Robin Garr wrote: I can remember working at a regional newspaper in the LA area (Glendale/Pasadena) back in the '70s and heading out at midmorning for a snack from the "roach coach." Those things go back for decades! They were well-named, too. But it's not really a valid comparison since food trucks are set up with professional, inspected restaurant kitchens rather than a guy with a stool and boxes of packaged donuts and cokes and stuff.
Mmmmmmmm....I guess my recollection of the old "roach coach" is slightly different. While stationed in Norfolk VA, the Norfolk Naval Base had a "fleet" of the old aluminum hulled "roach coaches". The food (hot and cold) was prepared in a clean military-inspected commissary environment by a civilian contractor. The coaches would be loaded with fresh food for each meal and they would cast off from the commissary 3x a day and make way to their assigned piers. They'd pull up right next to the brow of the ship (that's "gang plank" for you non-squids) and always did a good business....The sandwiches, particularly the good ol' back-in-the-day east coast "torpedo" sandwiches were awesome.
To each their own and if someone is enamored of the present truck-trend, good on 'em. Personally I'm not a big fan...for a variety of reasons but that said I think I'd put our old Navy roach coaches up against most of what I've seen around town...both in terms of cleanliness and food quality.