Article

'Food Truck Alley' expands at NRF show in NYC

Once again, food trucks provided attendees at the NRF show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City an alternative to the facility’s indoor food court and restaurants.

The NRF show provided an expansive seating area for food truck patrons at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Photo courtesy of NRF.

January 20, 2020 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

El Toro Rojo serves Mexican fare outside the south concourse.

Food trucks once again converged at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City to serve lunch to thousands of hungry attendees at the National Retail Federation Big Show, a three-day event that hosted 800 exhibitors from close to 100 countries. This year's event, which drew an estimated 40,000 attendees, featured more than twice as many food trucks as last year's event.

This year, the outdoor food truck serving area extended beyond the south concourse to the north concourse. The trucks offered a variety of cuisines including Mexican, Korean, Italian, barbecue, gourmet sandwiches and more.

Many of the trucks had lines with 10 to 20 people throughout the 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. duration of the allotted serving time for all three days. The food trucks provided convention attendees an alternative to the facility's indoor food court and restaurants. Food truck patrons were able to eat at an expansive indoor seating area.

Gary's Steaks serves cheesesteaks, hoagies and beverages outside the north concourse.

Despite the larger number of food trucks this year, food truck owners interviewed by Food Truck Operator were pleased with the turnout. Most complimented Food Fleet, the Los Angeles-based food truck booking service that books food trucks nationwide, which selected the trucks for the event in partnership with Levy Restaurants, a Compass Group USA member company, which manages the convention center's foodservice. Last year, the convention center's then-foodservice provider, Centerplate, selected the trucks in partnership with the New York Food Truck Association.

A welcome January event

Once again, the event was a welcome change for those food trucks that normally serve street locations.

"It was better than being in the middle of the street in January," said Dennis Apreza, who runs the El Toro Rojo Mexican food truck with his father, Gabriel. The truck's four-person crew served 130 customers the first day, 150 the second day and 100 the third day, Apreza said.

Empire Barbecue serves barbecued meats outside the south concourse.

Food truck owners gave Food Fleet high marks for giving them an accurate idea how much business they could expect to do. Food Fleet asked the trucks to limit their menus to a few items given the amount of people they needed to serve in the limited serving time.

Sales were better last year since there were fewer trucks, said Apreza, whose truck was the only one returning from last year's event.

However, one improvement Food Fleet made was to allow the trucks to use their own POS systems, Apreza said, which improved efficiency. Last year, he said the trucks were required to use iPads provided by the New York Food Truck Association.

Joe Glasser, who operates the Labella NYC truck, specializing in Italian fare, said sales were good but not outstanding, given the 30% commission he had to pay Food Fleet since his sales exceeded a certain amount. He said he would do the event again.

Kimchi Taco serves Korean barbecued meats outside the north concourse.

Glasser, a new Food Fleet partner, said the booking company was very professional.

He welcomed the event since January is usually a slow month for Labella NYC, which mostly does catered events for the city's entertainment industry and does not do street service in New York City, which in his view has overly strict regulations.

"It was really good," said Lionel Ruiz, regional retail manager for nuchas, which operates one truck, two food carts and two food kiosks serving empanadas and pastries. Ruiz was pleased to see there was always a line during the serving periods.

"Every event Javits Center does is a good event," said a man who identified himself as Daniel S., owner of Meatoss, which served barbecued meat. "They were very well-organized," he said of Food Fleet.

Gary's Steaks' owner Hassan Gherbi said he had no complaints for his truck, which serves cheesesteaks and hoagies. Gherbi's business is evenly split between street service and catering.

Photos courtesy of Networld Media Group.