Would a donut food truck work on the Oregon Coast?

[Hawk J]

I guess it's been 18 to 24 months already that Lety's mobile restaurant has been parked in Wolf Creek. I don't think she's ever moved it since.

Lety makes homemade chicken enchiladas, chili rellones, & a couple other dinner plates. She makes chicken & beef burritos, tacos, quesidillas, soup, tortillas, etc etc. It's good eatin'...YUM

Lety gets business from the locals, I-5 traffic, 18 wheeler drivers stop fer a meal, etc.

Lety has a metal patio cover with some side partitions, picnic tables, a pretty good size patio propane heater. I guess she does ok.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

I don't think of Oregonians as huge donut eaters. Not sure why, but the donut shops never seem to do too well around here.

Soups and chowders would probably do really well since the coast is often nippy.

Donuts are grease and sugar with just enough flour to hold them together. I worked at a doughnut shop when I was in high school, many years ago, when people were less concerned with their health. After a busy Saturday morning shift, I would pour gallons of oil into the fryers to make up what went out across the counter.

Ah, the good old days, when staff meetings at work were doughnuts, coffee and cigarettes. Times have changed.

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Ah, the good old days, when staff meetings at work were doughnuts, coffee and cigarettes. Times have changed.

Ha ha!! My husband had some training up in Bellevue this week and the company catered lunch. What did they serve? "Veggie Loaf". It was like a vegan meatloaf... !! My husband went out instead for Chipotle.

[hamellr]

I've been thinking a lot about this.

In short, I do not think a Donut truck would work on most of the Coast. Your problem is that you'd most likely be catering to the tourists and not locals. This automatically limits you somewhat to where you can setup. Astoria, Seaside, Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Newport.

Then you'd only be really getting business on weekends in the summer. You'd probably have a lot of business on those days, but it would have to cover you Monday - Friday, and in the off season.

You might be able to stretch out your season and into the weeks by parking near one of the large State Campgrounds, that would then limit you to Newport or Astoria. (South Beach and Fort Stevens.)

There use to be a donut shop in Seaside. It was right around the corner from the Candy Man. There is also a "Pirate Bakery" in Lincoln City, and they have some amazing stuff. But I went in there during the week in early October near their closing time, and their case was still extremely full.

Now, if you had a truly exceptional product that would help capture some of the locals business. Voodoo Donuts does well because they have great tasting Vegan Donuts, but (for the most part,) the type of people who live on the Coast, and those who go camping at either of those campgrounds do not tend towards Veganism so much. Yes, I'm generalizing, but I believe it to be true.

On the Coast, your best bet is going to serve seafood. Unfortunately you then have to compete against all the other places that serve seafood. A mobile truck might fare better, but remember it is illegal to run a vending business on State Property (IE, just about every Wayside, Campground and State Park nearby.)

The only way I can see the Donut thing to work is to also serve Espresso and gear yourself towards the locals, hoping to get some of the tourist business.