Food Trucks - NOT Roach Coaches

SueGremlin

I wish they were more popular here! I have this fantasy of quitting my job as a scientist and buying a food truck. (hellooooo midlife crisis). I understand it's not exactly a way to get rich, but hey, it's a fantasy.
I'd want to have five separate menus and switch every day. Curries, sandwiches, salads. Something like that.

My mom quit her job and bought a hot dog cart.

Her sweet jalapeno relish is delicious.

Ooh, excellent. How does she like the work? Is it a huge money pit?

My mom took it out, like, twice. Made average money. Got bored with it because she didn't like the street scene. She also doesn't have the patience for food service.

Now it sits in the garage

but for a couple months she was my hero for it!

Oh, boo. The idea that she could make ANY money is encouraging. I would expect it to be an 18 hour day with a break-even salary.
I know the people in Kalamazoo would love it, but it's so cold and crappy here in the winter that it would have to be seasonal.

Plus, well, you know I am IN Kalamazoo in the first place because of my job that I'd quit, so...
Yeah. Rambling. That's me.

PapaverSomniferum

I wish they were more popular here! I have this fantasy of quitting my job as a scientist and buying a food truck. (hellooooo midlife crisis). I understand it's not exactly a way to get rich, but hey, it's a fantasy.
I'd want to have five separate menus and switch every day. Curries, sandwiches, salads. Something like that.

My mom quit her job and bought a hot dog cart.

Her sweet jalapeno relish is delicious.

Ooh, excellent. How does she like the work? Is it a huge money pit?

My mom took it out, like, twice. Made average money. Got bored with it because she didn't like the street scene. She also doesn't have the patience for food service.

Now it sits in the garage

but for a couple months she was my hero for it!

Oh, boo. The idea that she could make ANY money is encouraging. I would expect it to be an 18 hour day with a break-even salary.
I know the people in Kalamazoo would love it, but it's so cold and crappy here in the winter that it would have to be seasonal.

Plus, well, you know I am IN Kalamazoo in the first place because of my job that I'd quit, so...
Yeah. Rambling. That's me.

If my mama had stuck with it, she'd have made decent money. Here in rural-ish Missouri, hot dogs are, like, a food group for most of the population. The other food groups are McDonald's and Beer. Since drinking beer makes driving to McDonald's illegal, Mom's hot dog cart was the answer of many a man's prayers.

There's one hot dog cart in my town (I live a few hours away from dear ol' Mum), and I asked him once what he makes. He said it varies from 30-50 thousand a year. And HE only goes out when he sees a crowd. So, maybe 2 or 3 nights a week when college is in session and a few summer festivals. That's not bad.

Hot dogs, buns, and condiments are cheap. The mark-up is great.

The hardest part is the hoops you have to jump through to be legal. Regular inspections. A kitchen that passes requirements for cleaning in every town you go to. State licensing. Local licensing for every single town/county/campus you want to visit. The paperwork is insane!

CakeFit21

No matter how you spell it, they are still roach coaches. They are very popular in SoCal and I can't stomach to eat from them.

This is ridiculous.

spynoodle

I wish they were more popular here! I have this fantasy of quitting my job as a scientist and buying a food truck. (hellooooo midlife crisis). I understand it's not exactly a way to get rich, but hey, it's a fantasy.
I'd want to have five separate menus and switch every day. Curries, sandwiches, salads. Something like that.

My mom quit her job and bought a hot dog cart.


Her sweet jalapeno relish is delicious.

Ooh, excellent. How does she like the work? Is it a huge money pit?

My mom took it out, like, twice. Made average money. Got bored with it because she didn't like the street scene. She also doesn't have the patience for food service.

Now it sits in the garage

but for a couple months she was my hero for it!

Maybe she could sell it to a local school to use for fundraising?

MissTattoo

Hm...I've never been to one. I've never seen one around here either. Without having eaten from one I kind of have the dirty NYC image in my head. Apparently I need to get out to the west coast and experience this!

OMGLeigh

Austin has a ton too.

From SF I love how they have more of the trucks than they used to. I miss the crepe truck, so tasty. There are no crepe trucks in my area.

spynoodle

Hm...I've never been to one. I've never seen one around here either. Without having eaten from one I kind of have the dirty NYC image in my head. Apparently I need to get out to the west coast and experience this!

We have some AMAZING food coming out of these things! Some lines are consistently 40-50 people deep. I refuse to stand in line for that long!

jamk1446

This is big in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as well. Fort Worth has a food truck park with a website and a calendar of scheduled trucks since it can only accomodate 5 or 6 at one time.

Tacos are big but there are also burgers, cupcakes and there is one gluten-free vegan truck as well. I've been waiting for spring to go with some friends to check it out one weekend.