5 Tips to Eliminate Food Truck Lines (at Your Wedding)

I don’t know about you, but I’m somehow always eating last at a wedding no matter how the food is served.

  • People are going up to the buffet, table by table…
  • A few servers are bringing plated courses one table at a time…
  • We’re all waiting in line at a carving station…

No service style seems to feed 100% of wedding guests all at once. Yet somehow food trucks seem to get a bad rap when it comes to wait time.

Does speedy service top your list of wedding catering must-haves?

Here are five tips so you can have your food truck and eat it too.

#1 Choose the cuisine type wisely

Every caterer knows that certain foods “hold” better than others. That means that even if some parts of the meal are prepared in advance, they will taste fresh and delicious anyways when they are served.

Consider dishes that don’t need to be cooked-to-order and can just be assembled instead. The more the food truck can cook ahead of time, the less time they have to spend cooking during the wedding.

Some crowd favorites that hold well are: tacos, BBQ, lobster rolls, Mediterranean and Indian. And, while they may be worth the wait, you should avoid fried foods or cooked-to-order cuts (like a big burger) if service speed is a top concern.

#2 Limit the menu:

Keep the food truck menu simple and short.

Every choice you give to your guests compounds indecision at the ordering window. Too many options also extends the time it takes to prepare the food – chefs will have to wait for the order to be placed instead of going ahead and just cooking more of what they know will be ordered soon.

For expedited service offer a maximum of four entree choices.

For super-fast service consider limiting the menu to only one or two entree items.

#3 Make the appetizers, sides or condiments self-service

There are three benefits of doing part of the meal buffet style:

  1. Hungry guests can nibble on something in advance of ordering at the food truck
  2. With guests serving themselves, the food truck can focus on getting those main dishes out as quickly as possible.
  3. Guests can customize their meal to ensure they enjoy it.

#4 Cater with multiple food trucks

While adding more food trucks will typically add more cost, it can also make a lot of sense – get more food variety without sacrificing speed.

If you go this route, the most important thing to remember is to give people a full meal at each food truck to discourage waiting in line a second time.

If you encourage guests to try both food trucks, this won’t reduce wait times.

Instead, each guest will simply wait in two lines that are half as long instead of one big line!

#5 Pick an experienced, capable, and reliable truck

This isn’t always as straightforward as it might seem. Just because a truck has delicious food or great reviews online doesn’t mean that they know how to put food out quickly during a wedding catering.

Many chefs are more focused on food quality than making sure everyone gets fed quickly.

One question to consider asking a food truck before hiring them is “How many meals can you make per hour?”

Not every food truck will know and that can be a good indicator on its own.

Summary

Using the above five tricks will help you make sure your wedding is a memorable, fun and satisfying food truck experience for every guest.

Does hiring a good food truck sound overwhelming?

Want to ensure your food truck catering goes smoothly?

Roaming Hunger can help. Learn more HERE.