ALBUQUERQUE, NM – I appreciate the ease and accessibility the food truck renaissance has brought to Albuquerque. No reservations are required. You just walk right up to the window where you have meal options that rival any sit-down restaurant. Whether I’m grabbing lunch on a Wednesday in Talin Market’s parking lot or need some food to wash down an IPA at a brewery, food trucks are always there for me. It’s easy, convenient and free of hassle. The same cannot be said for the challenges facing today’s food truck owners and operators. They have to deal with the woes of winter and inclement weather, event planning, permit headaches and parking problems.
Image from ABQ Food Trucks/Facebook
I talked to some of Albuquerque’s food truck owners to discuss the difficulties that come with the job. Amy Black, the grits-slinging owner of the Supper Truck, puts one particular challenge on the top of her list: winter. For a number of truck owners, this last winter was their first time operating during Albuquerque’s coldest months. They learned the hard way just what kind of havoc freezing temps can wreak on pipes and faucets. Black remembers waking up each morning to unfreeze pipes with whatever tools she could find, usually her hair dryer, and working for hours so she could get her truck operational for the day.
“That was the hardest for me,” says Black. “It just felt like every day, something broke.”
It’s not just cold weather that’ll put a damper on trucking. “We’re pretty vulnerable to any elements,” says Matt Fuemmeler, owner of the Boiler Monkey. His converted 1977 crêpe-producing bus might be the only one of its kind in Albuquerque, but it has plenty in common with other food trucks. It gets breezy when the wind blows, it’s hot when the sun beats down and cold when the temperature drops. Extremes in weather can also lower customer turnout.
Surprisingly, though, rain is the one element that al fresco diners don’t seem to mind. Amy Black has found that a little drizzle has less of an impact on their customers than, say, cold or wind.
“I’ve got to give a shout-out to Burqueños because they don’t care about rain at all.”
But even the bravest Burqueños have their limits with rainy weather. On July 26, Soo Bak Foods (who specialize in Korean “Seoul food”) was posted up at Hyder Park for dinner. Owner John Katrinak was serving his signature Korean fusion cuisine when an unexpected storm quickly rolled in. The storm caused major damage to the park, toppling trees and sending people running for safety. Katrinak described the scene as “insane.”
Find the entire article by Eric Castillo at alibi.com <here>
