Creating a killer food truck menu is more than just thinking about all the recipes you know off the top of your head. While you can certainly offer a variety of food items to your customers, the best food trucks are often the ones that specialize in a niche or a certain type of food.
From ingredients to menu layout, there are many factors you will have to consider to stand out and keep people coming back for more. If you are in the planning stages of your food truck business, then this list is for you. Here are some tips for crafting the perfect menu for your food truck business.
Establish Your Niche
Do you enjoy cooking Mexican food? Do you love frying up some burgers? Or do you love all things having to do with BBQ? Whatever it is you love to cook, you must narrow down what fabulous foods you want to theme your food truck around to build your brand. If you look around, all of the best restaurants stick to a theme and serve only what they do best.
If you offer a mix of different cuisines, you may not always be working to your strengths, which will only hurt your business in the long run. Identify your strengths and stick to a menu that revolves around them. It simply means if you love serving tacos, stick to other Mexican-themed foods instead of trying to also squeeze in Japanese or Italian food.
Offer Seasonal Specials
Seasonal menu items can add variety to your menu without straying from your established theme. This allows you to try new dishes and entice new customers and regulars by offering them something new to try. To spice things up even further, you can add your own twist to a dish to give it some creative flair to help you stand out and can be useful when marketing.
You can maintain a regular rotation of seasonal menu items in addition to your standard menu to ensure customers can experience something new when they come back.
Ingredients
Ingredients are the special sauce to help your menu items stand out and keep people coming back for more. While you may want to offer high-quality ingredients as much as possible, the reality is food trucks walk a fine line between being affordable and offering gourmet appeal.
To craft a delicious menu without breaking the bank and maintaining affordable prices, you need to look at your budget and buy ingredients that strike a balance between quality and cost. Additionally, another way you can be cost-effective is to use recipes with many of the same ingredients. Because food trucks have limited storage space, you must strategize carefully when putting together a menu and selecting your ingredients.
Arrange Your Menu Strategically
Crafting a menu is not just about what goes on in the kitchen. You need to create a menu board that is easy to read and aesthetically pleasing to attract customers. Putting your highest-selling menu items at the top of your menu will ensure they have the highest visibility, which will give them the highest chance of being purchased. You can use space to strategically boost the visibility of your food and push the items you want to customers.
Certified in all 50 states to build food trucks for clients, Sizemore Food Trucks is a family-run business that has been in the mobile foods industry for over 30 years. We offer top-quality trucks and trailers manufactured with the shortest build times and affordable pricing. If you are looking to start your own food truck business, give us a call today to begin your journey into the mobile foods industry!