It was a family affair Thursday as the Wahlberg clan gathered at Dorchester’s South Bay shopping center to unveil the new Wahlburgers food truck. Wahlburgers on Wheels served up a special $5 lunch — burger and tots — and the first 100 folks who showed up Thursday got all that greasy goodness for free. Family matriarch Alma Wahlberg was joined at the event by sons Donnie, chef Paul, and Bob, as well as Wahlburgers CEO Rick Vanzura.
In case you’re wondering, yes, Mark Wahlberg was there, but the busy Hollywood actor appeared via FaceTime because he was in Atlanta shooting “Instant Family” with Rose Byrne. Of course, the crew from the A&E show “Wahlburgers” was also on hand to get a little footage for an upcoming episode of the reality TV show.
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The food truck and the brick-and-mortar restaurant at South Bay are the result of “dreams born in Dorchester,” Donnie said.
“We don’t come to town without coming through Dorchester,” the not-so-New Kid on the Block said, name-checking McKenna’s in Savin Hill and Ashmont Grille as two of his favorite spots. “It’s home, it’s always going to be home. . . . To see Dorchester sort of like thriving now and to be part of bringing jobs to this neighborhood and investing back into the neighborhood that gave so much to us is just a great source of pride of all of us.
“I always felt like there was something great out there if I stayed on the straight and narrow,” he said, his arm around his mom. “With some of my older brothers, it wasn’t always easy to stay on the straight and narrow.”
