What you need to know when asking for a food truck
So you think you want to book a food truck for your private party, here is what they will ask you?
The date and location of your event?
The RSVP numbers.
The amount of people attending your party will depend how many food trucks you need, most trucks have a minimum required to attend an event.
Are you seeking dessert trucks or entree trucks? We have both.
Is electric available, if so what type 110 or 220. Do you have 30amp or 50amp access?
Where will the food trucks be located in relation to the main activity?
Will you be duplicating vendors?
How are you advertising/ promoting this event. Our admin will add you to the Tulsa Food Truck Facebook Page so that you will be able to do targeted marketing to over 50K people in the Tulsa Metro area. You will be paying Facebook to promote your ad, not us, this is a service the owners on this page offer to help you have a better event.
What is the application deadline?
What type of event is this - target audience. Adults, kid friendly?
Contact person's cell number.
Common misconceptions when booking a food truck are:
-You cannot ask 7 trucks to come to an event for 15 people. Its usually 1 truck per 100 people or less. Or one entree truck and one dessert truck for the event. Most of the owners can give you menu options (change menus) to meet the need of your event, so just ask.
-Food trucks are asked to come for an event that the project coordinator says will have 30K people will be attending and only 50 people show up: Food truck owners cannot take a food loss like that, so that's why we ask so many questions and require a minimum. Good news, most owners will try to help with getting numbers for your events up, if given enough time.
- A food truck cannot show up with 30 minutes notice to serve 100's of people 99.9% of the time. Owners have to prep for service and depending on the menu of the truck, it takes 24-48 hours to complete.
-During food truck season February - November (depending on weather) it is best to let food truck owners know weeks in advance because they book up quickly. The owners also have a system in place to contact other owners quickly to see if anyone is available to serve if you do happen to be in a crunch... so don't panic we have got you covered to the best of our ability.
When you are booking a festival or large event these are the questions our food truck owners will ask of you:
Is your event primarily inside or outside
How to be the best food truck customer ever:
Give reviews on Facebook, Yelp and Google.
Post pictures of your food and talk about the Truck you went too.
Like and share food and event posts to support local business
# hashtag the trucks name
# hashtag TulsaFoodTrucks
And invite your friends to Tulsa Food Trucks and individual owners pages so that they can get more business.
More tips on how to get the most from the food-truck experience:
1. Follow social media for the location, time of operation, and quality of specific trucks.Everyone has an opinion on Yelp and other foodie websites.
2. If you have a favorite food truck, be sure and show up when the doors open or you might have to dine elsewhere. Supplies are limited in such limited space.
3. Bring cash in small bills and change. Have your money ready so you don’t hold up the line.
4. Know what you want ahead of time so as not to keep others waiting.
Tipping Food Trucks:
• Mobile Cuisine, which deems itself as “The Complete Online Resource Destination for the Mobile Food Industry” says:
Even if you order from a truck or cart that offers only pre-packaged food you are still expected tip at least 10%. Usually, the person that takes your order has to jump through hoops to get your order together complete with utensils, extra napkins, bags etc. They go out of their way to take care of you, so you should take care of them back.
• The Food Network, which has a show called The Great Food Truck Race:
Be generous — Tipping etiquette is a little fuzzy when it comes to food trucks. You tip at a restaurant, but not always when you’re ordering from a counter. Not only are you not in a restaurant, but you are ordering from a counter when you eat at a food truck. Technically, you don’t need to tip, but if you think about the operation of creating a gourmet meal in the confines of a truck, those folks sort of deserve a little extra praise. Tipping customers make happy chefs, and sometimes it can mean the difference between a latte and a whole breakfast. “We tip back by giving goodies on the house” — Brasil Kiss