RAPID CITY, SD (KOTA) – Malissa’s Frybread is a food truck that sells Native American dishes such as frybread, Indian tacos, wojapi and popovers.

“That’s what I love about making Native American food, a lot of people don’t know,” said Malissa Walters, owner of Malissa’s Frybread.

Walters’ journey began during COVID-19 when she lost her job.

“I had to make money somehow and a lot of restaurants and stuff were closed, so I sold flatbreads and stuff from home,” Walters said.

Malissa’s frybread food truck officially opened in December 2023. This was made possible because she received a grant from the NDN Collective.

“I’m really grateful to NDN Collective for helping me get out of my kitchen and into this kitchen,” Walters said.

When Walters received notification that she had been awarded the scholarship, she decided to stick with the food she prepared at home.

“Everyone knew me as the frybread lady, so I had to go with frybread. They know me as frybread, I can’t come in here and fry chicken,” Walters said.

Walters not only sells authentic Native American food, but also educates people about their history.

“So whenever we went to reservations, we were given government rations and had to make the best of what we had,” Walters said. “A lot of times those government rations were spoiled, spoiled or whatever. We Natives – we took the flour and the lard that we were given and made flatbread and that’s how we survived. So over the years it just got better and better and people love it, absolutely. It’s just something that went from a horrible place to something so beautiful and so delicious.”

Last year, there were more than 36,000 food trucks in the United States.

Although food trucks have been around for centuries, they gained popularity in 2008 during the Great Recession.

Walters said that although she is new to self-employment, she has bigger dreams for her food truck.

“I love being in my food truck, and like I said, that brings a lot of problems, so I would love to open a restaurant at some point,” Walters said.

Malissa’s Frybread is open Tuesday through Saturday year-round. Click here to find out their schedule and locations.

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