Once, it seemed like the law of the land: Prep cooks and T-shirt-clad entrepreneurs started up taco trucks and mobile kitchens with the goal of upgrading to a full-service restaurant — without wheels — down the road.
It’s a two-way street now, kid, and established restaurants are playing the mobile game with an eye toward extending their brands or bolstering their catering businesses.
Eric Banh of Monsoon and Ba Bar is shopping for a truck to hawk Vietnamese-style street food. The vegan Plum Bistro on Capitol Hill and the Barking Frog in Woodinville will roll out trucks in May.
The most anticipated food truck, though, is from Seattle’s famous fried-chicken franchise. Phylicia Davidson, daughter of one of the Ezell’s founders, and her cousin Jennifer Stephens head Ezell’s Express. And they seem bent on world domination.
Their goal: a fleet of food trucks to run in Portland, Los Angeles and Dallas and, after that, expand to other states. To work out the kinks, they are starting with one truck in Seattle this spring and likely a second truck here by late fall.
Ezell’s Express will park at sporting events and festivals, farmers markets and private events. It will run daily, even at 3 a.m. for the bar crowd after last call on Capitol Hill and other barhopping ’hoods.
Due to the constraints of a mobile kitchen, the truck will sell smaller-size pieces of the plump Ezell’s chicken: just wings and drumettes, chicken strips and mini rolls with some Faygo to wash that grease down. (A couple of healthy options will also be available, they said, but what’s the point of that?)
Of course, Ezell’s is far from alone on the road. About 40 mobile kitchens are registered to serve on public property in Seattle, with more applying as the weather warms up.
Here are trends to look for during food-truck season:
? Grilled-cheese sandwiches are big.
? Many trucks are going the eat-local, farm-to-table route.
? Some want to form new pods in Sodo and Georgetown this summer, since the rent is high in downtown and South Lake Union.
? Many are parking in front of brewerieswith tasting rooms but no kitchens to serve food.
The choices are overwhelming, but here are 20 new trucks to watch for. They are under 10 months old or returning from a hiatus. The best way to track their whereabouts is through their webpage or on Facebook or Twitter.