Chuckwagon, 1880s
Although it may seem like Food Trucks are the “new thing” in the restaurant industry, especially in Miami where the Food Truck craze didn’t really start until 2009, these mobile kitchens have apparently been around for quite some time.
Interestingly, the idea for food trucks seemed to originate from Chuckwagons, wagons that roamed the prairies of the United States beginning in the 1860’s and offered basic meals to travelers.
(Flavorwire.com posted a photo history of food trucks in September and we have borrowed some of their photos for this post.)
Shoe Bar Chuckwagon, 1912
These Chuckwagons evolved into lunch wagons in urban cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.
However today, food trucks have become something much more than just a quick lunch venue. Today’s food trucks specialize in specific gourmet cuisine. In fact you could call it a movement. Food trucks collaborate and interact with one another to host food truck events and their prices are often similar to that of a regular restaurant of the same style.
According to an info graphic about the food truck phenomenon, food trucks really started to become popularized in 2008 when trucks in New York City and Los Angeles began to use Social Media outlets like Twitter and Facebook to promote food truck enthusiasm. In 2010, Los Angeles even began to require food trucks to undergo health inspections.
The movement has since spread all the way south to Miami. The Latin Burger and Taco is supposedly Miami’s first food truck, followed quickly by the Gastro Pod.
Also, specifically for South Florida readers: rumor has it food trucks gather every Thursday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Café and Casino.
Websites like miamifoodtrucks.com, mobilecravings.com, orlandosfoodtrucks.com and foodtrucksmap.com provide trackers for food trucks. Whether you want a national directory, a regional or even a local directory, a food truck website exists.
Emmaculate Reflections restaurant cleaning services, kitchen cleaning services, hotel cleaning services, and country club cleaning services provides a nightly cleaning service to mostly traditional restaurants. But we have started to expand our operations into cleaning food trucks. Interested in a nightly cleaning service for your food truck? Email us at sales@emmaculatereflections.com or fill out our contact form.
Don’t forget: Connect with all the food trucks and Emmaculate Reflections on Twitter! Social Media is how the food truck movement started.
