[phreanix]

Maybe I can explain.

It's been mentioned already how trucks are most likely more convenient. I mean, you're eating at that truck because it was closer to you or that you saw it and decided to eat there. I believe the reduced overhead thing is a bit misleading. The startup costs may be different, but the overhead is more than likely the same as a b&m. Apples to apples that is.

At most chef driven trucks, you will get food prepared by the chef himself/herself. Some customers perceive a value in this, hence the willingness to pay the higher prices of some trucks.

However, I do agree that the truck and its food will have to eventually provide a value that will keep a customer coming back. $9 sliders are insane. I've seen this play out time and time again at other trucks because the 'fad' and popularity gets to their heads. Some operators of trucks that have become popular really quickly become shortsighted and cater only to the yelpers who are excited about the latest new thing. They fail to realize that their long term viability is dependent on how well they are able to keep a line outside their truck once these early adopters run for another new thing. Good prices, good food, and fast service is key.

[Domenic_S]

> but the overhead is more than likely the same as a b&m

You can't be serious. A food truck costs as much to operate as a B&M? One of the main points of the article is pointing out that's not the case:

As a service that strips all the overhead costs of a restaurant down to the minimum requirements for selling food to customers, food trucks are also an irresistible metaphor for lean startups...

[phreanix]

Of course it depends on what b&m you're comparing it to. Some run really lean as well. If you add up the costs (some of which werent covered in that article), it gets pretty close.

[ghaff]

You're likely right, or at least mostly right, about the overheads. I think people who don't have first-hand knowledge of a particular business have a tendency to think that more of the cost is tied up in whatever's most visible than is actually the case. In this case, it's the physical restaurant. In the case of books, it's the physical copy (which is actually pretty cheap in most cases).