Off-Topic

the steak blows the other two out of the water

I'm gonna go try it, I'll report back.

Every time I see a truck delivering massive amounts of Entenman's products to the Commons Shop I think to myself, "I wonder if I could get away with it?".

are food trucks gaining popularity everywhere? In LA, they're the new hip restaurant.

I find the idea of food trucks a little nauseating.

Well, I assume that everywhere they're subject to the licensing and other regulatory oversight of any food service enterprise, regardless of whether their stuff is sold from a truck. It just bugs me that they can get away with prices that don't seem much, if any, less than real restaurants that have higher fixed costs and offer a fuller range of services.

I had a cheesesteak from Bada Bing and it was pretty good. I have not had a spiedie yet.

District Taco is awesome, can't recommend them enough.

Oregon?

Does anyone know the finer details of starting your own? My friend and I were tossing the idea around but he has heard that you don't make much money.

There were about 400 carts in PDX in 2009, and I'm pretty sure the number has grown substantially. I can't find a number for Austin but I doubt they have half that. Not sure how complete this map is but clearly it doesn't show anything close to 400.

Ah OK...did you have another screen name at one time? I remember talking to you though.

Yeah the licensing thing is one of our biggest fears here in MD...I imagine it'd be very expensive just to start up. We want to do it in Annapolis but to be honest I can't remember ever seeing a food truck in town.

Yeah, I tried the Jessup tacos at the Shell the other day thanks to a previous thread on here. Pretty solid. There's a taco truck that sits on Broadway in Upper Fells (near Gough) a fair amount of the time that is comparable as well.

Fair enough, Austin has a bigger population.

And I'm not trying to denigrate Portland, its an awesome town.

The food here is unbelievable. I routinely eat higher end stuff at happy hours than I did back east for half the cost. I do miss some of the more prominent preperation methods though, especially for seafood. I'd say the seafood here is on par with the Chesapeake, but the selection is different and it's usually really healthy while I grew up on fried everything. A classier man than I might prefer it out here.

As far as numbers go I was under the impression that Portland didn't lead per capita, it led straight up. I read in some article awhile back that PDX has more carts than NYC, and with a population of about half a mil that's pretty absurd. Not to mention you will not find hot dog carts here like in DC to pump up the numbers. These carts are like friggin' restaurants, which can be good and bad ($$$).

One thing I won't argue PDX can touch Austin in is bbq. This town is seriously lacking and if I ever do end up opening a food cart that's probably the direction I'll go. I'm about to pick up a torch and welder and attempt making a smoker.

I had another name on the scout board but rarely posted. Can't remember if I spoke to you there or at IMS.

I've actually thought about moving back to Baltimore to open one, as the market here is just brutal. You're not gonna blow anyone away with quality here, as there are rock and roll drummers and famous chefs and shit opening high end carts with restaurant prices. The average cart here however would be big time in Bmore. Problem is there is likely a reason they haven't taken off back there on this level (lack of a massive hipster clientelle and rules/regulations to make it harder on you).