FOOD TRUCKS

Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
westie said:
To me food trucks lower the appeal of Disney. I am a fan of roach coaches. The best burrito in town comes from a roach coach but, I don't want to see that on my vacation. My apologize to those that bring their own food but, the wife and I are Disney foodies and plan our trips around meals. Steakhouse 55, Uva Bar and Trader Sam's are our go to's. Food trucks just take away from the glory that is Disney imo.
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The atrocious burgers Disney sells in the parks lower the appeal for me. They're disgusting.

These trucks will probably be in their own area, in DtD at that. If the food is good, why would it matter if it's coming from a food truck? I could see if they had plans to place these trucks throughout DL and DCA.

I'm a foodie, too. If the food is coming from a sanitary place and it's tasty, I'm down for it.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
The atrocious burgers Disney sells in the parks lower the appeal for me. They're disgusting.

These trucks will probably be in their own area, in DtD at that. If the food is good, why would it matter if it's coming from a food truck? I could see if they had plans to place these trucks throughout DL and DCA.

I'm a foodie, too. If the food is coming from a sanitary place and it's tasty, I'm down for it.
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The trucks will be at the former Downtown Disney Valet drop-off area on week 1 (Between the ESPNZone and Rainforest Café).

Then it will move to where Disney sets up the large outdoor Christmas tree and ice skating area (lawn) across from the ESPN Zone and next to the Adventure Tower.

As for attracting locals, I doubt it, as mentioned, The Habit has many brick and mortar locations in the area, and it isn't worth the hassle to drive and find a parking space just to eat off a truck with very little seating. Sorry, food trucks don't do a lot for me. I can see them at the local fair and other events as an option, I eat off them regularly at the StubHub! Center during the LA Galaxy Games, but I eat at my seat, and plenty of restrooms are available. (They bring in the trucks to sit near the Tennis Stadium section of the facility inside the turnstiles).

Heck, maybe Disney is just testing the market, and will convert the former House of Blues space into a nice large food Court area like you wind at the Main Place Mall. Time for some Mongolian BBQ and Panda Express.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
GiveMeTheMusic said:
What?
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A friend of mine use to work for a food truck company. He said, they would sell the trucks to people with no money down but high interest rates. As part of the deal for the truck, they had to buy their supplies from them too. Supplies were of course marked up high. This makes it almost impossible for food truck owner to make money and to keep his truck.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
phruby said:
A friend of mine use to work for a food truck company. He said, they would sell the trucks to people with no money down but high interest rates. As part of the deal for the truck, they had to buy their supplies from them too. Supplies were of course marked up high. This makes it almost impossible for food truck owner to make money and to keep his truck.
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Sounds like how the Taxi Cab business used to work...

OK, you have to remember that let alone do you need a food truck, but an approved area to prep your food (kitchen) per County Health Regulations. So there are a few companies that offer a turn key service, a place to store your truck (that is often rented/leased), a building with an approved clean kitchen (right equipment, stainless steel tables, etc.) a warehouse with refrigeration and freezer space. And of course, since the company owns the space, they sell you the food and supplies. So yes, folks can get trapped in having to work hard to just make the payments. As the industry has grown, there are more options and more competition in those who supply the services though.

Now on the other hand, many folks get into the Food Truck business to scam the system. Many are cash business so they can underreport their income, use "helpers" that get paid in cash and not employees with the protections that come with that title, and in some cases, avoid paying any rent by setting up on city streets (and is that fair to those brick and mortar nearby who do have to pay their bills and employee taxes?).

Now the system is getting better, and most trucks now pay for a space on private property, use true employees and pay their taxes (Say The Habit).
 
SSG

SSG

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It’s a little funny that these trucks will be right next to ESPN Zone, where you can get fries, wings and burgers.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Virtual Insanity said:
At least in the instances TP talks about, So Cal started the trend. Sprinkles is an LA brand and Hollywood is responsible for the cupcake trend beginning. The food truck craze really took off in LA. A lot of talented chefs did not have enough money to open a restaurant in So Cal and turned to food trucks and creating a higher end food truck product then what was the traditional truck that came around at lunch time.
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Eh... not sure about that. But I can understand if a SoCal native thinks that, or told you that. Native Southern Californians are notoriously provincial, and they consider a weekend trip to Las Vegas as "traveling". They rarely leave SoCal though, and think when some trend arrives from Seattle or Portland or Austin or New York that it must have been invented here.

The gourmet cupcake craze started in New York in the late 1990's, and reached fashion zenith around 2003. Magnolia Bakery in New York, and all the fashionistas seen taking expensive cupcakes to people as hostess gifts and office offerings, was the inspiration for the gourmet cupcakes being featured in plotlines on Sex And The City episodes in '01 and '02, and in The Devil Wears Prada movie that was filmed in '05. Sprinkles Cupcakes in West LA first opened in 2005, but that was a few years after the New York trend had been exposed on TV and movies.

As for gourmet food trucks, that one is harder to pin down. Although I remember visiting Portland before Disneyland's 50th around '04 and everyone was talking about how hip it was to go down to the Pearl District in downtown and dine from gourmet food trucks and artisanal food carts. By the late 2000's the trend had peaked in Portland (although it still exists in huge numbers there), but people were doing it in all the hip cities by then like Austin, San Francisco, etc.

In LA it got a later start than those other cities, but LA entrepreneurs have certainly put their own spin on the food truck culture in the 2010's.

And a catering truck from corporate burger chain Habit Burger doesn't count as a legit food truck. Portlanders would laugh their head off if they knew.
 
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Travel Junkie

Travel Junkie

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Eh... not sure about that. But I can understand if a SoCal native thinks that, or told you that. Native Southern Californians are notoriously provincial, and they consider a weekend trip to Las Vegas as "traveling". They rarely leave SoCal though, and think when some trend arrives from Seattle or Portland or Austin or New York that it must have been invented here.
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Will agree to disagree on you post in general but will single this out. I am a native Southern Californian and my passport is very full, having visited 6 continents and I am hardly alone. Over 60% of Californian's own passports and with So Cal representing the bulk of the state population, best be assured that most are very well traveled compared to the rest of the U.S. Certainly American's in general are not as traveled as our European friends, but Southern Californian's, even the native ones are very well traveled and people who think otherwise are stuck in Hollywood stereotypes. Most of the ego driven everything revolves around me Hollywood and south OC types are imports.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

TP2000 said:
As for gourmet food trucks, that one is harder to pin down. Although I remember visiting Portland before Disneyland's 50th around '04 and everyone was talking about how hip it was to go down to the Pearl District in downtown and dine from gourmet food trucks and artisanal food carts.
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This aligns with when the trend became big here in SF. It seemed to spread as the economy went south and blue collar hipster chic became popular in The Mission district. This led to the birth of pop up events like the SF Street Food Festival and Off the Grid. Like Portland we now have several food truck "parks" around town that host local bands, neighborhood trivia nights and the like.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
One of the three Food Trucks (Dos Chinos) going to DtD hosts a nearby Food Truck event on Tuesday Nights at a Home Depot I shop at regularly. (I have 2 HD's near my house).

https://www.facebook.com/StreetFoodTuesday/

Sorry, while it will be a nice option for the Three Disney Owned Hotel guests, since it is on the west end of DtD, I just don't see locals even thinking about trying to attend DtD on a Holiday weekend, due to the traffic and parking issues.
 
PacNWTigger

PacNWTigger

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
And a catering truck from corporate burger chain Habit Burger doesn't count as a legit food truck. Portlanders would laugh their head off if they knew.
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We know...and we do laugh about it up here. The one thing about food trucks in and around the Portland area is that they can't park in the street. They either need to get permission from a building owner to park in their lot or park in one of the many pods that are set up all over town.

I'm curious to see the offerings at DLR. I'm sure they will measure up just fine to the brick & mortars in the area because of the convenience.
 
SSG

SSG

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Darkbeer1 said:
Sorry, while it will be a nice option for the Three Disney Owned Hotel guests, since it is on the west end of DtD, I just don't see locals even thinking about trying to attend DtD on a Holiday weekend, due to the traffic and parking issues.
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I’m sure that’s correct, but I can’t imagine Disney thinks this would draw anyone to DTD who wasn’t at the resort already. I see this as more of an experiment on things to offer when the new hotel arrives and Star Wars Land ramps up park attendance.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

In-N-Out is life? And you think the burgers Disney serves are bad? o_O
 
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Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Oh come on, Disney burgers are crap, frozen, poor buns, weak veggies...

In-n-Out is one of the highest rated Burgers in the USA, always fresh and a classic, and raved by many Chefs....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-N-Out_Burger

>>The chain also has fans in a number of renowned chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Thomas Keller, Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, and Mario Batali. Famous London chef/restaurateur Ramsay ate In-N-Out for the first time when taping Hell's Kitchen in Los Angeles, and it soon became one of his favorite spots for take-out. Ramsay was quoted, saying about the experience: "In-N-Out burgers were extraordinary. I was so bad, I sat in the restaurant, had my double cheeseburger then minutes later I drove back round and got the same thing again to take away." Thomas Keller, a fan of In-N-out, celebrated with In-N-Out burgers at the anniversary party of his restaurant, The French Laundry. Keller also plans on opening his own burger restaurant inspired by his Los Angeles experience of In-N-Out. Julia Child, one of the first celebrities to champion the chain, admitted to knowing every location of the restaurant between Santa Barbara and San Francisco. Child also had the burgers delivered to her during a hospital stay. Anthony Bourdain reportedly said that In-N-Out was his favorite fast food meal; later naming the restaurant as "the best restaurant in Los Angeles." In-N-Out was one of the very few restaurant chains given a positive mention in the book Fast Food Nation. The book commended the chain for using natural and fresh ingredients and for looking after the interests of employees regarding pay and benefits. An In-N-Out food truck catered Vanity Fair's 2012 Academy Awards after party.<<

Maybe Disney should join Six Flags and Knott's/Cedar Fair in serving Johnny Rockets..... Anything has to be better than what is served in park. (Some of the DtD offerings like ESPNZone are good).
 

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