Food trucks have boomed in visibility and influence, but the road to success is getting rougher. According to a recent report from IBIS, food trucks are approaching the $3 billion annual revenue mark across over 92,000 businesses in the U.S. and are projected to keep growing over the next five years. But once seen as a scrappy alternative to brick-and-mortar restaurants, today’s mobile kitchens are navigating many of the same financial pressures that traditional restaurants are facing. While the total number of food trucks is projected to grow in the years ahead by 17%, revenue growth for 2025 is estimated by IBIS to be a mere 0.2% and on the decline.
More cities are embracing food trucks due to a variety of factors, including consumers’ increasing demands for innovative, affordable dining options, back-to-office mandates, and bureaucratic easing of regulations. However, inflation and tariffs mean operators are experiencing rising costs, from transportation to ingredients, often risking the push of menu prices to a breaking point for consumers.
For trucks, it is not just imported food staples, but new tariffs on imported aluminum and steel in the trucks and equipment.
Fast food and casual restaurants have seen menu prices increasing in the 5% range. Items that were once under $10 are now an average of $11.56, according to a recent Lending Tree report, and food consumers are pushing back. Chipotle recently reported weak results that sank its stock and can at least partially be attributed to consumer perceptions about rising menu prices across-the-board that have hurt sales, its executives said on an earnings call this week.
“It’s been affecting us a lot,” said Angel Ruiz, general manager of Birria-Landia, a New York City-based food truck that launched in 2019 with multiple locations across the city’s boroughs. “Prices are going up around 30% for some ingredients,” he said. “We try to balance those costs so it doesn’t impact the customer’s pocket,” he added.
The Queens-based food truck, which was recently named the second-best taco spot in America, according to Yelp, recently upped prices 12.5%.
Some experts say the idea that food trucks are by their nature cheaper was always a false one. Social media savvy food trucks with unique menus can and do get customers to the counter with elevated prices.
“The mainstream food truck, with branding, apps, and culinary innovation are always $10 and up,” said Sandipan Sen, professor of marketing at Southeast Missouri State University. “Typically, food trucks are between fast food and a reasonably priced fine dining restaurant.”
In his view, a menu increase of a dollar or two linked to cost pressures will not be a dealbreaker for many food truck enthusiasts. “The commercial food trucks were never meant to just be cheap,” he said.
Low start-up costs, but big logistics hurdles
Cities are becoming more friendly toward food trucks as an established part of the local culture, and more events are being designed with food trucks in mind. But despite relatively low startup costs compared to restaurants, running a food truck comes with major logistical hurdles. “A lot of people think it is easy,” Ruiz said. “But the truck itself can cost around $160,000 to $170,000, plus permits and insurance.”
Industry estimates put truck costs anywhere from $120,000 to $200,000.
Along with purchasing the truck, managing one can drain operators’ wallets before they ever open to sell their first meal. In fact, “the biggest misconception people have is that a food truck is a cheap restaurant on wheels,'” said Ben Goldberg, co-founder and president of the New York Food Truck Association. “You’re talking about managing a mobile restaurant: purchasing the truck, outfitting the truck with kitchen equipment, obtaining all kinds of insurance, and health department permits,” Goldberg said.
Red tape can be a significant challenge. “Between health department requirements, commissary regulations, parking restrictions, fire suppression standards, and individual event permits, the process can feel overwhelming,” Goldberg said. “On top of this, there are parking challenges, staffing complexities, and many other pitfalls, all while competing in some of the busiest and most regulated cities in the country.”
“You have to make sure you get your spot every night. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not,” Ruiz said, explaining that the only way to ensure you get your spot is to park your car there throughout the day.
“They need to have a back up plan for everything,” said Sen. “If the main chef falls ill, who runs the show that day? They need to train alternates to run the operations.”
It is not uncommon for a food truck to be a one-person business. And they have unique commuting and seasonal challenges. “They need back up street routes if the current routes are not working on a certain day. They need to have collaborations with complementary business, especially during winter months,” Sen said. He added that the use of technology and social media in particular is key to finding a way to operate in winter “when there may not be a lot of crowd waiting to be served.”
Merging of restaurant and mobile food business models
There was a time earlier in the food truck industry’s history when Goldberg says he would have described the businesses as being built around strictly affordable options, but “the industry has evolved,” he said.
Quality, creativity, and access are now more important to consumers, and “even though prices have increased slightly in recent years (due to inflation, tariffs, etc.), a food truck lunch is still less expensive than the average quick service or sit down meal in New York City,” he said.
With the profit margin of food trucks averaging 5% between 2020-2025, according to IBIS, some food truck owners have turned to catering or private event service to diversify their business, changing the model of “accessible” dining to meet the current moment, supplementing core truck sales with weddings, corporate events, and partnerships that have helped to keep street pricing accessible, according to Goldberg.
“Your truck isn’t just your kitchen, it’s your brand. Think about design, customer experience, and storytelling from day one. A great food truck isn’t just serving food; it’s creating moments that people remember and share,” Goldberg said. And the extension of that brand into events is becoming more critical for sales success. “Many of our most successful members generate the majority of their revenue through private events, brand activations, and catering, not street vending,” Goldberg said.
The traditional restaurant and truck models are also converging in some cases, Birria-Landia among them. It’s planning to open its first brick-and-mortar location in Flushing, Queens, in the Tangram Mall, which is home to retail, dining, and entertainment.
That should not be a surprise, according to Sen: “Most [food truck] ventures that have survived for more than five years either have a brick-and-mortar presence or were originally a brick-and-mortar restaurant and the food truck is an offshoot,” he said. “Food trucks are not a long term business,” he said. “Don’t be surprised if your favorite food truck goes out of business, or decides to be brick-and-mortar, or becomes a catering service.”
IBIS says “American” cuisine remains the largest driver of annual food truck revenue, at roughly $1.3 billion, followed by dessert trucks, Central and South American cuisine, and Asian cuisine. What are called fusion trucks are also trending, such as Roy Choi’s Kogi BBQ, and New York’s Korilla BBQ, blending Asian and Mexican cuisines.
Goldberg says food trucks often lead the way with new cuisines. “Trucks are where you find mashups, global flavors, and seasonal specialties you can’t always get in brick-and-mortar spots. So while affordability and convenience remain core, the experience: discovering something new, eating outdoors, connecting with the chef directly is what makes food trucks so special today,” he said.
“It’s a lot of work. You just have to be passionate and careful,” said Ruiz, who has been in the restaurant industry for two decades. “If you make good food, you always will have people that come back.”
But the first step in eventual success is the blocking and tackling of the business model. “Success starts with understanding your concept’s economics, local demand, and operational logistics,” Goldberg said.
