How many ways can you stuff a potato?
That’s a loaded question.
But Sheba “Showtime Sheba” Minter, owner of Hot Potato’z food truck, can tell you.
“Countless,” Minter says. “I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface.”
Minter, 31, creates unique loaded potatoes. “If you see my potatoes, they are like no other potatoes.” People might wonder if there’s a potato there at all, she says. “You can’t see the potato at the bottom. You can just see the toppings.
“I have potatoes for every person in the family, whether you’re craving chicken, beef, steak. I also sell nachos and potato soup. All things potato.”
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Minter grew up in Dyer County, Tennessee. She moved to Memphis after she met her husband.
Her original dream was to be a singer. “I just naturally know how to sing. From sixth grade up to 12th grade, I was in talent shows. I won some. Some I did horrible in.”
Under the stage name Showtime Sheba, Minter performed songs by Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, and Gladys Knight. “All the greats,” she says. She also danced in a group called Triple Threat.
Minter began selling potatoes from her home in 2017. “I was like, ‘What can I sell that everybody will want to buy?’”
With help from her husband, she began taking orders for delivery or pick-up. She also started making potatoes for large groups, including Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.
She stopped performing in 2019. “I had a contract that went bad, and that traumatized me. I said, ‘If I can’t do it, I can be close to it.’” Minter began putting on talent shows for mostly adults. “Sometimes I would only feature one child, and I would call them ‘The Star of Tomorrow.’”
She opened a food truck when Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money became available for businesses after Covid hit.
Minter comes from a cooking background. “We always loved to cook,” she says. “Everyone in my family. It’s like a competition. And I know what food does. I love to cook for people and feed people. It gets people excited when they see food. I get excited when I see food. It just makes me feel better about life.”
She tries to keep six potato creations — she calls them “tatos” — on the menu at her food truck, which is at the intersection of Whitten Road and Macon Road.
Loaded Chicken and Shrimp Tato is her most popular. “[It’s] nacho cheese and chicken. I have onions and peppers cooked into the chicken, and different types of seasoning. Then you have your layer of broccoli, more cheese, bacon. And I top that with shrimp … and parsley, like a garnish. Then I run it all through a toaster, and it all fuses together. The onions and peppers really bring out the flavor in the chicken.”
Other potatoes included the Taco Tato, Philly Tato, and the Potato Tato, which includes French fries as a topping. “Hey, I’m a Pisces,” Minter says. “We’re known for our creativity.”
Of course, some people just order a baked potato with butter.
“I don’t make changes very often. But I’m really thinking about doing a couple of potatoes during Black History Month, like the Rosa Parks Tato. I’ll do a little bit of research and see what she likes and incorporate something about that in the potato.”
Minter stopped doing talent shows last November because her potato business took up so much time, but she still takes voice lessons to build up her voice.
In 2020, she recorded a single, “Beautiful Inside and Out,” which was written by Antonio Ferguson. She also performed in the video.
More Showtime Sheba talent shows may be on the horizon. “I can’t go anywhere without someone saying, ‘When’s the next show?’ I’ve got to get back to it.”
Follow Hot Potato’z on Instagram or Facebook @hotpotatozmemphis.