Alec Evans and Kelsi Beek prepare to open bAKos, the newest food truck in Astoria.

Alec Evans and Kelsi Beek, who opened taco and burger food cart bAKos this summer on 11th Street in Astoria, are headed back home to Iowa and taking their eatery with them.

The local chefs, friends since they attended culinary school together in Iowa, relocated to Astoria five years ago and went to work at the Astoria Coffeehouse & Bistro. They acquired the former DJ’s Vinyl Vegan food cart and in August opened bAKos next to the Boomer’s hot dog cart, serving gourmet burgers and tacos on fry bread-like shells, corn tortillas and in nachos.

Earlier this month, Beek and Evans closed the shop and announced they were moving back to Iowa to be closer to family.

“It was great,” Beek said of running bAKos. “The people of Astoria were wonderful.”

But the two also found living and running a business in Astoria prohibitively expensive for their personal lives. Both continued to cook at the bistro while running the food cart.

“We want to be able to save some money and be able to travel, but Astoria is so expensive that I don’t think that could really ever work for both of us,” Beek said.

The two plan to relocate their cart to Des Moines, Iowa, where Evans said new breweries are popping up and inviting them to set up shop.

“We can afford to work at the food truck and not have to do anything else” in Iowa, Evans said.