Over the past few years food trucks have become quite prevalent in North America, sprouting in busy street corners almost as fast as Starbucks did. For the third year, Dine Out Vancouver has organized Street Food City – an almost weeklong event where a bunch of food trucks gather together so lazy people (like me) can try a bunch of different cuisines in one location! 5 Why are food trucks so popular nowadays? It’s a good question and I’m not an expert on…anything really but I have come up with three potential reasons for this occurrence:

1. Convenience – living in a bustling modern city, nobody has time to wait. Ever tried opening a webpage that loads after 10 seconds? No, we’ll either close that tab or press the refresh button like it will give us money. Waiting to be seated, ordering your food, eating it and waiting to pay – for a lot of people a sit down meal is a luxury- not a necessity. Being able to walk and grab food on your way to your next destination is a super appealing concept. 2. Affordable – not that I’ve calculated the expenses of operating a food truck versus a restaurant, but I would assume that the former is cheaper. You don’t have to worry about electricity, staffing and a bunch of other stuff. A food truck might be just as difficult to open, but at least it’s a smaller scale of a restaurant. 3. Social Interaction – I know for a lot of food truck owners, being able to talk to customers and receive feedback is a very rewarding experience. Seeing happy faces and regulars come and appreciate good cooking must be a heartwarming feeling! Who says 21st century people are losing touch with face to face contact?

So there you have it, my reasons for why food trucks are popping up like daisies. I sampled 4 trucks that day at the festival: Yolk’s, Vij’s Railway Express, Chili Tank and, Tacofino. Watch the video below to see what I have to say!