benb21•27d ago

I was wrong about needing a $50k food truck to start up

For the longest time I thought you had to drop serious cash on a full-sized truck with a commercial kitchen. I figured anything less would look unprofessional or get shut down by health inspectors. Then I talked to a guy in Austin last month who runs his whole operation out of a converted cargo trailer. He said his total cost was under 8 grand including the trailer, a generator, and a used flat top grill. That got me thinking so I checked the regulations in my city and sure enough, a trailer with a canopy counts as a mobile food unit here. I finally pulled the trigger on a 6x12 trailer last week and now I'm welding up shelves for it. Has anyone else started small with a trailer and later upgraded to a full truck?

3 comments

3 Comments

saraho4827d ago

I saw a guy on reddit who ran a hot dog cart for a year before he stepped up to a trailer, so it works.

davis.dylan27d ago

Hold up, what kind of shelves are you welding up? Like heavy duty metal shelves that can take the weight of a deep fryer or just cheap wire rack storage? Ive seen too many people screw up their layout because they didn't plan for where the grease trap or propane tanks have to sit. Are you leaving room for a three compartment sink or just relying on the city's rules about washing hands?

jenniferwells6h ago

Ditch the wire racks and weld up something that can hold a full fryer. You will not believe how fast a cheap shelf buckles when it's got a 50lb pot of oil on it. And yeah, leave space for the three compartment sink. The health department will make you use it anyway, might as well plan for it now instead of scrambling later.