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Reasons to Love Food Trucks
Affordable and Convenient
Once in a while we all like to go for fine dining but that is expensive. On usual days, we tend to stick to foods that will not only satiate our appetite but also won’t be heavy on our budget. The items served in a food truck are always cheaper than any fancy restaurants. Furthermore, whether you want something for dinner or lunch, a food truck has a variety of options to choose from. Visiting a food truck will ensure that you will be served delicious food at affordable cost.
Change of Location
The one reason that people love food trucks is that they move from one place to another, within their specific perimeter. So, you don’t always have to go far to find it, if the truck’s perimeter lies near to your location. You just have to wait for the truck to come to you.
Variety of Foods
If you think that food trucks can only provide street foods like a sandwich or hot dog, you are mistaken. Despite having a small kitchen, customers are served with a variety of amazing foods. They offer the best of biryanis, drinks, and items from many other international cuisines among many others.
Faster Service
In brick-and-mortar restaurants, you usually have to wait for a longer period for your order to be ready. If you are in a rush then you should opt for food trucks. You usually do not need to wait in a line and the food that you order will be served instantly.
Escape of Restaurant Hassles
Generally, people like to enjoy their food in a silent atmosphere. Crowded restaurants are not always the best place to enjoy your food. You will be surrounded by noises from the people and children running chaotically. But you do not need to endure the usual restaurant hustle and bustle while having food from a food truck. There are limited numbers of customers there and you can enjoy the peace while having the food.
Creation of Community
Many people keep the habit of visiting the same food truck almost every day to eat their favourite dish. This way the customers and the food providers become more of a friend than customers and sellers. Food truck, in this sense, becomes more of a community than just a marketplace. And as one food truck is local to a specific area and only revolves in that area, it becomes a regular part of the lives of the people living in that community.
10 Food Trucks in Mumbai
Darjeeling Momos and More
If you are a momo lover, then you should taste the momo prepared at Darjeeling Momos and more. The food truck offers a hundred different varieties of momo. You can try a new variety every time you visit the truck. You can also go to a large group, order varieties of momo and taste different ones to find out about your preference. Each flavour is a new experience in itself.
What to try: Varieties of momos
Timings: 6 PM to 11 PM
Average Cost for Two: INR 300
Zomato Rating: 4.3/5
Sweetish House Mafia
Sweetish House Mafia is famous for cookies that will leave you begging for more. They provide you with the best cookies and cupcakes in town in a cute little Nano car. People who eat at the Sweetish House Mafia surely love the decor of the car. The popular items that they deliver include Red Velvet Sandwiches, Nutella Sea Salties and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches. They have several pit-stops. So, there is no problem if you order wherever from the town.
What to try: Cupcakes and Nutella Seasalt cookies
Timings: Monday to Wednesday – 9 AM to 12 PM, Thursday to Sunday – 9 AM to 1 AM
Average Cost For Two: Rs.300
Zomato Rating: 4.2/5
Street Food Co.
Street Food Co. is a hub for all college students as the foods here is tasty as well as pocket-friendly. Mainly, this truck's food is famous for different concoctions of street and gourmet style food. It offers cheese dosa, hotdog keema, chilli chicken nachos and the pesto shawarma. Friendly staff and prompt service make this food truck a must place to visit for all type of customers.
What to try: Sandwiches, Pina Coladas, Hot Dogs, Shawarma
Timings: 12 PM – 12 AM, All Days
Average Cost For Two: Rs.500
Zomato Rating: 4/5
Tasty Trails
Tasty Trails is known for its Mexican and Italian food options which are prepared with an Indian touch. One of the most favourite food trucks of the people of Mumbai, Tasty Trails has brought concoction of flavours and cuisines that you might not even have tried before. So, it is one of those places that you would not want to miss out. Besides, the food truck also offers variety of common fast food items and some gourmet food items.
What to try: Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Nachos, Penne Pasta
Timings: 7 PM to 11 PM, Wednesdays Closed
Average Cost For Two: Rs.400
Zomato Rating: 3.9/5
YummyWheels
As the name suggests, YummyWheels serves you food that is a delight to your taste buds. Particularly, YummyWheels is famous for its fast food and Mexican cuisine. People like to order burgers, pizza kulcha, paneer patty, cheese nachos, fusion burger, and pasta. They also provide delicious pizza in kulcha style. If you are on a light budget, you can come and enjoy great food at YummyWheels.
What to try: Delicious wraps
Timings: Monday to Saturday – 7 PM to 11 PM, Sunday – 6.30 AM to 11.30 PM
Average Cost For Two: Rs.300
Zomato Rating: 3.8/5
Bombay Food Truck
Bombay Food Truck is a fusion of American and Indian breakfast items and draws inspiration from the lip-smacking food of the west. It provides the best of burgers, lemonade, sandwiches and hot dogs to the customers. Mumbai street food lovers can also enjoy a pav bhaji roll and try their favourite delicious food every now and then.
What to try: Mac ‘n’ Cheese Hotdog, Pav Bhaji Roll, Lemonade and Nachos
Timings: 11:30 AM to 7:30 PM, Saturday & Sunday Closed
Average Cost For Two: Rs.500
Zomato Rating: 3.7/5
The Cuisine Machine
The variety of food available in the Cuisine Machine is amazing, which ranges from large glasses of shakes to fries, spicy chicken wings and burgers. It is one of those food trucks in Mumbai that serves the customers until 2 am. Whether you are just travelling by or you are just someone who likes to wake up until late, the Cuisine Machine will be there to provide you with tasty food items.
What to try: Sandwiches, Shakes, Burgers and more
Timings: 4 PM – 2 AM
Average Cost for Two: Rs.500
Zomato Rating: 3.7/5
The Rolling Kitchen
The Rolling Kitchen has a variety of dosa that you can try. From simple dosas to paneer bhurji dosa, there is a dosa to serve the taste buds of every kind of palate. They are famous for providing affordable South Indian cuisines to the customers. As they are now planning to add Italian food to their menu, it will only increase their popularity among food lovers.
What to try: Variations of dosa
Timings: 4:00 PM to 11 PM
Average Cost For Two: Rs.300
Zomato Rating: 3.6/5
Mumbai Rolling Kitchen
Mumbai Rolling Kitchen is a bright red food truck, which provides a wide range of foods. Whether you are looking for lunch or dinner, you have different exciting options to try here. Mumbai Rolling Kitchen popularity lies in its ability to provide quality food for an affordable price. You can find 3 pieces of Cajun Spiced Fried Chicken with Fries for Rs.100. Doesn't it sound too good to be true?
What to try: Veg grilled sandwiches, wraps
Timings: 4 PM to 11 PM
Average Cost For Two: Rs 300
Zomato Rating: 3.6/5
Mammy’s Kitchen And Grill
Mammy’s Kitchen and Grill, as a family-run food truck, serves lip-smacking 8 different types of momos and other comfort foods. It is a bright orange truck, near the Lokhandwala market, where you can expect every dish to be hot and fresh. They prepare every dish using homemade ingredients that's why people love to go to Mammy’s Kitchen and Grill. If you want something to be customised, just let them know them and they will do their best to serve it the way you want.
What to try: Fried Fish Burger, Cheese Loaded Burgers, Paneer Tikka Burger, and Chicken Crispers
Timings: 6 PM to 12 AM
Average Cost For Two: Rs 500
Zomato Rating: 3.5/5
Paninaro
Paninaro is known to serve healthy food options to its customers. This food truck has become a casual dining place for people in Andheri, Mumbai. Top dishes that people order are Feta Salad, Salads, Sandwiches, Tandoori Paneer Sandwich etc. All the dishes in the food truck are made using healthy ingredients.
What to try: Salads, shakes and sandwiches
Average Cost For Two: Rs 550
Timings: 9 am – 9 pm
Zomato Rating: 3.3/5
Tips to Start a Food Truck in Mumbai
The average cost to start a food truck business is about 10 lakhs but it differs according to the type of vehicle you are opting for and the kitchen equipment required. Here is a list of all the points that you need to ponder on before beginning the food truck business.
Get Permissions Required
All of these permission and paper works cost you around Rs.50,000. You can take help from consultancies to get your paper done.Here is the list of licences that you need to run this business:
- Fire Safety Certificate
- Shop and Establishment License
- NOC from RTO
- NOC from Municipal Corporation
- FSSAI Mobile Vendor’s License
- Kitchen Insurance
- RTO permission for branding on your vehicle
Plan the Menu
After you have separated a budget for the kitchen, you need to consider the menu of food items that you are going to sell. Enlist the foods that are preferred according to seasons and people's orders. Moreover, changing menus involves acts of updating menus, recalibrating inventory orders, and other processes. Then, you will have to fix the price of foods. But you shouldn't charge too high, no matter how good your ingredients are going to be.
Customising the Vehicle
While furbishing your vehicle, keep in mind that the equipment in your food truck will decide the size of your vehicle and its menu. It is equally important that the pattern of the design on food truck must look clean, attractive and appealing. So, design your food truck in the best way that can attract the peddlers from far. Use bright colours and attractive graphics. Some people also like to add a lot of graffiti on it, to make it look more casual and to merge with the streets well.
Choose the Best Locations
If you park in a residential area, it might give you relatively fewer footfalls as compared to a commercial space. You are likely to get more business from the passers-by in an open space and a chance to interact with your consumers for longer. So, you need to set a location where you can have larger compounds, where people can see the food truck easily. You can choose the areas outside popular parks, movie halls, and universities, where people visit frequently. You need to consider where competition is stationed and should plan accordingly.
Employ the Staff
The food truck business doesn’t need as many staffs as compared to a restaurant. The number of staffs is decided by the size of your business and menu of food items. Employ energetic and skilled staff, that you can trust. After you have employed them, you should decide the uniform that represents the brand of the business.
Promote Yourself
Promoting a business doesn’t take as much effort as in the past. There are a number of online and offline ways that can help your business to grow. You can run your brand on websites, app, social media and many others. Nowadays, social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are very popular among people and you can take advantage of them as others do. You can keep updating people about the food truck, offering discounts, letting them choose new food items for the menu, etc. If you believe in an offline advertisement, you can use pamphlets and printed posters. You can tie up with local sellers and event planners. Contests and rewarding a few lucky customers are other tricks for promotion.
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Sitting Arrangements in a Food Truck!
When you plan to take food from a food truck, it is important to keep in mind that there are almost no sitting arrangement available there. Most trucks might keep a table or two for their guests but that is never enough to accommodate all guests. Also, that would mean that you are actually sitting on a street. While some people love the experience, others prefer a bit of privacy. Most people eat in their own cars or just take away to eat at their homes. If you prefer to have a complete dine-out experience than food truck is not for you.