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As the popularity of taco trucks and other mobile food vendors grows, el Restaurante Mexicano turned to the "Too Hot Tamales" duo Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. With the team at their famous Border Grill in Santa Monica, Milliken and Ross debuted the Border Grill Truck in June 2009 to deliver the modern flavors of Mexico to neighborhoods throughout the Los Angeles area.
"It's been an incredible learning process from inception to execution," said Leah Ross, Border Grill's spokesperson. "We started with an idea at a quarterly meeting and launched the truck six months later. What a whirlwind! But the Border Grill team really pulled together and made it happen in a big and successful way."
Here they share some thoughts on their venture into the mobile food business:
ERM: Why do you think this concept of food trucks/street food has become so popular? It seems to have exploded over the past few months.
Milliken: Diners are more and more interested in healthy, delicious, innovative food and they want it fast and conveniently located.
ERM: What are some of the most popular foods served from the truck?
Milliken: These are the dishes that get the most buzz: Yucatan Pork Taco (braised achiote pork, black beans, pickled onion, orange jicama slaw); Carne Asada Taco (caramelized onion, salsa fresca, guacamole); Crispy Baja Fish Taco (with chipotle honey, creamy salsa fresca); Green Corn Tamal (sweet corn, crema, salsa fresca); Peruvian Ceviche (mahi mahi, lime, ginger, aji amarillo chile, pickled onion, corn tortilla cone); and Churro Tots (dulce de leche-infused churros, cinnamon sugar, whipped cream).
ERM: How does it work? For example, who drives the truck, how do they decide where it travels, is it running 7 days a week?
Ross: It is available any day of the week, but we don't always have a booking so there are some days when the truck is resting. We do a combination of catering gigs, office lunches, nightclub and bar partnerships, street festivals, farmers markets. We rarely go somewhere where we haven't been specifically requested. We have a truck staff that is managed by an operations manager and supervisor.
ERM: Are there a lot of upfront costs involved in operating a food truck. Have they found that investment is fairly easy to recoup?
Milliken: The jury is still out. The truck continues to gain popularity and that means increased revenue.
ERM: What are some things restaurateurs should consider before jumping on the food truck bandwagon?
Milliken: Restaurateurs should consider if they have enough manpower to dedicate to the effort. It takes quite a lot of manpower as far as development and management.
Ross: You have to decide if you have the passion, commitment, and quality product to carry you through the process of launching a successful food truck. On the surface, the truck business might seem like a somewhat simple endeavor, at least easier than opening a full-fledged restaurant. But there are so many issues that are unique to food trucks that you won't realize until you get into the thick of it. And the truck culture continues to evolve, creating new hurdles to jump, but luckily new opportunities too.
Keep up with the Border Grill Truck at www.bordergrill.com/bg_t/bg_twel.htm or twitter.com/bordergrill.