I was watching an American Dad short on YouTube (https://youtube.com/shorts/OmMZ5Bzu9LI). It is 2am in my country now and I am really craving for some midnight food. I was wondering if this portrayal is accurate and if Americans really have random people driving by selling food at night
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They usually park somewhere and set up shop, but yes.
Depends on where you’re at. Food trucks need permits and whatnot and can only sell in certain areas afaik. Food trucks are few and far between where I live in suburban Louisiana and definitely aren’t driving around at night.
They’re usually parked, but yes. I live in a major city though
Not in my neighborhood, because I live in the suburbs and it wouldn’t be very profitable, But in urban areas, or during festivals, absolutely.
Yes in larger cities. They usually park somewhere and post on their social media where they can be found.
my parents’ suburban neighborhood HOA does a food truck night once a month where a couple food trucks will set up in the clubhouse/common area parking lot, set up for the night and sell food. they’re more common in like business/social areas and intersections than neighborhoods, though.
The ones open through midnight are usually only in the nightlife areas of town.
Not a thing in my area, and definitely not at 2am.
when i was a kid, ice cream trucks selling various pre-packaged frozen treats were a thing but that’s about it.
Food trucks in my neck of the woods primarily are stationary, or focused on events or set up shop at the same spot every day. Like there’s one that sets up outside of the hardware store most weekends, for example. Or my city hosts a food truck friday event.
Where I grew up there were vans selling tamales coming down the street every night. Food trucks are usually at jobsite or parked in designated pods.
depends where. not in my area, typically. but they park, it seems sort of impractical to sell food while the vehicle is in motion
As another person said, they’re parked somewhere not just cruising around.
For example, I’ve gotten food from a Mexican food truck that’s parked out near the beach every night.
The only ones that come into neighborhoods is an ice cream truck. I’m not even sure if most food trucks are even allowed to set up shops in residential areas in my city, I would have to look. They usually park in areas they know they will have traffic.
In cities it’s very common, but they don’t drive around. They usually have a designated location they park at for the day. We do have trucks that drive around all day and sell ice cream though. They play very loud music to attract customers and drive slowly through neighborhoods and when enough people are chasing them they stop and sell their ice cream.
My neighborhood? No, but they come to work everyday
Not where I’ve ever lived lol you can order delivery all hours though or go get food at food trucks and carts, with some open late in NY. There are also 24/7 diners. But food trucks don’t drive around stopping for people to make them food in neighborhoods then take off lol they park somewhere intentionally.
Not at 2am, aside from maybe parts of NYC.
They can’t cook while driving
There are dozens of them in my city, but they usually park somewhere close by where they know working people will be getting off for lunch or they will choose festivals/farmers and artisans markets to set up shop at – generally a daytime thing but it wouldn’t be strange to see one operating late at night downtown close to bars
They don’t drive through neighborhoods like an ice cream truck. They usually have areas where they are allowed to park and set up. They usually set up in areas where there will be a lot of people coming and going so in and around commercial areas. If they are set up in or around a residential area, it is likely a high density residential area in a city, not a single family home neighborhood.
Ice cream trucks drive around the neighborhood. Food trucks will usually park somewhere. We have food truck parks in my area where multiple trucks park up and there is seating. The trucks are different depending on the day so you always have variety.
They don’t drive through residential areas looking for customers, that’s an easy way to have a cooking accident. They usually park in a busy spot where they can sit a while and sell a bunch.
In my region it is common for breweries, farmers markets, and festivals to have food trucks set up. They are just there for certain hours of a day and then the next day there might be a different one. There are also some food trucks that have a permanent location usually in a business parking lot.
So, they don’t really roam around neighborhoods making periodic stops in the way an ice cream truck does.
No. They generally park somewhere central that people can easily get to.
They’re not like an ice cream truck trolling the streets waiting for people to flag them down.
At breweries yes
My town has food truck Friday during the summer. A bunch of different food trucks set up on our main square. They shut down a couple roads every Friday for it.
Some of them set up on other days, usually in the parking lot of other businesses. They don’t stay open all night though. The only trucks we have that actually drive through neighborhoods and stop on the side for customers are ice cream trucks.
Nope. I can’t even get food delivered where I live.
I wish. Sometimes an ice cream truck goes by
Our HOA brings in a food truck every Thursday during the summer. They put out a schedule so we know what’s coming. They are only there for a few hours in the afternoon and sometimes sell out early, so there’s no midnight snacks from food trucks. There are a few other places you can always find them and a Facebook page to track where they are set up, but the most you’ll find at 2 am is a hot dog cart outside a bar.
Yeah, typically Mexican and Jamaican.
Not generally.
Yes icecream
The only food trucks one normally sees driving around selling food are ice cream trucks, and it’s just during the day.
Food trucks selling hot food have fixed locations in busy areas. Mostly these operate during daytime hours but some, especially in cities, stay open late into the evening.
Not physically moving no. They usually have a spot they set up at with some folding tables around the truck.
I’ve only seen ice cream and [snow cone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_cone) trucks driving around. There are other foods on trucks but they only sell when parked in a fixed location. I think there are rules against selling outside of a fixed location with an exemption for frozen desserts.
No. They usually park near busy parks, busy urban intersections (for weekday lunch) or at street fairs/festivals. The only food trucks that cruise neighborhoods are ice cream trucks.
You won’t generally see people driving around selling anything besides ice cream. Tamales out of the trunk of a sedan is a thing. Food trucks usually set up shop somewhere, and they’re usually(ime) kitted out trailers, not actual trucks.
Yes, except they’re not driving around. By 2am, they’ve found a good spot to park.
When i lived in rural Midwest, we never saw food trucks. I thought it was made up or exaggerated for movies. When I moved to a big city I the Midwest, we’d still only see them during festivals. But people fricken loved them and the lines would be SO LONG. Like over 45 minutes. Then I moved to Southern California and they are everywhere. They don’t drive up and down neighborhoods like an ice-cream truck. Like someone else mentioned, they pick one spot and they are there almost every day. I probably pass 15 or more on my 10 mile drive home, Orange County.
There are several different types of “food trucks”…
There are ice cream trucks. These drive around neighborhoods selling ice cream. They play loud music, and you can run out with money and buy ice cream from them. This normally happens during the day.
There are roach coaches. These go to job sites – like construction zones and places like that – and sell a limited menu and packaged foods. They are on a schedule, so someone might know that the truck shows up at 10:30 or whatever.
Then there are the “food trucks”, which are little restaurants that plop down at a particular place. For example, there is a gyro grill trailer that has been in the parking lot of my local Menards for years. There is a Indian place in the parking lot of a hotel just off the exit.
Sometimes they do move for special events. For example, my town has a food truck Friday where theu have 3-5 food trucks and some vendors on specific Fridays during the summer.
But sadly, there is no taco truck that drives the street playing “la cucaracha” at high volume so all the adults can run out and buy tacos and tequila…
No. Laws are fairly tight regarding where they can set up and they don’t really want to be just anywhere. They want to be where the people are, and at noon on a Tuesday, they want to be where the tourists are or where the workers are.
They’re set up outside the bars in certain parts of certain cities. They’re never going to be in a residential neighborhood in the middle of the night.
They’re all over the place in my area (Washington DC Suburbs). They won’t come up and down residential streets but on nice days they’ll hang out at parks, near public pools, and in parking lots. In downtown DC they’re commonly parked outside big office buildings around lunch time. They’re also usually parked on the street near the National Mall with all the monuments and stuff because it’s a really far walk to get to a restaurant from there.
I wish. They don’t drive around like that. They usually just park somewhere.
I’m way out in the suburbs so we don’t get a lot of food trucks to start with, but there is a food truck park nearby that usually has at least one or two trucks every day.
In the suburbs we tend to have them parked at the same spot pretty much permanently. Had a breakfast burrito just today at a great taco truck down the road. When Republican goons were complaining about taco trucks on every corner I was a little sad because none of my corners had one. Now we do!
No. I live out in the woods. But we do get a lot of people abandoning their pets out here, and one time, a guy who was shot in the head.
In Chicago, if you are lucky in certain areas ( especially in Latino areas) we have food carts every day. Tamales carts with homemade tamales, Elotes = steamed corn fresh of the cobb in a cup with butter/mayo/mex cheese/Tajin, Champurrados, Helado de Cocos (Puerto Rican coconut sherbet ice cream on and on.
Food trucks i see at fairs, outside clubs, at certain spots parked in the city. Not driving around.