New foodie trend? Food trucks incubate into restaurants
Food-truck-turned-restaurant seems to be the latest foodie trend in Maine, with several food truck owners planning to upgrade into full-scale restaurants.
In some larger markets, food trucks have been pilot operations for future restaurant owners to get established in a lower cost environment. The trend has clearly taken off in Maine as well.
In October, the owners of the Middle Eastern cuisine truck CN Shawarma announced plans to open a restaurant by year’s end in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood.
Now, the owners of the Japanese-themed Mami Food Truck have announced plans to open a restaurant in Portland’s Old Port, the Bangor Daily News reported. In Belfast, Seth Whited, owner of the globally inspired Good N You foodtruck, has opened a restaurant, Neighborhood, that’s 10 times larger than he was used to. And in Scarborough, the owners of mobile eatery Bite Into Maine have rented space on U.S. Route 1 to sell lobster rolls year-round.
“Food trucks are a great incubator. You can perfect your cuisine and see who your customer is,” Sarah Sutton of Bite into Maine told the BDN.
“The food truck model is a great way to get your name out there and allow people to get to know who you are on an intimate level,” Karl Deuben, who formerly co-ran the Small Axe Truck in Portland and now co-runs Portland’s East Ender restaurant, told the BDN.
But the restaurant, Deuben said, provides more employment, pulls in 10 times more revenue and banishes worries about foul weather and breakdowns.
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