Bobby Hossain’s day starts early. Along with his family, he runs a food truck called that serves his mother’s Thai recipes “with a modern twist.” Although he won’t be serving customers for nearly 4 hours, he wakes up by 7:30am.
He is working a double shift in the truck (lunch and dinner), so his brother is on prep duty. Bobby buys any last minute supplies they need - ice, more bean sprouts - from while his brother cuts vegetables and slices meat at the kitchen space they use in a friend’s restaurant. His brother then drives the truck to their parents’ house. They load up and Bobby is on the road at 9:30.From 11am-2pm they work at - a location in San Francisco’s Mission district that hosts food trucks. It brings in a dependable lunch crowd.
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Bobby’s mother cooks, his employee Frank takes orders, and Bobby hands out completed orders while helping the other two. After three hours, Phat Thai has served around 200 dishes.Once the lunch crowd dies down, they return to the commissary, a space where they can clean dishes and dispose of garbage. Bobby checks whether he needs to get more supplies for tomorrow, preps, and then drives the truck to North Beach. From 5pm-8pm they will sell Thai dishes alongside other food trucks at a “market” of food trucks organized. On busy days, they won’t have a chance to eat lunch.Although it’s only half as busy as lunch, Phat Thai sells dinner to a dense crowd of families and professionals returning from work.
By the time they serve their last customer, clean up, and park the truck, it’s approaching midnight. It’s one of Bobby’s busiest days. He and his brother only do double shifts twice a week. Since dinner is less lucrative than lunch, on other days they finish selling food by 3pm and he can get home by 5pm.Compared to the original American food trucks (a.k.a. Roach coaches) that frequented construction sites and baseball stadiums, food trucks like Phat Thai are a different breed. Instead of cheap, greasy fare, they sell $10 dishes featuring organic ingredients and fusions of different regional cuisines.
Since their emergence as a in 2008, they have asserted themselves as a force in the food scene, employing and inspiring countless food reviews.As a service that strips all the overhead costs of a restaurant down to the minimum requirements for selling food to customers, food trucks are also an for: the Silicon Valley practice of quickly rolling out a minimum viable product, allowing customers to try it, and engaging with them to improve your offering. Just as the falling cost of creating a website or app lowered the barriers to entry in the tech industry, food trucks allow aspiring restauranters to quickly put their creations in front of customers with minimal financial barriers.But given that starting a restaurant is essentially a respectable way to throw money down a hole, are food trucks just mini money pits?
What does it take to start and run a food truck? Why is a sandwich in a paper tray $10? Will food trucks disrupt the restaurant industry or is there a bubble?A Truck of One’s OwnBobby previously owned a Thai restaurant with his family, but they shut it down in favor of a food truck. “The restaurant business sucks,” Bobby told us bluntly.
Unless you’re a restaurant with investors and a flashy concept, it’s nearly impossible to get traction. The rent of their restaurant was $4,500 a month. With their daily customers numbering from 200 to as few as a few, they hemorrhaged money too quickly to build up a customer base. Comparing the rent of the restaurant to the “rent” of attending events like Off The Grid ($50 plus 10% of your revenue), the decision to switch to a food truck was a relatively easy one.“There’s no rent control on restaurant rent, so even if we did start to be successful, the landlord could jack up our rent. A lot of restaurants get taken advantage of by landlords this way.”His story is not unusual. The majority of San Francisco’s food truck owners have a background in the industry.Thomas of We Sushi worked in the restaurant business for twelve years, including two at his own restaurant in Sacramento. Kenny of the Old World Food Truck had 14 years of restaurant experience before starting his truck.
Pelle of Nordic With A Twist complements his catering business with his food truck - for the fun of it more than the additional revenue stream. Dawn, along with her co-founders of Me So Hungry, were the exception. They worked as DJs and promoters before opening their truck.The menu of Kenny’sBy far the most common reason we heard from chefs for opening a truck was the desire to start their own business.The restaurant business is notoriously difficult and expensive to enter. Twenty-five percent fail in their first year and 60% in their first 3 years, according to one well-cited.
And while summing up the cost of a new restaurant is about as exact as giving a figure for a new house, over a quarter of a million dollars is normal. One calculated the average cost of creating a new concept restaurant at $501,236 and the cost of taking over an existing one at $281,128.Setting up a food truck is quicker, cheaper, and less risky, making it an easier business for chefs to break into. Josh, the Communications Director at, stressed how the lower barriers to entry enable minority, low-income, and immigrant chefs to start their own business.Startup CostsThe food truck market may be easier to break into than the restaurant business, but it is still a major endeavor. The cost of starting a high quality food truck ranges from approximately $50,000 to $150,000 or more, and the process takes several months.The biggest cost is the truck itself.
Bobby’s family bought their truck used for $37,000. Pelle, the caterer who sells Nordic dishes like meatballs, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries, paid $20,000 for his used truck and another $27,000 to outfit it.
But trucks looking to tap into the foodie scenes of LA, New York, and San Francisco may need to make a big investment in a custom truck. To meet the challenge of cooking quality sushi, Thomas of We Sushi spent over $100,000 on a custom truck.
But so did Me So Hungry, a truck that dishes out creative sliders.Trucks can be rented to reduce capital costs, but Bobby dismissed the possibility as the rates are almost as high as buying a used truck. Given the healthy market for, buying one is less of a risk.The other major start up expense is licensing and permits. Josh of StrEAT Food Park estimates the total cost at up to $10,000, a figure confirmed by several trucks.
Share Jan 23, 2017 Food trucks are all the rage right now.Though it used to be popular amongst restaurateurs that were hesitant to drop cash on a brick-and-mortar business, now, entrepreneurs are setting out across the country in food trucks to peddle and promote their creative cuisines. If it seems like all of the best food truck ideas are taken, don’t fret, there is still plenty of open road and creative potential available.Contrary to the perception you might get from, say, walking down the main street in any major city, the food truck market is far from saturated, and there are still many clever food truck ideas from which to choose to.
Food Truck SushiBecause of the work that goes into maintaining a sushi restaurant and keeping fish fresh, this is one food truck idea that many chefs and entrepreneurs traditionally wouldn’t take on. Today, though, we have access to reliable freezers and coolers that will keep fish and produce cold and fresh, so they’re little excuse not to give it a go! Take the lead from, they’ve given it a go and are getting great reviews in the process.
Fancy Food TrucksOne way to make sure your truck stands out is to take the concept of a food truck and sell food not commonly seen in the food truck economy. Think fewer tacos and more. People are becoming more and more open to the idea of, places where they can get a five-star meal on the go.
They’ll even pay more for a higher quality fare. The key is maintaining a handheld quality to your food, while still being able to cook complicated recipes using fresh and inventive ingredients.To build a memorable food truck theme and menu, you’ll want to take gourmet food that isn’t typically portable and make it so. For example, mini pies can be a big seller if you perfect the art, and they come in breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert styles.Regional CuisineDo your research and find an ethnic food market that hasn’t been tapped out. Of course, Tex-Mex and bratwurst have all but become omnipresent among city streets, but other cuisines like Hungarian food loaded with delicious, smoky paprika and unique twists on Southeast Asian staples like hot pots and inventive noodle bowls will take you far on your road to success, pun intended. Focusing on a regional cuisine that you have expertise in is a great food truck idea if you plan on traveling from town to town, or state to state with your truck.
![Food truck modesto ca Food truck modesto ca](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125625092/738901737.jpg)
It gives you the opportunity to introduce a population to a new and delicious kind of food and put your mark on the food scene in the process.SEE ALSO: Local Food TrucksOne way to set yourself apart from the crowd is to draw food truck ideas from your community. Is there a local farm nearby where you can source sustainable produce for your truck such as do? If there is a farm or farms, use this to your advantage. The most unique ways to design a menu is to draw inspiration from local specialties.
For example, if you live on the East Coast, focus on the freshly caught seafood of the region. I’ll we’re saying is that we’ve never seen a that didn’t get business.Sandwiches With a TwistIf you choose to sell a menu dominated by sandwiches, understand that you’re not venturing into new territory. Many trucks have found success with sandwich styles, but the idea of serving up a grilled Cuban or a loaded pastrami on rye is now a bit overdone. There is one food truck idea, however, that can salvage the sandwich, make them with a twist!, and if you can solidify your concept, your food truck can be a leading innovator in the food truck scene. Capitalize on the Health CrazeEating from food trucks or carts is often still viewed as synonymous with gluttony and caloric abundance. Because of this fact, there is always going to be a segment of the population that strays from the food truck scene.
![Food truck business models Food truck business models](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125625092/584556738.jpg)
So why not embrace this population and cater specifically to their needs and concerns? Just because food is prepared and served from a truck, doesn’t mean it has to be unhealthy and high in calories. So gain a bit of inspiration from these to come up with your one-of-a-kind idea.Though these are just a few food truck ideas, the world is really your culinary oyster. If it’s wild and crazy and delicious, and know how to cook it, it’s worth giving it a go. But remember, you can have the best menu on the street, but you won’t stand out in a crowd of trucks unless your design is eye catching and are reasonable.
Whatever the food truck ideas are that you’re considering, remember to do your research prior to making the leap. This will ensure that you are certain that you are.
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