Food Trucks in Hampton Roads (Norfolk, Richmond: oceanfront, 2013, neighborhood)

[Chrismorris35]

A few questions about the food truck industry in the Hampton Roads area.

1) Is the Hampton Roads area friendly to the food truck industry?
2) Is there room for more food trucks?
3) What type/style of food would you like to see in the area?

[TN Lily]

For your survey, do you mean to ask what type of food is needed in Hampton Roads? I am not clear what the question is.

[Octa]

Hampton Roads isn't really walkable so I would say it isn't unless you're on the boardwalk.

[ChessieMom]

I don't know of any "food trucks" here. Frankly, I don't want to eat food from a truck.

[thesolution]

I would love for there to be some food trucks here, but I don't think the market is there. That and as a previous poster mentioned, there isn't much "walkability" in the HR area.

[xGrendelx]

There's plenty of spots in HR that are walkable enough for food trucks. Downtown, Ghent, West Ghent, the Oceanfront, and Town Center all have enough foot traffic for permanent food trucks/stands to locate there. And the thing about food trucks is they provide a neighborhood service, and make a place MORE walkable and livable. I can imagine parts of Ocean View, Riverview, Park Place, ODU's campus, Norfolk State's campus, Olde Towne, and spots near Lamberts Point and the shipyards would be good for food trucks too.

I don't really get why people think food trucks are so "out there" and that they can only function in one specific type of setting. If the food is good, people are gonna eat it regardless.

[LilyLady]

The response to food trucks varies in different cities....
Norfolk finds appetites vary for food trucks elsewhere | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

According to the article, Norfolk will start allowing food trucks... in only SIX metered spaces in the downtown area. The food truck operators will have to choose to participate in the lottery for the spaces and pay a fee to the city as well.

On a personal note, I used to live in a city where food trucks were all over the place. It was great! When I moved here to HR, I looked all over the region for food trucks. None were to be found. It was a big disappointment.

[Kbank007]

Originally Posted by xGrendelx

There's plenty of spots in HR that are walkable enough for food trucks. Downtown, Ghent, West Ghent, the Oceanfront, and Town Center all have enough foot traffic for permanent food trucks/stands to locate there. And the thing about food trucks is they provide a neighborhood service, and make a place MORE walkable and livable. I can imagine parts of Ocean View, Riverview, Park Place, ODU's campus, Norfolk State's campus, Olde Towne, and spots near Lamberts Point and the shipyards would be good for food trucks too.

I don't really get why people think food trucks are so "out there" and that they can only function in one specific type of setting. If the food is good, people are gonna eat it regardless.

I agree, Norfolk has many walkable/urban areas that could support food trucks. Also, Old Towne Portsmouth is a walkable area and areas in Newport News, such as City Center or Port Warwick.

[Octa]

I think it's appropriate to differentiate a walkable area from a walkable area that generates a lot of foot traffic. DC has a ton of areas with food carts which makes sense considering a lot of areas in DC generate a lot of foot traffic and the prices are often more competitive than the brick and mortar restaurants. They also offer a quick meal given how fast paced DC is. Downtown Richmond also has areas where you'll see food carts out every day for the better part of the work day. They cater to repeat customers who are often office workers, students, or people working the health/biotech industries. The only other time I've seen food carts in Hampton Roads was outside some bar hoping to catch people coming out once the kitchens closed, but they didn't get a lot of customers. I think the fourth poster summed up really well in her reaction to the topic why you don't see them a lot in Hampton Roads: they work really in active walkable cities and not so much in areas where people go to chains when they want to get a quick meal.

[PChildres]

I was thinking of doing the food truck thing here in Wiliamsburg. I would do cuisines that no one in the area does. I would target TEX-MEX. No place in Virginia that I've tried (from VA Beach to Richmond) does Tex-Mex the way Texas does Tex-Mex. Every place you could replicate their meals/recipes by taking a trip to the local 7/11, very low quality food. I say GO FOR IT. A food truck = mobility so you're not promised to ONE spot. Adventure out Hampton Roads, target big businesses during lunch hours and shopping areas during the evening. Make a go of it!