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Roy Choi’s advice to food truck wannabees: Ya gotta love the streets

December 27, 2019

Roy Choi, considered by many to be a pioneer of the modern food truck industry, says it's important to respect the culture of the streets you are serving if you want to succeed as a food truck owner. Choi offered some advice about what it takes to succeed in today's industry in an interview with Uproxx, a lifestyle publication.

Choi, who operates his Los Angeles-based Kogi food truck empire, said it is also important to recognize the contributions of the earlier food truck operators, which were mostly taco and burrito trucks.

The next important consideration, he said, is to pay attention to the quality of the first bite of the food you serve.

Most pertinent of all, he said, is to really love the streets you are serving. Many chefs have failed because they did not connect with the lifestyle of the streets they were serving. This, he said, includes the smells and sounds of mothers and kids, workers, gangsters and everyone else.