NT, what is your experience with gourmet food trucks and do you see them staying relevant?

[lil black jean jacket]

alright for sure, gotta see if I'm busy tommorrow. thanks for the heads up

 

[mplsdunk]

Originally Posted by girlslovewaffles

Originally Posted by MPLSdunk

yeah i was researching and talking to dudes who run food trucks.  here it's not too bad.  the permit is 1k for the year.  but you need a kitchen to prep out of anyways obviously so you have to pay for that. i was throwing the idea around a few years ago since we were really lacking in them here.  i saw the dude i worked for killing it.  i guess everyone else did too since there is a new one here in minneapolis every other day.

 

i visited a truck called a fork in the road when i went to minneapolis for a weekend. seemed like nice folks. you guys got hella lax health department regulations though. i saw a non-commercial fridge in their truck and HUGE serving windows lol. in LA, it's gotta be tiny and have a screen door so flies don't get in.

yeah, i think it's because for the most part it's pretty new here.  i'd expect it all to get locked down pretty soon.  up until two years ago mpls only gave out 20 permits per year and it was a lottery.  so who in their right mind would get a truck one year and not be sure if they'd have one the next. 

i need to try more, i'm just too busy cooking at my own job.

 

[periwinkle]

Food Trucks are nice, but not sure about paying restaurant prices for the food. There's food trucks where I live, but they're stationary in 1 location, but food trucks that change locations a lot, I'm not going to go try to find them. I see the popular ones continuing to have good business, but I feel they are saturated atm. Like I was in SoCal there were a bunch of food trucks, but I'm not going to take a chance on one unless I know it's good because there's so many you kinda have to know which trucks are good and which aren't.

 

[mike23theking]

Originally Posted by caleekicks

Living in LA is being in food truck paradise.

I don't think they are going anywhere. If anything, it's still growing IMO.

This!

And the key is obviously creating something that isn't attainable anywhere else.  Stick with that and you should be fine.

LA/OC area food trucks I've tried/recommend:
Kogi
Calbi BBQ
The Burnt Truck
White Rabbit

Originally Posted by Epidemik The Great

wan't my advice...stay open late and close to a popular club/area...i've had some food trucks/carts absolutely save my life when i've been stumbling around drunk at 2 in the morning...it's usually those cheap Mexican spots, but i would kill for some gourmet @@+# on those nights...

+1

Originally Posted by djaward

Seen them around but havent tried any of them. I do hear a lot of people complaining that its expensive and the portions are small. I would hate to spend $10 on 3 tacos and a drink.

That's the only other problem...  I'm feeding a family of 4 and sometimes my wallet gets empty by $40-50 depending on the truck. 


FYI, do not hit up "Food Truck Extravaganzas", 50+ trucks at one spot, etc...  You're better off following trucks on Twitter and catching them when they're only a few trucks deep at a time.  Those meet ups are horrible.  Too many people, WAYYYYYY too long waiting for food.

And for those of you from SoCal, that are on Twitter and are big on "Lists", follow my "Food Trucks" list...  Literally just a timeline of LA/OC area food trucks.

@girlsloveswaffles, I'll add y'all on there.

SoCal Food Trucks

 

[winged wheel]

The food trucks that I've in encountered while I was in Los Angeles were the business. My absolute favorite was The Hungry Nomad.

 

[girlslovewaffles]

Originally Posted by rice boy 45

alright for sure, gotta see if I'm busy tommorrow. thanks for the heads up

not sure if you made it out, but the event was NUTS. i swear, everytime there's something in pasadena it's always all-out intense. people in pasadena REALLY LIKE going out and doing stuff

 

[veryanalytical85]

From my personal experience:

It really depends.

I've tried trucks all over SoCal (haven't tried some in NorCal yet, but will soon enough) and organized some Food Truck gatherings.

I think, what it all boils down to is your specific niche.
Price point is really important, after working in the restaurant industry a lot of Food Trucks feel throwing "gourmet" in there to justify their pricing. Make it accessible and find a medium and you will succeed (even if you're hurting in the pockets a little bit).
Lastly and I say this to all "restaurant/foodtruck/food stand" entrepreneurs, do it for the passion of it. It seems the reason why SoCal, NYC and now NorCal started having a boom of food trucks (prior to the OG Taco Trucks) is because of the profit to be made, with a smaller entry of capital. There seems to only be a few places, that really hit the spot for me. The rest have been somewhat... lacking.

As for staying relevant it's just like any other business..

-What is your vision?
-What will be the evolution of products you wish to produce for your customers, now and in the future?
-Will you make a transition into brick and mortar (sit-down service included)?
-etc.

 

[mr jordan04]

I'm not into waiting 30 minutes in line to get a piece of food, plus I'm not really a "foodie" so I'm

 about them.
I have heard co-workers, friends, and peeps on Facebook talk about them, but to me it seems more of a hype thing and the "cool" thing to do, as opposed to good food (which I'm not denying they don't have)

I had some after a night in santa monica, and 2 hotdogs, tater tots plus a soda for $16 was not the business to me 

Like dude above posted, you gotta find your niche. I think the whole food truck experience is gonna die down a bit because of the hype and many more are popping up. So as long as you have good food and decent prices, you'll be good.

But to each there own. Keep making money OP

 

[mrkittles20]

I make a point to schedule my DC trips around where the Red Hook Lobster Pound truck and the Fojol Bros. will be. They offer something completely different than the rest and they do it with a ton of quality. Fojol is bomb, but their shtick can get old if you're just trying to get some food and get out.

 

[sofa king awsm]

kogi

 

[girlslovewaffles]

Originally Posted by VeryAnalytical85

From my personal experience:

It really depends.

I've tried trucks all over SoCal (haven't tried some in NorCal yet, but will soon enough) and organized some Food Truck gatherings.

I think, what it all boils down to is your specific niche.
Price point is really important, after working in the restaurant industry a lot of Food Trucks feel throwing "gourmet" in there to justify their pricing. Make it accessible and find a medium and you will succeed (even if you're hurting in the pockets a little bit).
Lastly and I say this to all "restaurant/foodtruck/food stand" entrepreneurs, do it for the passion of it. It seems the reason why SoCal, NYC and now NorCal started having a boom of food trucks (prior to the OG Taco Trucks) is because of the profit to be made, with a smaller entry of capital. There seems to only be a few places, that really hit the spot for me. The rest have been somewhat... lacking.

As for staying relevant it's just like any other business..

-What is your vision?
-What will be the evolution of products you wish to produce for your customers, now and in the future?
-Will you make a transition into brick and mortar (sit-down service included)?
-etc.

Co-sign on everything, especially the "gourmet" bit. I feel like a lot of people are getting a reality check upon launching their trucks because they're basing their business plan off the hype of trucks from 2009-2010 with little regard to how things operate in the present.

There are a lot of trucks entering the market right now with little to no press mention due to lack of originality in their concept and menu. On top of that, media is not particularly interested in showcasing food trucks anymore because it's "old news," regardless of what's going on in the business. As a result, they're starting off with no traction and that can be really rough. With the transition to lot-based vending, there are only so many spots that a parking lot can accommodate due to saturation. As a result, more lots pop up, but then comes the problem of having only so many people to feed. What you end up with is a lot of lots with a lot of trucks but not enough people.

 

[based mod]

3 pages and no mention of chairman bao?

as others have stated, i think food trucks are no different from a B&M restaurant - serve good food at a decent price point and you'll stay in business.

personally, i'm not a fan of paying >$10 for a meal from a food truck just because of the principle behind it. i think the GOURMET, gourmet food trucks will eventually fall off in favor of the more reasonably priced ones.

 

[girlslovewaffles]

Originally Posted by Based Mod

3 pages and no mention of chairman bao?

as others have stated, i think food trucks are no different from a B&M restaurant - serve good food at a decent price point and you'll stay in business.

personally, i'm not a fan of paying >$10 for a meal from a food truck just because of the principle behind it. i think the GOURMET, gourmet food trucks will eventually fall off in favor of the more reasonably priced ones.

Never had it. How do you like it?

 

[airblaster503]

If you have good food and are worried about staying relevant, set up in Portland. Largest number of food trucks in the nation. Have several set-ups that are near permanent, one group just got their liquor license recently.

 

[kg21]

Food trucks are all the rage right now in the Twin Cities. A couple of them even stayed open during the cold winter. I think they can sustain. They offer unique items that you can't find in brick and mortar stores. They cater great to the work crowd during lunch since a lot of people like to grab something and go. PM me if you wanna know more or have specific questions.

 

[playoff12]

We have a Korean BBQ taco truck here called OhMyGogi. They're usually parked in midtown by the clubs/bars and it's a great location for them. They're usually open for dinner from 9PM until about 2:30-3:30AM. The prices are fair I guess. Two tacos for $5, three tacos for $7, and $6 for their OMG! fries. They have a couple of other things on the menu, too. But my gawd, their spicy pork tacos and OMG! fries are something else.

There's also a waffle food truck here called The Waffle Bus. I haven't tried it personally yet, but I hear nothing but great things about it. I can't wait, though.

In other words, I love food trucks. I have to look out for more here in Houston.

 

[girlslovewaffles]

Originally Posted by airblaster503

If you have good food and are worried about staying relevant, set up in Portland. Largest number of food trucks in the nation. Have several set-ups that are near permanent, one group just got their liquor license recently.

By permanent, are you referring to the carts/trucks no longer moving, or a store?