Alley Burger/Food Truck Experience

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Looks like our friends at the Flamew are hopping in on the trend of 2012:

The Flames Food Truck is a coming this fall.
http://flames.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=83253

Yup, put a fork in it, this trend has jumped the shark. Although it did give us the tasty Naaco Truck, so some good came of it.

Awesome, so the league is locked out, the public is pissed at either the players or owners, but happy with neither, and they start this up.....nice play.

[Misterpants]

Great, now I can buy $6 popcorn outside the Saddledome!

[Puppet Guy]

maybe it'll be like the Flames roster: expensive, uninspiring and occasionally nausea-inducing.

[Komskies]

If they serve 'Dome nachos, they can do no wrong.

[Kybosh]

I think I remember that the Naaco truck operator is a CPer. You need to come in and around Nexen much more often. I enjoy your food but don't get it enough. I have spoken.

[Ducay]

The fact its come from the Flames is the most gut wrenching idea I've heard all day.

The food at the Saddledome from the in-house concessions is one step above microwavable dinners. Or even below in certain cases

[Hack&Lube]

Lately, I've discovered a few stores are using food trucks to attract/keep customers/families around the stores on weekends which is a good idea.

Some of them have vouchers/coupons so if you buy such-and-such or X amount of $ in the store, that you get $10 voucher or food coupon at the food truck which they have paid for to have parked in the parking lot with tables and benches.

[nik-]

The Flames doing a mobile Flames Central would suck. However, if they did a mobile heroin beer and nacho truck, it might be awesome.

[taco.vidal]

Haven't seen this yet. Care to share with us where you have seen this?

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Lately, I've discovered a few stores are using food trucks to attract/keep customers/families around the stores on weekends which is a good idea.

Some of them have vouchers/coupons so if you buy such-and-such or X amount of $ in the store, that you get $10 voucher or food coupon at the food truck which they have paid for to have parked in the parking lot with tables and benches.

[MRCboicgy]

The Family Fry Guy truck's "squeaky" poutine is dynamite. 7 bucks for a regular, but worth it for good poutine

[csnarpy]

I still go to Alley Burger and the Greek truck all the time.

Tried Los Compadres (sp) and their $10 quesidilla - it was no more than a some melted processed cheese with a slice of deli ham... it may have cost them 60 cents to make.... i tossed it on their counter and walked. That was the most insulting thing I had ever seen from a food truck to date.

[Hemi-Cuda]

i find every food truck in this city ridiculously overpriced and the quality is subpar compared to a standard restaurant. the last one i tried was that soup in a breadbowl one, and it was terrible (i really miss the Tim Horton's chili-in-a-breadbowl). i don't understand the mindset that as long as you serve your food out of a truck with nowhere to sit, you can charge 2 or 3 bucks more than if you were to go to a regular restaurant

[Jing]

Originally Posted by MRCboicgy

The Family Fry Guy truck's "squeaky" poutine is dynamite. 7 bucks for a regular, but worth it for good poutine

Thanks for the tip, tried them out today and it was pretty good (both quality and quantity for the price).

[csnarpy]

Originally Posted by fotze

You tossed the quesadilla back?

This is my one pet peeve with twitter, especially local content. Everything is awesome. All the food trucks are 'fantastic', its such a load of horsecrap, the fellatio of all things local.

Soup in a bread bowl truck, I saw that and thought what the fata? Who invests in a business with that as the premise.

Yep, threw it back. I'll never go to them again.

[FlamesKickAss]

Steakout is pretty awesome, love the steak fries!

[Ziggy Lidstrom]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

Steakout is pretty awesome, love the steak fries!

I like them as well. The prime rib is quite good. I was talking with one of the owners, He remembered me and sought me out. He told me that their food cost is 42 percent for the type of beef they use. IT's, apparently from the same source as the Keg and their "butcher's block prime rib".

He even hooked me up with the steak bites, they were tight. The parm fries are quite good too, I love the slices of parm. MMMMmmmm. One of the better trucks for sure. Los Compadres are ok. Their tacos are all i like but find them to be overpriced compared to my new fav : El Charrito. try it before it becomes too busy.

I tried stick rickeys today. The poutine was awesome. Some of the best chicken gravy i have ever had. The gumbalaya was good. My girl didn't like it but it tasted very close to what people have called authentic. It was a darker gumbo but real good. Take a chance, next i'm gonna try the red beans and rice.

[Red Ice Player]

I got stuck in traffic behind that perogy truck a while back, forced to endure the blue oily smoke from its totally bagged engine. I hear they are overpriced too. Somehow I doubt they will be spending their profits on an engine overhaul...

[Gondi Stylez]

Read through this entire thread and have a few "market research" questions to pose:

a) Define "street food culture"
b) What is your opinion of value for money based on your experiences of food trucks.
c) Smaller portion for $5 (ie. 6" sub) or meal size for $8 (ie. 12" sub)? The mind set would be to give variety and try multiple items vs. a couple.

[taco.vidal]

Comments in the quote below.

Originally Posted by Gondi Stylez

Read through this entire thread and have a few "market research" questions to pose:

a) Define "street food culture"
Seems different here in Calgary than US cities Ive travelled to. In the US, food trucks always meant cheap food with a local flavour. In Calgary, food trucks have been a nice alternative to the typical food you get in a downtown food court.
b) What is your opinion of value for money based on your experiences of food trucks.Poor value. To generalize, low quality and small portion size equals poor value.
c) Smaller portion for $5 (ie. 6" sub) or meal size for $8 (ie. 12" sub)? The mind set would be to give variety and try multiple items vs. a couple.Not sure what your question is. But Id say when trying a new food truck it is nice to have the option of smaller portions at a lower price or a sampler type item.

[nik-]

I haven't really eaten at the trucks, but what I've gathered from people's anecdotes is that these trucks for the most part have completely missed the point of a food truck. They seem to be no cheaper than anything in a food court and often smaller portions. It's too bad, but it's Calgary style to milk a trend I guess.

Granted they seem to have done good short term business, so what do I know I guess.