Food trucks have limited space. Unlike a restaurant there isn’t a storage area for backups and  extra supplies. For this reason it is crucial to stay organized. On any given day you can only roll with what you’ve got on board. I advocate a small, focused menu for several reasons, and one of the most compelling is that doing so makes inventory management much less  complicated. 

Of course, you don’t want to be boring, and that’s where variations on a theme come into play.  My food truck offered two core menu items; hot dogs and french fries. To keep things  interesting we offered three different types of hot dogs: a traditional Boar’s Head all-beef  natural casing frankfurter, a locally made grass-fed beef option, and a veggie dog. For  condiment choices I included ketchup, mustard, relish, and onions at no additional charge, but  also took the best selling styles from my restaurant and looked for ways to serve them as quickly as possible. Hot dogs are a tremendous food truck option because you can store many of them in a small space, cook them quickly to order, and dress them in different styles  from around the country and beyond. Other popular food truck foods include burgers, tacos,  cheesesteaks, mac and cheese, and grilled cheese. The list doesn’t stop here, and there is  plenty of room for creativity. It’s all about finding a niche without losing sight of the need to  efficiently operate. As an example, attached you’ll find a menu I used on my truck for several years.

Among the creations I am most proud of is Franktuary’s take on a Chicago style hot dog, specifically designed for speedy service on a food truck. Rather than serving a hot dog exactly as is typical in Chicago we took all the ingredients traditionally offered on a Chicago hot dog, and mixed them into a proprietary relish. The end result was a spot-on flavor that could be  doled out over a dog in under one second. Perfect for serving people in a busy food truck  setting. 

On the french fry side we took a similar approach. We offered plain fries, but also offered cheese fries, chili cheese fries, and poutine. This helped us increase our price point while creating a sense of variety and keeping our inventory lean. This, in turn, enabled us to serve  well over 500 people per day without the concern of running out of any menu items or needing to restock.

Key Takeaways:

*A limited menu will help manage inventory in a small space.

*Keep your narrow focus, but find ways to make your product standout from the competition.