Useful Facts
We thought you might like to know a few things about the food truck life. (or not)
Either way, here it is and hopefully we've answered any lingering questions.
If you have a question or curiosity not covered here, feel free to email us :)
"What is the best way to know where your food truck is going to be on any given day?"
The best way to know if our food truck is going to be near you is to follow us on Twitter or Facebook or visit the main page of our website www.PopsSmokehouse.com. We post our location each day on social media and there is a 24/7 schedule on our website so that is THE best way to find us.
"Do you do catering or weddings?"
Yes, we offer custom catering for all events and can take care of every detail from the napkins to the main course to the dessert. Click on our 'catering' tab to see all of the options or call us for a free quote!
"Do you have fries on your food truck?"
Ummm...No. We offer the best bbq you've ever had in your life; no need for fries. Seriously, there are several reasons why we don't do fries: One is we don't do fried anything on our food truck. It is messy, dangerous and just a bag of headaches. Another reason is because it would turn a 1-minute wait time at our window into about a 10 minute wait which would in turn clog up the whole process for all of our customers. Thanks for understanding that we only want to serve you great BBQ in a timely fashion for a very affordable price!
"I am organizing a festival and would like for you to vend at the event. There is a $300 booth fee, $100 electric and we collect 28% of your sales at the end of the event."
That's awesome! We love festivals and craft fairs! However, please understand that our policy is as follows:
-We generally do not pay extreme booth fees, etc. to provide our services. Our food truck is an added ATTRACTION for your event, so we believe any risks on public attendance to events should be equally shouldered between the food truck and the event organizer. This means we would agree not to pay you and you not to pay us. Shared Risk!
-We will pay a reasonable booth fee to organizers that we have worked with in the past that proved to be trustworthy and reliable. These decisions are made on a case to case basis.
-We will also pay a reasonable cost for electricity as that is only fair. We ask that 50 amp/220 volt power be available.
-28% of sales? Are you serious? Well, now the general public knows exactly why it costs so darned much to buy their children food at the fair! If ANY vendor agrees to this kind of arrangement, they'd go broke! A vendor would have to increase the menu price by 28% just to keep their head above water. (Vendors also have high fuel costs, staffing costs, insurance, permits, refrigeration of bulk foods and the list goes on.) Good luck with that one!
"We have a fantastic event planned. We cannot guarantee a certain amount of sales or even tell you an estimate on how many people will attend, but we would like you to sign our contract stating your truck will feed 80 of our staff members for free in exchange for allowing your food truck to park at our event."
???? Let me just say this...If a food truck signs a contract under these kinds of conditions, they should have their head examined. You are asking them to take ALL of the risk in this situation. A food truck is an attaction to your event, not a contractor doing some work for you. It would make more sense to assess a "reasonable" fee than to ask them to provide over $640 worth of free meals when they aren't even guaranteed 2 sales. Our food truck often does major concert venues and we are never charged a fee...they are happy that we are there providing great food for their customers. It's all about mutual respect. If YOU were a food truck business owner, would YOU sign that contract?!
"What does your food truck do when it rains?"
Our policy is that our food truck stays on home base if there is bad weather (rain, sleet, snow). We take our bookings very seriously, so if at all possible, we stick to our schedule. But if it is raining, I prefer not to be in a truck pulling a 10,000 lb food trailer while trying to navigate busy city streets with crazy drivers pulling out in front of me. Not a good feeling I can assure you. Really folks...it's just common sense.
"Do you take call-in orders?"
We will occasionally take call-in orders, but it is really faster to just come on out to the window and order on the spot. We are super fast and efficient....we have dialed in to great customer service! Most food trucks have 3 or 4 people on board. Our truck has 2...Jeff and Kim. They have fine-tuned their food truck service routine to maximize the potential to serve large numbers of people in a short amount of time with a great attitude :)
Tips for a great food truck visit:
*Bring cash...we also accept debit/credit but it takes added time to swipe your card and get an approval (even if the cell signal is good). The person behind you will thank you :)
*Know what you want to order when you get to the window. This is a big one! You will make it much better for the person taking/preparing your order and for the people in line behind you if you have your order ready. Our food truck menu is on this site for your convenience.
*Tipping is not required but is very much appreciated (and very thoughtful of you to acknowledge our hard work to serve you).
*We never like to increase a price on any of our items, but if you notice a price change, it is due to market fluctuations that effect meat prices.
*A few of our menu items are not offered every day. If you don't see it posted on the menu board, it's not available. The majority of our menu is hand-made, artisan quisine. It takes a LOT of time to prepare. We do our best, but due to time constraints, some items are not on the every-day menu.
*Most food trucks have an ordering window and a pick-up window. Please place your order at the correct window.
*Please do not walk away from the pick-up window after ordering! We are FAST....if you walk away, you will not be able to hear your ticket number called when your order is ready which will result in mass confusion.
*Please do not use your cell phone while placing your order....this will eliminate a whole bag of issues.
*Understand that when you ask for "extra" this or that, you will be charged accordingly. The Pop's Smokehouse Food Truck is widely known for the quality and quantity of food served, but if you ask for extra, expect to pay extra.
*We have limited amounts of change available. Please pay with the smallest bills possible.