After eight years of slinging brisket, ribs, and chicken from a Fayetteville food truck, pitmaster Bruce Yeomans is calling it quits. The Fayetteville native and Navy veteran announced he is closing Noth'n Fancy, the truck he launched in 2018, citing health concerns and an upcoming knee replacement.
Yeomans announced the closure in a social media post, according to ABC11 News. He said he had decided to leave the food-truck business. The announcement drew thousands of online reactions and expressions of support from customers who had followed the truck’s years serving Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and Fort Bragg.
Yeomans cited health concerns and said he is scheduled for a knee replacement on Nov. 28. He plans to take time to recover and slow down, and thanked the people who visited the truck and bought food over the years.
Rising Costs Added to the Strain
Yeomans also pointed to rising prices, saying small businesses can struggle to keep up as costs climb and they have to raise prices. The financial pressure added to the strain of running the truck. Noth'n Fancy is now up for sale as he winds down the operation.
Food-Truck Rules and Cost Data
Cumberland County Department of Public Health guidance says mobile food units must operate in conjunction with a permitted food service establishment and report to a commissary at least daily. Those requirements are separate from the reasons Yeomans gave for closing.
For broader price context, the Congressional Research Service says the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects U.S. retail food-price data, while the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service collects retail food feature-price data, including prices reflecting discounts. These national measures do not establish what Noth'n Fancy paid or how the truck's food and labor costs changed.
Yeomans built much of his business on Fort Bragg, where he operated primarily and established a regular location over the years, according to Yahoo. A Fayetteville Observer profile of the Fayetteville-raised owner described Noth'n Fancy as a hometown fixture serving brisket, ribs, and chicken to a loyal following.
A Fixture of Fayetteville's Barbecue and Food Truck Scene
Yeomans also helped organize regional Black barbecue cook-offs in Fayetteville in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and mentored entrepreneurs starting food trucks. Fayetteville's first Black BBQ Cook-Off in 2022 was organized by Yeomans, Carl Pringle, and William Wright, per the Fayetteville Observer, and brought more than a dozen pitmasters to Murchison Road to compete in categories including ribs, chicken, and pulled pork.
Yeomans said he wanted to create more opportunities for Black pitmasters, pointing to the small number of Black teams in larger competitions and saying the local group wanted to “bring us more back into the competition area.” By 2024, the cook-off was in its third year and had received its first sanctioning from the Southern BBQ Network. Yeomans served as contest representative for the event, which judged ribs, chicken, and brisket. That year's Grand Champion honors went to 2-6-KA BBQ, according to sbbqn.com.
Part of a Booming Local Food Truck Industry
Yeomans's exit comes as Fayetteville's food truck scene has been expanding rapidly. DistiNCtly Fayetteville CEO Devin Heath has said Cumberland County boasts 45 food trucks per 100,000 residents, compared to 17 per 100,000 in Raleigh, according to the same yahoo.com report. Heath's organization has tracked 152 food trucks operating in the county, though he noted that count may not be fully comprehensive.
That growth has made Fayetteville something of a regional hub for mobile food vendors, even as individual operators like Yeomans face the physical and financial strain of running a truck for years on end. For now, Noth'n Fancy's run is ending, with its longtime owner stepping away to heal and, as he put it, finally slow down.
