Food trucks, carts, and other mobile food vendors are HOT right now. Every city is starting to see these business pop up all over town. For consumers, especially those who love food, this is a great thing. Maybe you are just tired of the limited choices near your office. Or maybe you don’t have time for a sit down meal. Or maybe you do not feel like cooking, but do not want to blow your budget eating out. These food vendor typically offer much better quality food than you can get at fast food factories, but you have to be comfortable eating outside standing up or with food in your lap.
I have been eating at these places for years, so I could not be happier about the proliferation of options. From various trucks, stands, and carts, I have eaten hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, pizza, tacos, burritos, corn, lumpia, Thai food, Indian food, Korean food, popsicles, ice cream, and cupcakes. Even more interesting have been some of the fusions of different cuisines and styles like Korean tacos and Hawaiian Thai. The trucks make more diverse options more available to more people.
The great thing about these businesses is also the biggest problem sometimes. They tend to move around. Some have set schedules each week, and others post their schedules via websites or Twitter. Some corporations, like Starbucks, have various food trucks that park outside their offices each day. If you are in a city neighborhood with a very active nightlife, trucks and carts are likely parked on the streets nearby.
So if you are new to this, how do you order? Assuming you have not heard anything about the place in advance, ask the vendors themselves what their specialty is. The best mobile vendors have small focused menus, just doing what they do best. Yet sometimes one or two things still stand out. If people are nearby eating, you can always ask them for their opinions or suggestions. Food trucks often have many loyal regulars.
Food Truck Gatherings
f you are a fan of food trucks, you no doubt get excited about the many mobile food gatherings cropping up around the country. In Seattle, we have the Mobile Chowdown in October and the Mobile Food Rodeo in September, not to mention the Bite of Seattle in the summer. From Nashville’s Battle of the Food Trucks to Detroit’s Eastern Market Truck Stop, almost any city now has events like this. If you are new to the world of food trucks, these events are the perfect opportunity to dip your toe in the water and see what you might like in this brave new world of eating. The trucks and trailers often offer smaller sample sized tailored to these events, so that you can try more than one.
I would suggest not eating for a while before such an event. Eat lightly the meal before. You want to be able to take full advantage of the incredible bounty of goodness that awaits you.
Divide and Conquer
The best way to attend a food truck rally is with a small group. If you are by yourself, you cannot realistically try many places. If you are in a large group, people are less likely to share. With a small group, you can try many different items and just share. You get a bite or two of lots of different things. It is a fun and adventurous way to eat. Call is street tapas. While it is true that sometimes a dish is so delicious that you wish you did not have to share, other times you are happy to have only one bite. Sampling a bunch of places lets you know in the future which trucks you want to stalk and which you will skip.
There is another reason for sharing in small groups. There are always lines at food truck events. With a small group, one or two of you can stand in one line while others stand in other lines. When someone gets some food, they can join the people in the slower line and munch while they wait. Believe me, it makes waiting much more pleasurable when you are nibbling on some truffle fries or chicken satay.
Some people make the mistake of thinking that the best places must be the places with the longest lines. However, sometimes the line just means that the food is more labor intensive and takes longer to produce. Other times the workers in there are just not efficient enough to handle the hordes of diners at a festival. I would advise trying a mix of places.
Pace Yourself
Do not stress when you get there, spending too much time choosing which vendor to try first. Just pick a good looking one with a line and start waiting. You will have plenty of time to try most anything you want before you leave. Send your companions to find something with a shorter line to try, and bring it back for the wait. It is always good to talk to people around you in line. They can sometimes tell you the best things to order or give you tips about other trucks. For instance, I heard that this mini-donut trailer had a one hour wait, so I could make an informed decision about if and when I wanted to stand in line for that hour.
After you get through one line, you can jump to the next line while still eating. After that, you can visit the places with no waiting to take a break between the lines. By then, you should not be as incredibly hungry as you started out. So maybe take a break and listen to the live music. Have a beer. Then you can be more strategic about choosing your final purchases. Walk around and see what looks good. Ask other people about their favorites. By this time, your stomach will not mind waiting in line for a little while. And you want to end with something spectacular and/or something sweet. If you leave a food truck gathering and you are not a little uncomfortable, then I do not think you have been successful.
Fad or the Future?
It would be absurd to deny that food trucks are trendy. They have exploded across the country. Yet, I think they could be here for years to come. They provide a great service to us food lovers. They also provide an opportunity for people to get into the food business without the enormous and risky outlay of cash required to open a restaurant. Many of the more successful trucks lead their owners into full service restaurants. Skillet Diner and Marination Station are two examples here in Seattle. Both restaurants still maintain their trucks and trailers. Maybe that is a sign that they are here to stay. I sure hope so.
Now go forth and be adventurous!
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