Street Food

[Spork]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I think that the food trucks are also viewed as "undercutting" the restaurants (at least of the lunch crowd, as they sell the same things that people would go to restaurants for (i.e. burgers and sandwiches), even though the food truck items can be about $10 (i.e food fair pricing).

The problem is exactly that, they are viewed as low-overhead businesses that offer the same product as a restaurant, but absent of seating - it's a take-out only bricks and morter business akin to the pizza places, poutine places, and the like. In Asia, the food is completely different, as previously mentioned. They are small portions, each location serves a few (max 10) simple to prepare food items, and does them all really really well. They are used primarily for snacking, but can be used for a meal if you buy 2-3 items.

Originally Posted by officedweller

In Asia, are the prices more comparable between bricks and mortar restaurants and food carts (or do they differentiate themselves in the marketplace)? Maybe the City created part of the problem with requirements for "high end" food trucks?

Completely different prices. In Taiwan, 3 people can eat lunch for $10 at a food cart, whereas a restaurant would cost 2-3 times that depending on the quality and interior.

I totally agree that the city created part of the problem. In Taiwan, a "Food truck" can simply be a cart with 4 wheels, smaller in size than even a hot dog vendor's cart here. There is no need for a custom-kitted $50,000 food truck, or even a custom kitted $10,000 food cart.

Originally Posted by officedweller

Here's an odd article from the Globe - one of the "big" food trends for 2014 is supposedly to bring up the cost of "ethnic" food to the cost of food at western restaurants (which may wrongly assume that cheap food is poor quality):

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food...well-eat-in-2014/article16228061/?page=4

Maybe in Toronto, but not here. Until the restaurants start catering to populations that have a higher willingness to pay and higher ability to overlook "service issues", "decor issues", and "cleanliness issues" (all in quotes as they are all a matter of opinion), having a lower price will be a key determinant of their success.

A local exception of this is Peaceful Restaurant on Broadway. I was in there last Saturday, and the place was almost 100% caucasian, and probably 30%-50% American as Guy Fieri had been there previously. Their prices have definitely risen (~25%), but the place is still reasonably priced ($35-$40 for 3 people).

Anyways, this last point is off topic here.