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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marino760
They found out there was more money to be made by turning their "roach truck" into a trendy mobile food truck and locating them close to middle upper class shopping locations and office buildings.
True, but we do see a few of the new Food Trucks that are stationed somewhat permanently at places with many employees. Here, for example, there is a Taco Truck always in the parking lot of a major lumber yard/millwork shop.
Some places with many employees, such as Microsoft have their own food courts or even free food cafeterias.
They found out there was more money to be made by turning their "roach truck" into a trendy mobile food truck and locating them close to middle upper class shopping locations and office buildings.
The infamous "roach coach" is more of a SOCAL phenomenon than anything else. They work a lot better in a warmer climate than say, in Chicago. Also, the health department in many municipalities discourage some of the things that you might see in LA. Also, where you have an assembly line where everyone breaks for 30-40 minutes, you really do not have the time to do the type of food that many food trucks were doing.
The food trucks in the Midwest generally serve prepackaged food, beverages and sides. In many cases, they serve Mexican food (as 65% of most Chicagoland production workers are Hispanic) from local restaurants but no preparation is done on site.
A relatively recent phenomenon has been caterers like sandwich shops and bakeries who set up a table once a week in an office building for an hour or two. The offices and businesses know that the bakery will be there once a week on a particular day. That tends to go over very well.
The in-plant cafeteria has become a thing of the past as most factories that remain open have automated.
One of the things that we used to do in Chicagoland at our plant was to bring in a caterer monthly during the spring and summer who would recreate the a limited menu of what you would see in a Chicago hot dog shop (ala Vienna Beef). It was generally a great hit.
Personally, I am rather amazed at the prices on some of these food trucks. I give them credit some some great ideas. However, too often what is promised is far greater than what is delivered.
True, but we do see a few of the new Food Trucks that are stationed somewhat permanently at places with many employees. Here, for example, there is a Taco Truck always in the parking lot of a major lumber yard/millwork shop.
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Most of the taco trucks in Tucson have addresses on Yelp as they are permanent fixtures. Some remain parked 24/7 while the owners drive these in their personal vehicle.
That would not fly in Chicago but is well accepted here.
Seriously? I see food trucks all over the place, mostly in urban downtowns and suburban office parks. They publish schedules so you know who's where and when.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,225,683 times
Reputation: 57822
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81
Seriously? I see food trucks all over the place, mostly in urban downtowns and suburban office parks. They publish schedules so you know who's where and when.
Those are food trucks. What we are talking about are what used to be "Catering" trucks. Food trucks have people inside cooking while these older catering trucks would have already prepared foods, and had a route of industrial or worksite locations every day. They would have a unique, musical horn that would sound when they arrived, to alert the workers. Unlike the current box trucks with kitchens inside, these were mostly pickup trucks with a camper shell/Shelved box on the back. They do still exist:
In New Mexico, the "Burrito Lady" (any of hundreds) still shows up in parking lots to sell hot burritos to hungry workers.
It doesn't have to be a manufacturing plant or a construction site. I used to buy from them frequently when I worked at a large plant nursery that was next to a strip mall, and the retail workers from TJ MAxx and the movie theater took advantage of those sweet pork and green chile burritos, too.
Those are food trucks. What we are talking about are what used to be "Catering" trucks. Food trucks have people inside cooking while these older catering trucks would have already prepared foods, and had a route of industrial or worksite locations every day. They would have a unique, musical horn that would sound when they arrived, to alert the workers. Unlike the current box trucks with kitchens inside, these were mostly pickup trucks with a camper shell/Shelved box on the back. They do still exist
Six of one, half dozen of the other. I see both types, but don't make a distinction between them.
I live in an area that is a planned urban community being built on the site of the former airport. My section was still under active construction when I moved in, and stayed that way for about 5 years as they built out all of the nearby parcels. There were always a bunch of food trucks around, although I guess I don't know if they fell into the "catering truck" category.
We still have food truck nights in various parks around the area although granted those are the more trendy upscale choices. Some of the trucks have been successful enough that they now also have local restaurants.
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