food truck

[Rambo]

Here ya go rubberneck. I saw this in the last GQ and thought it might be good for some ideas: http://men.style.com/gq/features/lan...=content_10557

 

[chronoaug]

I've made sushi in the past and actually am gonna have this sushi chef at one of my jobs show me what's up sometime in the next week or so. Sushi truck sounds fun.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

I've made sushi in the past and actually am gonna have this sushi chef at one of my jobs show me what's up sometime in the next week or so. Sushi truck sounds fun.

Would you really buy sushi out of the side of a truck?

 

[dusty]

I've got your theme song kunk:

Tonights the night that we got the truck
Were goin downtown gonna [serve] up drunks
Your turn to drive Ill bring the [goulash]
Its the late, late shift no one to fear
And ride, ride how we ride
We ride, lowride

Its roundup time where the good whores meet
Gonna [serve] one screaming off the street

And ride, ride how we ride

Got a [white] uniform and a silver [tray]
Playin [chefs] for real/playin [chefs] for pay

Lets ride, lowride

Pull down your dress heres a [gyro] in the [mouth]
Lets [feed] you blue til you **** in your pants
Dont move, child got a big black [kebab]
Theres six of us babe, so suck on my [khalu kalash]

And ride, ride how we ride
Lets ride, lowride

The left [restauranteurs] might whine a bit
But the guys at the [health department] they dont give a ****
Dispatch calls are you doin something wicked?
No siree, jack, were just givin [hot, affordable meals]

 

[impolyt_one]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Would you really buy sushi out of the side of a truck?

given the right conditions, the right looking person to make it, and the right looking fish, why not? Americans eat up (bad) sushi and love kitsch. There's a lot to be said for value businesses in today's economy as well, I'm sure there are some who are forgoing as many sushi dinners lately and wouldn't mind giving up the wooden sushi bar to have sushi at a pizza price.

Keep in mind, sushi was originally made on carts in Edo, just like any other street food...

 

[LabelKing]

Maybe a Vietnamese sandwich truck.

 

[DNW]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Maybe a Vietnamese sandwich truck.

There're two brothers who run one of these in the Wall St. area. They make a killing at it. Every time I went there for lunch, the line was always at least 10-deep, starting at about 11:30 until 2pm. Five bucks for a sandwich that costs less than 50 cents to make, not to mention profit from drinks and side items. Not too shabby, IMO.

 

[LabelKing]

Vietnamese food also seems to be underrepresented on the East Coast whereas here it's an orgy of Indochina eateries, so that may also be an advantage.

 

[NorCal]

When I lived in Portland there were two gay guys that had a soup cart business. They would make the soup in a central kitchen and send their minions out to pimp it from push carts. The soup was great and they made a good living. I knew two people that worked for them and I'm pretty sure they had additional employees.

 

[VKK3450]

I think a food truck would be cool, but doesnt it have a lot of similar issues to running a restaurant?

K

 

[chronoaug]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Would you really buy sushi out of the side of a truck?

People buy a ton of sushi at ****** grocery stores. There's also a prepacked sushi stand when i was in college at this on campus mini-convenient store that always sold a ton. I think you overestimate a majority of americans' food quality standards

 

[Xiaogou]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Vietnamese food also seems to be underrepresented on the East Coast whereas here it's an orgy of Indochina eateries, so that may also be an advantage.

Excellent observation. My wife and I are looking for a place for a banh mi and banh xeo shop. Thing is, we just don't have the time. Just opened a 2nd nail shop at the same mall!

 

[impolyt_one]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

People buy a ton of sushi at ****** grocery stores. There's also a prepacked sushi stand when i was in college at this on campus mini-convenient store that always sold a ton. I think you overestimate a majority of americans' food quality standards

Completely true, we had 'sushi' in our student union too and it was simply a mix of salmon and then california-roll type things. On a scale of 1-10 they got the 1, and they still sold out day after day.


Soup is a great idea. Soup is poised to come back big I think. Have a good selection, 3-5, one vegetarian and one 'interesting' and pair with a nice matching bread and salad for like $8-10, I'd do it for that much (but I love soup too), it could be a 3-tier plastic box thing and you could get custom thin cardstock carriers to give the three plastic containers handles of some sort for portability, kind of riff on the japanese bento box.

Tokyo Soup Stock is a successful fast-food soup chain in Japan that has some good soups and their outposts are all small little corners as well, literally not much bigger than a truck kitchen.

think about it:

-a tomato based soup (bisque or minestrone)
-a cream soup of the day (use your imagination)
-a thicker soup or stew, like clam chowder on a regular basis, a kheema curry, beef stew, Japanese curry rice, Chili, etc
-a light clear consomme or clear chicken broth style soup, also lots of possiblities
-a vegetarian soup
-something 'ethnic' like Tom Yum, Chinese soups, a Korean jjigae or tofu soup, a Japanese dashi-based soup with noodles, etc, you can do all sorts of **** with that.

Breads (or some sort of accompanying carb filler)
-Baguette quarters or halves to serve with most soups
-Naan for curries and maybe a little white rice
-a basic ciabatta or something like that for other soups that suit
-Rice for curry rice, etc

Salad: easily done. Little solo cups of homemade dressings.

Salads and breads could be pre-packed before heading out, and the soups in big stock pots could be made ahead of time and just rest over heat the whole time. Have people in and out of line in seconds.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

People buy a ton of sushi at ****** grocery stores. There's also a prepacked sushi stand when i was in college at this on campus mini-convenient store that always sold a ton. I think you overestimate a majority of americans' food quality standards

I know people do it. I've seen it happen far too often. I was just wondering if you would actually do it. I guess this imaginary scenario is different b/c you'd know the owner, etc.

 

[HRoi]

don't forget the truck horn that plays "La Cucaracha"!