D.C.'s mobile dining pioneer

He got an old school bus. "I cut it in half, put a stove in it and put the compartments for refrigeration and went into business," he said in a phone interview.

"Mr. P is a legend," says fellow enterpreneur Rodger Robinson of Mister Rodger Recycles.   "Long before food trucks were a phenomenon across the country, Mr. P had his restaurant on wheels."

Ironically, the mobile restaurateur is being hampered by the scale of his ambition.   Local regulations do not allow him to move his bus around because of the size, so he has to remain in a parking lot at 4th and Rhode Island.

From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays, Mr. P is serving barbecued beef and pork, chicken, collard greens and potato salad to a loyal audience that walks and drives to find him.