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Joel F

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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Joel F » Sun Aug 25, 2013 9:48 am

that truck had a fryer so it wasn't just pre-wrapped / commercial goods. but yes, it's wasn't the current class of fancy trucks.

;-)
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Doug Davis

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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Doug Davis » Mon Aug 26, 2013 12:28 pm

Yeah we had chow trucks in the 80's while in the Army. We called them roach coaches.
They would carry all premade stuff like burritos or sandwiches.
I eat, therefore I am.
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Steve P

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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Steve P » Mon Aug 26, 2013 4:48 pm

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.
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Margie L

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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Margie L » Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:59 am

It's an extension of an old idea. Street vendors have been around forever. While cooking in a truck is relatively recent, providing food on-the-go is not. In the 1940's my family had a grocery store that served lunch. They expanded to selling sandwiches from a truck. From the 50's to the end of the century, Williams had food trucks in Louisville that mostly serviced industrial sites.

I suspect that the competition with B&M restaurants is greater now because of the higher quality being produced by food trucks. They are now truly restaurants on wheels,
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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Mark R. » Tue Aug 27, 2013 1:12 pm

Margie, Williams still does have trucks providing food service at some of the local industrial plants. I've actually eaten off a couple of them. They fill a purpose but that's about it, the quality is certainly not up to par with any of the local food trucks I've eaten off of.

Along the same lines, does anyone know what kind of regulations these trucks fall under?
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Joel F

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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Joel F » Tue Sep 10, 2013 1:34 pm

Anyone interested in a humorous take on this very issue should check out Season 2: Episode 5 of Bob's Burgers (available streaming on netflix)
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Iggy C

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Re: Food trucks stealing business from QSR restaurants

by Iggy C » Tue Sep 10, 2013 1:42 pm

Love Bob's Burgers! That is a good episode.
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