One of the most well-known cities in the country, New York City, is also one of the best known for its food trucks. NYC food trucks are considered to be some of the best in the country and some of the most varied as well. These food trucks are often some of the most profitable, because the areas that they are located in have some of the highest levels of foot traffic of any area throughout the entire country. As a result, New York City food trucks continue to flourish.
If you’re looking to become one of the next NYC food trucks you need to understand some of the basic success factors and important rules. These include rules on allowable NYC food truck locations, what licenses you need in order to operate and what types of food you are going to serve. There are many things that are necessary to understand thoroughly if you are setting out to work anywhere in New York City and if you don’t understand the NYC food trucks rules you could end up with a big fine or worse.
The Top 5 NYC Food Trucks
What you need to know is how to emulate some of those greatest and most successful food trucks and that’s precisely what we are going to tell you here.
The top five in the area are Korilla BBQ, Milk Truck, El Olomega, Calexico and Souvlaki GR. These trucks are touted by several different sources as offering some of the best there is in NYC food trucks and there are several reasons for those rave reviews. Sure you’re looking to open your own food truck but in order to have success you need to make sure you know what’s giving other trucks their success.
Korilla BBQ is not just a typically BBQ truck. It actually serves Korean food, BBQ style. You are able to create your own chosun bowl or you can get tacos made with different types of meat and fried rice. They also have their own barbecue sauce and, what really draws in more of the crowd is the fact that they serve 100% vegetarian meals as well. New options for vegetarians are always a good idea because of the limited choices normally offered to them.
The Milk Truck is a small dairy style truck. From this truck you’ll get something you might not expect from a food truck, grilled cheese. You’ll also get milkshakes and breakfast sandwiches made with eggs and specialty cheeses. What seems to draw people this truck is the difference between it and what’s offered everywhere else. Not in many places can you find specialty breads and cheeses at a food cart, and definitely not a lot that are serving grilled cheese and homemade milkshakes of high quality while you’re on the go.
El Olomega is a seasonal truck but it’s always located in the same spot, next to the Brooklyn Ballfields. This truck serves Salvadorean food and is well known mostly for their pupusas. These are a family recipe that has been made and sold for over 20 years. They contain tortillas with shredded pork, chicken, plantains and zucchini as well as loroco flower (yes we did in fact spell that properly). These pupusas seem to keep people coming back again and again and even seem able to compete with the soccer games going on beside them. The key is to have something different and unique that tastes great and keeps people loyal to you.
Calexico is a California style food truck serving Mexican cuisine. It parks near Flatiron or SoHo typically which makes it easy to find when you want the food (always a good idea) and boasts a smaller cart outside the Barclays Center. They boast a menu of carne asada, ground beef, chipotle pork and other spicy ingredients all rolled into a tortilla for a hearty Mexican meal on the go. This is also one of the few trucks of its kind as Mexican food isn’t as prominent in New York City. It’s always a good idea to be easy to be found by your customers, especially if you want regulars.
“The top five in the area are Korilla BBQ, Milk Truck, El Olomega, Calexico and Souvlaki GR. These trucks are touted by several different sources as offering some of the best there is in NYC food trucks…”
Finally we have Souvlaki GR which actually has become so popular it was able to open a true restaurant as well as the traditional food truck everyone knows and loves. This truck serves pitas with your choice of veggies, spicy dip and meats and has been found on many different streets (as well as the physical location in the Lower East Side). If you’re looking to follow this truck’s success you need to know where to stop and where your best customer base is going to be. Develop a routine that you will be known for and more people will be able to find you when they want your food. NYC food trucks schedules can be found on Twitter by following your favorite trucks or on NYC informational sites such as infofornyc.com.
The novice mobile food vendor has the opportunity to gain a huge competitive edge by studying the details of the most popular NYC food trucks. Patronize as many popular food trucks as you can and study their success secrets – even ask them questions about why they think so many people love them, if you dare! And make sure you attend the NYC Food Trucks Festival, now in its second year.