Mobile Restaurants Hit Baltimore Streets

More restaurateurs are branching out with food trucks offering burritos, Caesar salads, Caribbean tacos and cr?me br?l?e.

April 21, 2010

BALTIMORE - Soon, Baltimore residents can enjoy restaurant quality food from a mobile truck, the Baltimore Business Journal reports. In cities across the country, more restaurants and entrepreneurs are capitalizing on the growing mobile food truck trend.

In Baltimore, Patrick Russell, who owns several area restaurants, bought a former bakery delivery truck to convert to a Caribbean-themed mobile food truck. Last summer, he sold hamburgers from his Chowhound Burger Wagon.

In North Baltimore, residents can purchase Mexican fare from a Juana Burrito truck during lunch. "We noticed a trend around the country of mobile restaurants and truly felt Baltimore was an underserved market," said Ken Diaz, who co-owns Juana Burrito. "We??re not really a Qdoba and not really a Chipotle."

Jordan Natfal, a former restaurant owner, will debut his mobile lunch truck this summer. Naftal??s truck will offer grilled Caesar salads and crème brúlée throughout Howard County and parts of Baltimore. "We??re not trying to compete with restaurants," said Naftal. "This is a convenience thing."

Earlier this year, a mobile food court appeared in Los Angeles with up to four trucks each day. Throughout the LA area, about 60 trucks are now selling food. Many mobile food truck operators use social media to alert customers to their daily locations, such as Twitter and Facebook.

For more on mobile foodservice, see the NACS Magazine feature, "Meals on Wheels."

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