Over fall break I took a day trip to Atlanta, Ga., with a few friends. We easily decided on a couple of activities for the day, but the real struggle came in agreeing on only two places to eat. We made an easy choice to eat brunch at West Egg, a trendy spot serving updated Southern comfort dishes in the heart of Atlanta’s Westside. The restaurant came highly recommended by a friend and was, after all, voted “best brunch” by Southern Living magazine, so no one had any qualms about our decision to make it our first stop.
The major problem came when we had to decide on a location for dinner. Of course, I wanted to try something exotic and completely unique to Atlanta, but a few of the pickier eaters in the group were not on board. Once we took into account a budget, the once enormous, daunting list of restaurants began to shrink. Finally, we stumbled upon a listing for the Atlanta Food Truck Park.
After skimming through the list of more than 30 rotating food trucks, everyone agreed that this was the place to go. Due to the allure of Lennox Mall and some unfortunate Atlanta traffic, we ended up arriving at the food truck park just 30 minutes before its closing time. Nevertheless, we made the most of the remaining time by quickly sizing up the menus of the prospective trucks before deciding on one or two (or three in some peoples’ cases) vendors from which to buy.
So why eat dinner at a food truck park serving meals from outlandish establishments like Blaxican Mexican Soul Food rather than at a traditional restaurant?
For one, food trucks are convenient and fast. There’s no mulling over a ten-page menu full of complicated choices, substitutions and specials only to wait 20-30 minutes more for your food to arrive once you’ve ordered. Most food truck menus have no more than 10 items, all of which they can crank out in under five minutes.
Food truck parks also provide customers with a wide array of options so that even individuals with selective palates and special dietary needs can find something to eat. Unlike traditional restaurants that specialize in one type of cuisine, whether it be Italian, Chinese or Mexican, food truck parks include multiple vendors who can together represent a wide variety of cuisine.
Conversely, due to the fact that each food truck only specializes in a few dishes, they are often masters of their craft. It’s the age-old idea that it’s better to do one thing really well than a hundred things at only half capacity. With a narrower focus and fewer menu items, food trucks have the ability to fine-tune their dishes and execute at an extremely high quality.
One final reason to ditch conventional dining for food truck dining is you simply won’t find the dishes served in food trucks in restaurants. In recent years, food trucks have become the great innovators of the culinary world. No longer are they roadside grills offering hot dogs, hamburgers and greasy fries. Food trucks have gone gourmet by offering fresh foods prepared with organic ingredients in surprising new ways.
Essentially, through food trucks, customers are offered a more diverse range of high-quality, innovative and delicious food at a lower cost and with more convenience. With benefits like this, the trend in food trucks is sure to stick around, and I’m certainly not complaining.
