c/food-trucks-and-carts

A regular told me my tacos were too wet and messy to eat

This guy who comes by my truck every Friday said, 'Paul, I love the flavor, but I need a napkin for each bite.' He was right. I was overloading the corn tortillas with salsa and crema, making them fall apart. I started putting the wet stuff on the side in little cups, and it's way better. Anyone else get a piece of simple advice that fixed a big problem?

PSA: A cheap $15 cooler fan saved my bacon last week in Austin

My truck's fridge compressor died on a 95 degree day, but I rigged a battery powered fan to blow over a block of ice in the cooler. Anyone know a good mobile repair guy near 6th Street?

I finally saw why my truck's line was always so short

For months, I thought my tacos in Charlotte were great but I never had a real crowd. A friend came by and said, 'Your sign just says 'Tacos' and your truck is plain white. How would I know what you sell?' I spent $200 on a simple banner with a big picture of my best taco and my hours. The next week, my line was twice as long. What's one small change that got people to notice your truck?

Am I the only one who just found out about the 'secret' food truck lot behind the old mill?

I drove past that spot for three years before a buddy in line at a taco cart finally told me about it last month. Has anyone else been to that hidden spot in Riverside?

Pro tip: a bag of ice and a parking ticket solved my generator noise problem

My taco truck's generator was so loud it kept getting complaints at a spot near the library in Tacoma. I finally put a heavy moving blanket over it, then balanced a half-full bag of party ice on top as extra weight. The noise dropped by half and a cop who came by just gave me a parking ticket instead of a noise fine. Has anyone else found a weird fix that actually worked for a loud generator?

My taco truck's new generator took four hours to start... because of a plastic fork

I was setting up for a festival in Portland last weekend and the brand new generator just wouldn't turn over. I checked the fuel, the oil, the spark plug... everything looked fine. After nearly four hours of swearing and checking every manual, my buddy spotted a tiny plastic fork from our lunch jammed in the choke lever. It was stopping it from moving into the right position. We pulled it out and it started on the first try. Has anyone else had their day ruined by something that stupid?

My taco truck's salsa verde was a total flop for months, then a customer gave me a tip.

I was using raw tomatillos for my green sauce, and it always came out way too sharp and bitter. A regular who owns a restaurant in town finally said, 'You gotta char those first, man, it changes everything.' Has anyone else had a simple cooking step they were missing that made a huge difference in their truck's food?

Rant: The new taco truck on 5th Street is using way too much cilantro

I tried the al pastor tacos from 'El Camion Feliz' yesterday and the flavor was completely buried under a mountain of raw cilantro. I asked for light cilantro, but it was still a huge handful. Has anyone else had this problem there, or is it just me? What's the best way to ask for no cilantro without sounding difficult?

Our truck's propane regulator froze up on a Friday night in Denver

It took me four hours of messing with it, a trip to the hardware store, and finally a call to my buddy who runs a taco truck to figure out I just needed to swap the tank orientation. Anyone know a good way to stop that from happening when it gets cold?

Spent a whole day figuring out our truck's weird fridge drain clog

Our cold prep fridge on the truck started leaking water into the floor pan last Friday. I thought it was a quick fix, maybe a loose hose. Turned out to be a tiny piece of lettuce stem stuck way down in the drain tube. Took me and a buddy like 6 hours to find it because we had to pull the whole fridge unit out to see. Anyone else had a random food bit cause a huge mess like that?

My brother said food trucks are just overpriced Instagram bait now

He pointed out that a basic grilled cheese from a truck in Denver cost him $14 last month. Has anyone else noticed prices getting out of hand?

Pro tip: a regular customer told me my truck's tacos were 'soggy' after 15 minutes in the container.

I started double-wrapping the tortillas in foil and a paper towel to absorb steam, and it fixed the whole thing. Anyone have a better trick for keeping takeout tacos from getting mushy?

Vent: My food truck's new generator decided to be a diva right before the big festival in Springfield.

What should have been a simple 30-minute check turned into a 4-hour ordeal of tracing a faulty ground wire my partner had 'fixed' with duct tape and a prayer last month.

I thought the $14 lobster roll from that blue truck was a tourist trap for sure.

Tried it on a whim at the county fair last year and it was packed with fresh, sweet meat that changed my mind completely. Anyone found a hidden gem truck that surprised them?

Just hit 500 tacos sold in a single day at my truck

I run a small taco truck in Austin, and yesterday we sold exactly 500 tacos. That number blew my mind because our usual best day was around 300. I think the big jump happened because we finally nailed our birria recipe (it took us about two months of tweaking). We had a line down the block from 11 AM until we sold out at 7 PM. Honestly, I'm still tired from it. Has anyone else had a day where sales just went crazy for no obvious reason?

Spent $400 on a fancy menu board and it was a total mistake

Everyone says you need a big digital screen to look professional, so I got one for my taco truck. It cost me around $400 and I set it up in Phoenix last month. Honestly, it's been nothing but trouble. The glare in the sun makes it impossible to read, and it just looks out of place next to the other trucks with simple chalkboards. I thought it would save me time changing prices, but now I'm constantly fiddling with it instead of cooking. Has anyone else gone back to a basic menu after trying something high-tech?

Had to choose between a new truck or fixing my old one for good.

My 2008 step van needed a new engine, about $15k. The other option was a $75k loan for a brand new truck. I chose the fix. Got the work done in Tacoma over three weeks. Now I know every inch of that engine. Feels more solid than a new payment hanging over me. Anyone else go the rebuild route and feel like it was the smarter play?

Found a food truck in Austin that does breakfast tacos with homemade flour tortillas

I was in Austin for a job last month and got to the site super early. I was starving and saw this truck, 'Sunrise Tacos', set up in a gas station lot. The guy was already rolling out dough by hand. I got a basic bacon and egg, and the tortilla was the star. It was soft, a little chewy, and had those perfect browned spots. He told me he makes the dough fresh every morning at 4 AM because, and I quote, 'the store stuff tastes like paper'. It cost me $4.50 and was honestly the best part of that trip. Has anyone else found a spot where the tortilla itself is the main event?

PSA: Had to choose between a permit for the downtown plaza or the weekly farmers market spot

The city only had one open slot left for a new vendor, so I picked the plaza for the foot traffic. After two months, I'm barely covering costs because the lunch crowd is all office workers who just want cheap sandwiches. Should I try to switch to the Saturday market instead, even with the higher fee?

PSA: A customer's weird comment made me change my whole taco truck setup

Honestly, this guy at the Portland Saturday Market last month told me my 'El Diablo' chorizo tacos were 'too symmetrical' and it threw off the 'street food vibe'. Ngl, I laughed at first, but then I realized I was arranging every single taco with the same exact toppings in the same order. Now I just do a messy, quick scoop of each thing and sales actually went up. Has anyone else gotten a piece of feedback that sounded silly but ended up being kinda right?

The week my taco truck ran out of tortillas at a festival

It was the first day of the Riverfront Festival in Cincinnati, and we had a line around the block by 11 AM. Our usual supplier had a truck breakdown, so we only got half our normal flour tortilla order. By 2 PM, we were completely out. I had to send a runner to three different grocery stores to buy every pack they had, which cost us nearly double. We lost about two hours of sales and had to turn away maybe 60 people. Has anyone else had a main ingredient supply chain just collapse on a big day?

A broken fryer at the county fair made me rethink my whole menu

My fryer gave out on the second day of the Lincoln County Fair last summer, right at lunch rush. I had to pivot fast and started selling the loaded baked potatoes I had prepped as a side. They sold out in an hour and people kept coming back asking for them. Now, I run a spud-focused cart on weekends and it's my biggest seller. Anyone else had a gear failure force a change that actually worked out?

Back in 2012, the best truck in town was the one with the longest line. Now everyone just looks at their phones.

I was at a festival in Austin last month and saw three people walk up to a truck, stare at the menu on their screen, and leave without even looking at the actual food being made. They were checking reviews for a 'photogenic' burrito while missing the guy hand-pressing tortillas right in front of them. The whole point used to be watching the cook work and smelling what was fresh. Has anyone else seen this happen where you are?

I keep seeing food trucks in my city put their menu signs way too high up. People have to crane their necks to read them, especially at night.

The taco truck on 5th Street used to have a line around the block, now it's just a couple people. What happened?

Honestly, I've been going to El Jefe's Tacos on 5th for about three years now. Back in 2021, you'd easily wait 20 minutes for their al pastor. The vibe was great, the food was hot and fresh, and they always had a new salsa to try. I swung by last week and there were maybe two people in line. The truck itself looks a bit more worn, and the menu hasn't changed at all. I got my usual, and it was fine, but it just didn't hit the same. It feels like they stopped trying to keep things fresh, you know? Has anyone else seen a favorite truck just kind of fade like this? What do you think makes a spot lose its spark?