BBQ food truck questions?

I have no idea why I'm going down this rabbit hole...

J, I'm curious as to what the rules / laws in your counties about the prepping of the food. Seems like the truck itself will meet all the needs of a commercial kitchen but no one allows food to be cooked at home and many require the pits to be screened in. I guess if your hauling your pits behind you and cooking onsite your good to go but if your plan is to cook and hold for like Brenham football, etc. Where are you going to do the actual smoking?

I punted on the food truck idea for two reasons, a.- no one is liquidating any funds my way and it was not cheap as I'm sure you know. b.- I could not figure out the pit issue. Well I could but I'm giving into the "Texas Hype" and using "non gassers".

so, I'm going with a trailer and a screened in porch. allows me to smoke just about where ever I'm at.

Looks like an awesome rig!

stuffed pulled pork potatoes and turkey legs are two of my favorite things. Especially in events. I would hire you for a small 50 person work party we have every year if you were in SC.

Good luck and keep the updates coming. This is a 10 year down the line dream of mine and I am anxious to see how it goes for you.

Out of curiosity what is your start up budget if you dont mind me asking

Since I am new here, but not new to being self employed I hate starting off with a critical post. If your start up budget is 200K and you sink all of that into the truck and smoker that you pull behind it then I must ask what are you going to operate on? 200K is peanuts in the business world. And that truck is going to run close to that.

Now for your truck. Have you ever been inside a Utilimaster chassis? How many people are going to be working in it at the same time? Your center aisle is going to be what maybe 26 to 28 inches wide at best. Putting a stove and flat top right across from your customer window is pure folly. You have a window person and a cook... They are going to be pretty tight up and butt bumping continuously. The first time your counter help bumps into your cook and goes off balance you are going to have a burn injury on your hands. Moving your gen set center chassis and your stove grill aft makes far more sense. Looking at your design I doubt that you have enough room to swing open the doors on your freezer and fridge. Your layout needs a lot more editing and thought overall.

Now let's take up your attitude.... IT SUCKS. You ask for help and then rain on anyone that offers positive advice. You can't be self employed and have an attitude like that. You will have a rep like Amy's Baking Company before you know it. I am not hating or denigrating I am just telling you that you need to change modes before you step off the end of the dock.

I wish you all the luck with your start up... But please mellow out and take the suggestions you receive better. Mobile food is a whole different animal than theme restaurant brick and mortars.

But then again.... As you said... You have it all figured out. You need to add some humility to that recipe.

With 200k you would've better to open a restaurant than trying to vend. Vending is not as glorious as it seems.

I recently took possession of a newly built 38' gooseneck concession trailer. The first issue that jumped out to me based on my limited experience is the size of your water tanks, especially when you are selling fountain sodas. Also, you have to consider the source and quality of water when doing that. You will be required to get water from an approved source.

After getting your water from the approved source, you have to get it to the fountain at the correct rate of flow (additional pumps w/pressure tanks), and it will likely need to be filtered of chlorine after leaving the tank. I learned about the chlorine filter the hard way when at my first event, the soda tasted like it was made with pool water.

Also, I do not see any notes about an ice machine. We go through an incredible amount of ice, and the cold plate on your fountain will consume far more than you think. Even with a 200 pound ice maker, we are constantly using bagged ice to keep up with demand.

We carry about 200 gallons of water in our tanks, and have 200 gallons more in a support vehicle tanks. (support vehicles could be their own topic) The support vehicle tanks were purchased out of necessity in the middle of a long event where we ran out of water.

Even with the fountain, you will also need to carry plenty of bottled water and cans of soda/gatorade. You are building something with a big footprint (as I did) and it is going to be critical that you maximize profits in every way possible, as your costs are going to be much higher than others. You might be paying 3x what the guy is paying who erected a 10x10 tent paid just to get into an event. Odds are, you can't afford to just be sitting there selling BBQ (the lowest profit item on a BBQ menu).

I don't want to speak on the BBQ business, as I am not necessarily a BBQ guy. I do enjoy it, will sell it, but usually prefer to leave that to guys who do it exclusively. One thing I have noticed about many food trucks and concession trailers at events is the bottleneck at the window. When you talk of cutting the brisket in front of the customers and also selling them fountain sodas out of that same window, it immediately concerns me.

One last bit of advice, you really need to work hard on the business plan and be realistic before you build anything. I have had to modify my menu numerous times to get into events because many are looking for product diversity. I knew that going in and built my business to be agile in that sense. If you are going to commit to a BBQ business, you need to figure out how you are going to compete with the thousands of other BBQ businesses that exist. Also, be prepared to be turned away because they already have three other BBQ guys. I can't tell you how many people think the food business is as simple as making great food. That is just one component, and often the easiest. Getting in position for someone to buy your food is the challenge.

/2-cents

^+10 on that business plan. That will be the toughest two weeks of your career writing one up that is based on reality and not pie in the sky. Those short term and 2 or 5 year projections will snag you by the short hairs. But that is the key to determining if your idea is viable or not.

Remember I am not saying you don't have what it takes. Nor am I saying you will fail. I just think you are doing a lot an a dream and not enough on paper.

I am working on a similar idea and like Fooskey said you need to take water and ice into serious consideration. I am looking at a trailer that will haul 1000 gallons and am not sure that will be enough. You are going to have a nice rig if you build it correctly but don't forget your support vehicles... I am looking at not only the food truck trailing the smoker but two full size pick ups pulling the rest of the portable restaurant.

Another thing you may want to take into consideration is a propane fired gen set. Here they are about $3.5K and produce 7500 watts continuous. They are also much quieter and better smelling than their diesel counterparts.

"I would like some of the vendors that do BBQ, sandwiches, sides, catering to chime in and lemme know if I'm missing anything on this truck." - jmoney7269.

Sorry for giving my assessment of what you are missing. After running my BBQ place for over a year and having to make changes that would improve work flow from the original lay out. I pointed out things that I though would make your life easier. I don't care if you slice in front of customers or not. You will need something to hold the meat between customer. If you plan on running back to the proofer every time you make a sandwich that is your call. Also pulled pork will have to be somewhere, I didn't see where you are holding that. Since you have this all figured out.

Good luck.

PanamaExpat said:

^+10 on that business plan. That will be the toughest two weeks of your career writing one up that is based on reality and not pie in the sky. Those short term and 2 or 5 year projections will snag you by the short hairs. But that is the key to determining if your idea is viable or not.

Remember I am not saying you don't have what it takes. Nor am I saying you will fail. I just think you are doing a lot an a dream and not enough on paper.

I am working on a similar idea and like Fooskey said you need to take water and ice into serious consideration. I am looking at a trailer that will haul 1000 gallons and am not sure that will be enough. You are going to have a nice rig if you build it correctly but don't forget your support vehicles... I am looking at not only the food truck trailing the smoker but two full size pick ups pulling pulling the rest of the portable restaurant.

Another thing you may want to take into consideration is a propane fired gen set. Here they are about $3.5K and produce 7500 watts continuous. They are also much quieter and better smelling than their diesel counterparts.

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Yup. Then when you add water capacity, GVW becomes a concern. My trailer is already approaching 30k pounds and requires a CDL. What is the GVWR on the step van in the OP?

Pyle's BBQ said:

"I would like some of the vendors that do BBQ, sandwiches, sides, catering to chime in and lemme know if I'm missing anything on this truck." - jmoney7269.

Sorry for giving my assessment of what you are missing. After running my BBQ place for over a year and having to make changes that would improve work flow from the original lay out. I pointed out things that I though would make your life easier. I don't care if you slice in front of customers or not. You will need something to hold the meat between customer. If you plan on running back to the proofer every time you make a sandwich that is your call. Also pulled pork will have to be somewhere, I didn't see where you are holding that. Since you have this all figured out.

Good luck.

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On this note, I think this is where you have to look at your business plan, the investment, and how much food you want/need to get out the window in a given time.

My personal goal was to get at least 150 people served per hour during peak times. This is nigh impossible without proper holding equipment for finished product.

To put $200k into a business, pay the event fees/commissions, labor, fuel, etc, you need to be able to do high volume. The line behind your window will only queue so long before people settle for an alternative, even if they were interested in your product.

I began with the question, "What do I need to do to get that many people to my trailer?". Some will say just the aroma of BBQ will do it. Others say all you need is a sign. Personally, I think it is a lot more than that, but it is at least a question that must be addressed. I see a lot of people starting businesses that they are probably very good at, but they fail because they don't get the sales side.

Impressive, sounds like to me you have done your homework and you have the food service experience to make it work.

little bit of r & r said:

With 200k you would've better to open a restaurant than trying to vend. Vending is not as glorious as it seems.

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You dang right, my set up is much smaller than this rig but I can tell you if 200K popped in my lap I would be opening a restaurant way before buying a food truck of that size.

jmoney, if you want more information, feel free to pm me. I am happy to set you up with my guy for a quote. He did some great work and I can show you pictures throughout construction of mine, if you like.

jmoney7269 said:

Obviously I didn't do it good enough. I have raised my eyebrows a couple times already. I still wanna do the truck and not a restaurant, I'm married to my wife, not my job

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No offense, but if you are contemplating spending 200k and are not going to treat it with all the respect you would a restaurant, you should take the money and put it into a mutual fund instead. Unless you are very wealthy, 200k is not an investment a part timer makes and you will never get good enough to compete doing it part time.

You will either get your ass kicked a few times at events and it will light a competitive fire under you, or you will quit and sell everything for pennies on the dollar, turning your $200k into 70k, very quickly.

2 KEY rules to a successful food truck....Very good food and GREAT marketing!! Unless you have food as good as Franklin's because he didn't do any marketing in his original trailer.

Hey Money - Couple things, and it may not be an issue there in TX, but would be here in CA. 1 - Here, you cannot cook in another vehicle unless the product is transported to the serving vehicle in NSF containers. 2 - Here we need a seperate order and pick up window, as the HD does not want money and food passing thru the same window. 3 - Center aisle needs to be at least 34 inches.

We do bottled drinks due to logistics of fountain sodas (Ice, water, bag in box storage) and we can replenish anywhere. Think about plenty of overhead shelving for bread, food containers, etc. Onan generator if possible, propane powered if possible (Refrigeration depends on a good generator).

We bought existing trucks, (both 98's) which are gasoline powered (Easier to find mechanics, based on the odd hours needed for repairs). We are fast, and serve quality, and can do about 80 tickets an hour. We run the truck with a max of 3 workers.

In our 3rd year and still going strong, but there are always issues. PM me if you want to talk - Best of luck.

Hey C. Rocke... You wouldn't happen to be able to post an overhead view of the layout of that truck would you?