Big Cheese isn't the first mobile food business to set up at this particular address. The site previously was home to Rea's Cafe, which started out as a food trailer before moving to a permanent retail location up the road in August 2023, the Herald News reports. That transition from trailer to brick-and-mortar storefront, where Rea's Cafe sold cold brew, bagels, and sweets, offers a built-in example of how a low-overhead roadside setup at this address can grow into something bigger.
Coles Landing Plaza itself is an established multi-tenant commercial site that already hosts local service businesses, including the massage therapy studio ZENergy Sessions in Suite 5, according to MassageBook. That mix of services alongside the new food truck fits into a stretch of Wilbur Avenue that's seen a steady churn of small businesses testing out the corridor.
Route 103 Targeted for a Walkable Makeover
The Big Cheese's arrival comes as Wilbur Avenue, designated Route 103, is in the middle of a long-term planning push. The Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District and the Town of Swansea kicked off a corridor study in 2024 aimed at transforming the state highway near Ocean Grove into a walkable, Main Street-style commercial district, according to SRPEDD. That same planning process found that Swansea residents expressed a strong desire for local walkable dining options.
Route 103 runs 4.92 miles, connecting Warren, Rhode Island, to Somerset, Massachusetts, and it registered 159 traffic collisions along its Swansea stretch between 2021 and 2024, per data mapped by ArcGIS. The town's Complete Streets Needs Assessment has also flagged Wilbur Avenue as a priority corridor for new sidewalks and crosswalks meant to improve pedestrian and bicycle access between the two states, a recommendation aimed at filling in missing sidewalk links along the route.
The Big Cheese adds a food option to the commercial stretch of Wilbur Avenue.
A Growing Local Food Scene
The truck's debut adds to a run of new dining activity in Swansea this year. Hoodline reported that Wicked Pizza Co. opened a counter-service pizza and wings spot on Route 6 in June, taking over a former pizza storefront.
The Big Cheese adds to Swansea's local dining scene.
