Two Dudes Share Their Opinion of the Twin Cities Food Truck Scene | FTE Episode 022

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Last year was insane. If we didn’t double either way there was an exponential increase in our food trucks last year compared to the years before that. – Andrew Steifer on the number of trucks operating in the Twin Cities area.– Happy Black Friday! For those of you located in the United States it’s also the day after Thanksgiving, which means leftovers for everyone. In this episode, I veer a bit off course from my usual business advice interviews and instead talk food with Twin Cities blogger Andrew Steifer, who runs what I view to be the authority on food trucks in the in the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro where I live. Steifer is also a formally trained gastronomic expert of sorts and has a Bachelor’s degree from the International Culinary School at the Art Institutes in Minneapolis, Minn. If you’re interested in learning more about the Twin Cities mobile food scene or what trucks you should try next in the area you’re in the right place.

In this interview, Steifer shares insights into the short history and evolution of the Twin Cities food truck scene. Mobile food vehicles took a bit longer to make their presence felt than on the east and west coasts, but their popularity has exploded over the past two years going over well with our Midwest pallets. In this interview Steifer shares why he started a blog, how he rates food trucks, and shares his picks for the best food trucks in the Twin Cities metro.

What You’ll Learn

• How Steifer identified a gap in the existing reporting of food trucks in the Twin Cities
• Why Steifer developed his own rating system when reviewing food that includes taste, how well the food holds, speed of delivery, price points, and that hard to define X factor
• How he monitors when new food vendors come to the Twin Cities area
• The culture and history of street food
• How Steifer was inspired by Minnesota native Andrew Zimmerman of the Travel Channel series Bizarre Foods
• Learn some of Steifer’s favorite street food vendors in the area like Natedogs, Potter’s Pasties & Pies, and Vellee Deli
• What makes a great customer experience and the importance of keeping fans up to date with locations
• Why the popularity of mobile food is here to stay
• Everything you ever wanted to know about the Twin Cities food truck scene

Our Sponsor

FoodStart.com – We’re sponsored by FoodStart.com where you can get $1,000 in seed capital for a restaurant just for being a listener to the podcast. Click here to learn more about this partnership.

Mentioned in the Episode

Reviews on Wheels – Read Andrew Steifer’s blog and check out pics from the Harriet Brewery Truck Rally that we attended in late October.

Vellee Deli – The Twin Cities based Korean fusion truck that Andrew has visited roughly six times. Highly recommended on the podcast.

Potter’s Pasties & Pies – Another one of Steifer’s top picks in the area. According to Steifer, Potter’s Pasties started as a food truck and now have their own traditional restaurant location.

Natedogs – This is the little hot dog stand that could. Natedogs gets a ton of much-deserved press throughout the metro.

Motley Crews – A local truck I finally got the opportunity to try at the Harriet Brewery Truck Rally and past guest of the show. Their Sweet and Heat Pretzels are worthy of all the hype they’ve received.

Minnesota Food Truck Association – Live near or around the Twin Cities and want to learn more about the growing scene that’s right in your backyard? Check out the MN Food Truck Association website to discover the different options that are available locally.

Big E’s Southern Q I feel like it was amateur hour on the podcast this week. So many rookie mistake including my reference to Big E’s Southern Q during the podcast. Thanks for calling in Big E, being part of the FoodTruckEmpire.com email list, and for correcting me on the website URL more than once. Look out for this guy!

Food Pics

 

Pulled Pork from Cafe Racer

Sweet and Heat Pretzels from Motley Crews Food Truck

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I want to thank you for listening to the show and participating in the FoodTruckEmpire community. This has been a huge month in terms of new listeners to the program and it wouldn’t be possible without the help of you sharing this content.