New to Catering truck..

I have owned a restaurant for about 4 years now and it does ok. Ok meaning that it is a small franchise and has really high food costs which keep getting higher with the economy. My wife and I do all the the prep and cooking and the employees just basically ring people up, heat food and serve. We really love what we do but want to sell the store and go mobile. The way we see it, we won't have to deal with the employee factor, rent, franchise royalties, payroll, linen service, dumpster service, payroll and everything else that comes with a brick and mortar location.

We are planning on investing into a truck (full kitchen) and doing BBQ just relying on ourselves.

Does anyone have any good experiences on catering truck builders?

Does anyone know if the State of VA will pass a truck as a commissary or do we need a commissary location?

We are looking at just doing lunch from 10am until 2pm in the downtown area. Do any of you guys who are mobile stay in one spot? I know there alot who go around to construction and other industrial areas but we were thinking we could do well staying put.

Thanks for any help with these questions!

quote:

Originally posted by dogman

I have owned a restaurant for about 4 years now and it does ok. Ok meaning that it is a small franchise and has really high food costs which keep getting higher with the economy. My wife and I do all the the prep and cooking and the employees just basically ring people up, heat food and serve. We really love what we do but want to sell the store and go mobile. The way we see it, we won't have to deal with the employee factor, rent, franchise royalties, payroll, linen service, dumpster service, payroll and everything else that comes with a brick and mortar location.

We are planning on investing into a truck (full kitchen) and doing BBQ just relying on ourselves.

Does anyone have any good experiences on catering truck builders?

Does anyone know if the State of VA will pass a truck as a commissary or do we need a commissary location?

We are looking at just doing lunch from 10am until 2pm in the downtown area. Do any of you guys who are mobile stay in one spot? I know there alot who go around to construction and other industrial areas but we were thinking we could do well staying put.

Thanks for any help with these questions!

What part of VA is your Quizno's in?

Seriously, I don't have any advice other than to say follow your dream. I used to have a medium sized law firm with two paralegals, three assistants, a runner, and a title searcher. We had the usual rent, utilities, etc. I left that firm (which I started) a year ago and moved my office into my home. I now have no assistants, no overhead, and I only have to work 15 to 20 hours a week to make the same income level as I had working 70 before. Now, that's not to say I don't still work 70 hours per week, but to be profitable I have to work much less.

Zombuswoof

Not a Quizno's thank God! A small sartup chain with no real buying power yet. I was the first store and have been very successful with building the franchisors brand. Now that I know the business I want to go mobile and promote my OWN brand and not be tied down!

What type of food biz are you in and where?

quote:

Originally posted by dogman

Zombuswoof

Not a Quizno's thank God! A small sartup chain with no real buying power yet. I was the first store and have been very successful with building the franchisors brand. Now that I know the business I want to go mobile and promote my OWN brand and not be tied down!

What type of food biz are you in and where?

I am starting up two Chicago-style hot dog carts in the Upstate of South Carolina.

quote:

I am starting up two Chicago-style hot dog carts in the Upstate of South Carolina.


Sweet! My real dream was to do a hot dog restaurant but being mobile has so many options! Lots of profit in a dog! Good luck!

In terms of your plans, you may want to reconsider whether a van or a trailer is a better option. I run a trailer from a fixed location. Let me point out a few advantages...

My 18' trailer is all working space, whereas an 18' stepvan surrenders several feet to the drivers compartment. If your stepvan is equipped with refrigeration and freezers you will have to provide standby electric service at night and either a daytime service or introduce yourself to the wonder of portable generators...operation, maintainance, etc...A lot of people will want fried stuff and moving hot deep fryers after a shift will not be much fun...Running water is a great thing and having unlimited amounts from a city pressure feed is sweeter still. BBQ can be a little sticky and messy and that 25 gallons on board can disappear fast...how much will you enjoy removing all your empty pans from the truck at night for a thourough washing nightly?

Of course, the stepvans have advantages too, but almost every one is related to mobility. Unless you plan to be highly mobile though, I feel the trailer can more nearly mirror the type of operation you are used to...let me tell you about my unit and how it is sited.

I'm located at a small general aviation airport, directly adjacent to a two lane state route with a 16,000 traffic count.Across the road is a complex of medical buildings and on the other side of the airport is an industrial park with it's only exit just a quarter mile south of me. The nearest restaurant to either side of me is 1.6 miles. My lease was developed with the airport operator-the prior operator ran a sporadic operation from a converted camper-he wanted an honest to God commercial operation-both for the workers at the airport and as an accomodation to the transient pilots-a restaurant on the list of airport features can help make or break a place.

So my lease went like this-a three year lease at greatly reduced rates, contingent on my upgrading the site and performance of certain hour of operation and dates of operation per year. For any future renewals I had the right of first refusal and maximum increase caps. The outcome was a win-win. Site upgrades were retaining walls to level a sloping site, a buried chase for a potable water feed by hose, fill, gravel, fencing for the site, installation of a power pole and electric service, picnic tables and signage....about 7K that swelled to 9K when I had to have 125' of trees trimmed and my crew broke a small water main that digsafe assured me wasn't there.

The airport got a professional and nicer operation and I've got a secure site for up to 12 years if I choose. If I decide to get out sooner I have certain rights to sale of the site as well, as do the operators have rights of approval.

This might not work for everyone, but at a total cost of around 30K I have damn near the equivalent of a small brick and mortar downsized for operation by two retired guys with a good chance of pulling equity out of the place as either a going concern or as an assets (trailer&site improvements) sell-off. Anyhow you might want to consider this...We drive to the site and open up...we don't have to load up first. We don't have to set up-no leveling the unit,plugging in or generator hookup. Our tables are waiting. We work the day and at night we leave 15 minutes after closing time. Utensils can stay on the counters, nothing has to be drained or restrained. We don't have to repack or tote out. And most of these are VERY sweet things. And I never worry about road breakdowns...

THanks for the response!

I don't have a site that would allow a trailer. As for hot grease they do make lids with gaskets that lock down over the fryers. ( that thought came to me as well going down the road, yikes!) I would have a generator. It would be nice to plug in somewhere but I don't have that option in Downtown Richmond. All BBQ will be smoked at the commissary and basically help in holding oven and steam table. I use Pan Savers which are high heat pan liners that you can pull right out the pan and use a twisty tie and put leftovers in the fridge. Pans hardly look used but yes we will sanitize them of course.

What typeof food do you guys serve?

Your welcome.

Our basic menu is just that...burgers, dogs, fries, O-rings, chicken patties, grilled cheese and such.We also do breakfast sandwiches as well as french toast and pancakes. We generally offer one soup or stew. Believe it or not grilled cheese is a hot item! Also we offer 2-4 specials a day and each special is held over about a four day period. Right now a hot one is corn on the cob with herbed blue cheese butter. Also today fresh pizza by the slice with pepperoni and canadian bacon. When the temperature is high we will offer one or two cold sandwiches-today was a smoked ham with sharp cheddar on an onion roll with deli style mustard.

I didn't know sites were unavailable at your location. I made the comparison because so few people ever consider the fixed site advantages offered by a trailer. In my hometown (Rochester NH) there are currently four food "carts". All are at fixed sites (2 owned and the other two either leased or rented). The funny part is none has been moved offsite in the last two years...mine is the only one without a driver's seat-go figure....