I’m coming clean. I know that I’m supposed to think food trucks are cool. But how many times have I had this conversation?
Food Truck Enthusiast: And there will be food trucks!
Me: Oh…..great.
I don’t like them. And in my defense, I’m not totally out of it. I watch GIRLS. I’m on Instagram. I know who Jenna Lyons is. Go ahead, strip me of my cool credentials but sign me up for the food truck backlash.
I just don’t like them. I don’t like to eat with my hands or standing up or perched on a bench or out in the hot sun. It’s just not for me.
In my experience, food trucks are painfully slow. You wait a long time and spend a decent amount of money to eat standing out in the hot sun. In addition to the long lines, they seem to always be out of all the good stuff on the menu by the time I get to the front. So here I am again, waiting forever to eat my third choice and standing out in the hot sun.
I just spent $60 to feed a family of four, and we’re all standing in the hot sun. If I’m going to wait 20 minutes for food, it better be sitting in the shade with a glass of wine.
The individuals who work in food trucks are always sweaty and exasperated and frazzled. I’m sure it’s hot and cramped in there. I wouldn’t want to be dealing with that line either. But it’s like they’re blown away by how busy they are, yet they drove to this exact spot where all these people are gathered.
I even had an idea for my own food truck – healthy snacks for kids. Wouldn’t it be great to have something to feed your kids besides hot dogs and pizza? Fruit kabobs with yogurt? A hummus, chip and veggie platter? Mini quinoa cakes with dipping sauce? Fresh, local, organic, allergen free Lunchables. Great idea, right? But then I realized I don’t like working in confined spaces. Or driving. And I don’t like other people’s kids that much.
My other idea for a food truck was actually a supplement to the lack of good beverages available at food trucks. I’m not a fan of bottled soda. It doesn’t get cold enough. And we’re standing out in the hot sun waiting and waiting remember? Bottled soda is hard to drink standing up. On and off, on and off with the cap – something with a lid and a straw just makes more sense. So what about a tea truck? Iced in the summer. Hot in the winter. I could get into that. Although, it sounds a lot like Starbucks.
The best food truck experience I had was $8 organic slushies for my kids at the High Line in New York. The wait was only 15 minutes, and the slushies kept them distracted long enough so that I could have a beer in the beer garden.
I think food trucks probably work really well in California where people are chill and it’s not so hot and where a $15 Korean bbq flavored gluten free organic cupcake is welcomed with open arms. It just doesn’t translate for me. And I still don’t want to eat standing up. The big question is which food trend will bite the dust first – self serve froyo or food trucks? Im rooting for food trucks.
I totally agree with you on food trucks – I get all excited about them, and then feel the sting of disappointment afterwards. Rinse and repeat. Every time I’m faced with a food truck. It’s like I want them to be so much better than they ever are but I never learn the lesson that they aren’t what I’m looking for. I’ve got the curse of high expectations.
But I also always remember the story about that choco chip cookie truck at the MN State Fair you told me about – how that family makes enough $$ for the whole year in like 3 weeks, just selling cookies. That keeps the food truck dream alive. =)
Yeah – for better or worse food trucks just can’t live up to the hype. Now I feel kind of bad giving them such a hard time. I don’t know though fair food and food trucks might be two totally different animals. And that cookie place had a system – it was a well-oiled, magical cookie making machine.
I was never a fan of the food trucks in Philly, but I quickly learned that making any negative comments against the food truck establishment there was a really bad idea…worse than saying I would not eat Scrapple.
I do love scrapple!!! And for me it’s food trucks everywhere. I haven’t noticed a regional difference – they’re all slow and overcrowded!
Let’s leave scrapple out of this. Read carefully. I think the real gripe is the “hot sun” not food trucks!
The real gripe is having to wait so long for a sub par experience! And the sun doesn’t help.