The Gentrification of Food Trucks

[tablesaw]

Last week, I was planning on heading down to Grand Central Market to pick up some food. On my way there, I noticed that across the street was a new food truck. I grabbed a beef taco, and it was pretty good. Today, I went out, and there was a new truck. I had some chicken and short-rib tacos, which were very good.

I don't know if you've heard about this, but there's some crazy stuff going on with "nouveau" food trucks.

Today you can find food trucks offering hot dogs made from grass-fed organic beef (Let's Be Frank); eco-friendly hamburgers, falafel and fish tacos (Green Truck on the Go); architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches (Coolhaus);tonkatsu burgers on rice patties (Marked 5); sushi rolls (Fishlips Sushi); vegan sausages (the Franken Stand); all manner of "fusion" tacos (Kogi BBQ, Calbi BBQ, Bool BBQ, Don Chow Tacos); and coming soon, Vietnamese-style banh mi sandwiches (Nom Nom Truck).

. . . .

There hasn't been a food trend this hyped since Pinkberry and its imitators began mushrooming in vacant strip mall storefronts.

—Elina Shatkin, "The Food Trucks Just Keep Rolling," Los Angeles Times.

The truck that was there last week was Bool BBQ, and the one there today was LA Fuxion. Both trucks were brightly painted (and brightly branded) with name, website, and twitter feed.

I still get a little weirded out by them. I mean, food trucks are an essential part of Los Angeles. A while back, the county of Los Angeles tried to prevent food trucks from stopping in one place for more than an hour. Pulitzer Prize–food critic Jonathan Gold wrote about how the taco trucks scattered around the city provide some of the best eating experiences one can get. I've certainly had some amazing food from them myself. (Sadly, the regular food truck outside my building is pretty pathetic, so I've always walked past it after my first day.)

It's nice to have a new option when I walk outside the building. Both trucks were reasonably priced (not all of them are), and the food was good. And from the perspective of somebody walking out of an office building wondering what to eat, it's nice to have a transitory new option. I guess I should start paying attention to who and what shows up in that spot.

But the hype is still pretty weird. I mean, other than novelty, the food felt on par with some of the good stuff I can get and Grand Central Market and other places in the shadow of Bunker Hill. But, you know, those places aren't friendable on Facebook. (I'm not friendable on Facebook either, so perhaps I'm biased.)

I'm glad I went, but I'm not going to miss it tomorrow. I like the idea of these trucks coming to me more than I like the idea of driving around trying to find them.

Comments

[evilprodigy.livejournal.com]

Gentrified food trucks sound like the trippiest fucking experience there's ever been.

[lqc]

Yeah, I don't recall where, but I had heard about this awhile back. And it lead to <A HREF="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2009/06/mobile-dessert-trucks-los-angeles-gear-up-for-a-turf-war.html>this article</A>. Alas, I have always worked down in O.C., stuck in the shadow of D-land. So I don't get quite the same experience as the L.A. crowd.

[flourish]

We have gentrified food trucks in Boston, too. I do like them, primarily because there's one right outside my office, and it actually is a better option than Au Bon Pain/Cosi, which are the 'real storefront' restaurants also nearby.

coffee trucks!

[(Anonymous)]

one of my first jobs "in a big city" was in a remote area where the only eats was a coffee truck. I remember thinking it'd be awesome to get a truck and serve what I'd now call "slow food". Nice to know it's actually happening, and sometimes at a price that the original market can afford to eat a little better.
--cthulhia

Re: coffee trucks!

[tablesaw]

I don't know that there's anything particularly slow for the nouveau food trucks compared to most of the other street food options. Certainly the Mexican fruit cart nearby is slower and uses fresher ingredients.

[seekingferret]

That can't top what I saw this past weekend, the Lost Horizon Noodle Truck- a full-service, sit-down Japanese noodle restaurant in the back of a truck.

[davidglasser.livejournal.com]

There are lots of these trucks in SF these days too.

Though honestly... the whole "friendable on Facebook, twitter feed, etc" thing seems to be common for new restaurants (and businesses) in general in SF. And it sure is a lot easier to start a new food truck than a new brick-and-mortar restaurant with much funding, I'd guess. So I'd just see this as a trend leader or whatever...