James Cunningham has profiled several mobile food trucks on his Eat Street show including Chi'Lantro BBQ, which serves Korean-Mexican in Austin, TX, Grilled Cheese Truck in Los Angeles, CA and Fukuburger serving Japanese/ American fusion in Las Vegas, NV.
The Smithsonian Magazine explains the trend
At a time in America when finances are shaky, yet even modest big-city restaurant spaces involve multimillion-dollar build-outs, when consumers have wearied of giant chains but still demand food that is novel, inexpensive and fast, food trucks are the new incubators of culinary innovation.
I heard James on radio recently describing how social media has accelerated the trend. Kate Williams explains in a blog and cites Kogi BBQ’s Tweets (photo below)
These vendors use social media to: 1) notify large numbers of followers where they will be set up to deliver food services from hour to hour, day to day; 2) stay in touch with customers and deliver valuable information; 3) deliver “just in time” customer service.
In turn, as we know social fans are pretty passionate, so the mobile food trend is accelerating. Indeed, later this year, Portland, OR will host Roam, the first major event for mobile food.
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