Duck’s New Food Truck and Decatur’s Food Truck Future
Decatur Metro | June 26, 2011
Nate sends along this photo of Duck’s Comic Kitchen’s snazzy new food truck, “Wonderlicious on Wheels”.
According to a short Patch post yesterday, the truck will spend Monday in the East Decatur parking lot before hitting the road and heading into Atlanta this coming week to appease the food truck-crazed masses. It will be selling everything from Duck’s donuts to veggie burgers, according to the blurb.
This food truck trend continues to gain steam around Atlanta while Decatur sits at the sidelines, unusually silent in the wake of another coming food/beverage storm.
We may feel like we can wait forever to “figure out” how food trucks fit into the Decatur food chain, but it seems to me like there are many parallels to farmer’s markets here. Basically, if you don’t plant your stake early and show that you can draw the crowds, before you know it, we’ll be hearing a food truck version of “Well, a lot of the best farmer’s go to Morningside on Saturday morning.”
Will food trucks hurt brick-and-mortar retail business in a small city like ours? I don’t know the answer to that. But let’s have an open discussion about it now – restaurant owners, residents, retailers, etc – , so that if we decide, “No, it will most likely complement retail.”, we will have an actual shot of attracting the best food trucks to our city on a daily/weekly basis.
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About a month ago there was a food truck event in the parking lot of The Marlay House on a Saturday afternoon. It seemed really well attended, was lots of fun, and so exciting to have the food trucks in our area. I’d hazard to guess it didn’t hurt business at the Marlay, either, which was packed. I think it could compliment businesses in Decatur and my vote is bring ‘em!
Will there be some way of knowing where the Duck Truck is and what it’s selling? I have never tweeted nor wanted to but I might start if it meant that I could find Duck’s brioch more frequently. It used to be at Dancing Goat but not lately.
That would be brioche with a French soft ch and silent e.
You can find WOW! on both Twitter (@WowFoodTruck) and FB (http://www.facebook.com/pages/WOW-Food-Truck/209576932416292).
Wow! (Pun intended!) Ask and ye shall receive. Should have known that Carl, most connected man in Decatur, would know!
Ok, so I should “friend” the “Wow”, aka Duck, Truck? And then their wall updates will come to my Facebook page, maybe with an email alert? And what is arepa? Sounds good but not sure why it has to leave the regular cafe in order to be sold from the truck.
Thanks for the kind words! Arepas are savory griddled corn cakes, which WOW! plans to serve stuffed with slow-roasted meats (I hope they’ll offer some veg options as well; traditionally they could include eggs, tomatoes, salad, cheese, or fish).
You can’t “friend” WOW! but you can Like them, since they’re a business (Page) rather than a person (Profile). And yes, the updates will then appear in your News Feed. If you really want to be kept updated, you could activate mobile alerts (http://www.facebook.com/mobile/?settings) by entering WOW! Food Truck in the “Whose status updates should go to my phone?” box. Perhaps in the future they’ll have an email list; but right now their website hasn’t been launched. You can also email them at .
Comparing DFM with Morningside isn’t quite like comparing apples and oranges, but close. Morningside is really is its own category, both having been around the longest and focusing exclusively on organic growers. The real issue may be that people seem to enjoy going to much larger markets, many of which are 501(c)(3) entities. Folks can go to DFM for a few items (and certainly good ones), but they can go to Marietta, Peachtree Road, or Piedmont for much more all in one place. Or (increasingly), they go to Grant Park on Sunday.
Food trucks often appeal to a completely different audience than restaurants. I’m a fan of quick serve places, which is why I (along with the Mayor, apparently) was one of the few regular patrons at Saba on Sycamore. The only places we really now have in that category are Sawicki’s, the Pita Pit and Sammiches N’ Stuff (I don’t count Badda Bing anymore because no one seems to know when they’re open). Those are all basically sandwich places, though. True, there’s TDS, but then you have to endure that line. At any rate, the food truck model is ideal for me, as someone that just wants quality food quickly. I regularly go to the food truck gatherings all around Atlanta (just got coffee this morning from Rattletrap) and would welcome these sorts of options, even on a smaller scale, much closer to home. I also regularly go to Eats and Our Way because they offer vegetables in a quick-serve setting, but of course I’d much rather have these options in Decatur…from a trailer or not.
In a sense, though, that does mean that a substantial mobile food operation could have a negative effect on existing businesses, because I might never need to patronize them again. I realized during my last visit to Austin for a Dell function, that aside from meals provided by the company (and a friend’s post-booksigning dinner gathering), almost everything I ate was from a truck/trailer. This time around, I didn’t even eat at the Whole Foods Market flagship, where I’d often dined in the past. There were just more than enough great options that I could attain easily, quickly, and (typically) fairly economically. So yes, if I could get everything I desired from a truck here, I might just do it. However, I think that possibility is quite a ways off for now. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to trying WOW! and hope they’ll opt to be open all of the time on Monday (when Duck’s is otherwise closed).
Duck’s donuts, portable? Oh, man, I’m really in trouble now!
I went to the Marlay food truck event back in … May? The food was good, but the noise from the generators was annoying. Would licensed food trucks have a less noisy power source?
We tried the WOW truck on Saturday and were pretty impressed. The arepas were great, and their chicken salad and pot roast sandwiches on fresh baked bread were divine. Oatmeal cookie also outstanding. Sides needed a little work, but we were there right at the end, so they were probably better earlier.
Looks to be a great addition to Atlanta’s burgeoning food truck lineup. I hope we actually see them around Decatur relatively frequently!
Decaturites are always thinking about consumption. I think there is a strong possibility that Decatur will be a “net exporter” of Food Trucks. Consider The Marlay and now Ducks; they will probably do more events outside Decatur ( going to places with less good dining options) than in Decatur. Competition from the many brick and mortar options will likely limit outside food trucks from coming in – festivals/events being an exception.
This would be a good thing for both Decatur business owners and landlords. Strengthening and broadening the market for resturants here that jump on the bandwagon and are able to parlay their concepts into a truck format.
Personally, I would like to see them take advantage of what Decatur restaurants are becoming more known for – supporting local farmers and markets and providing fresh and more healthy food. The last thing we need, in my opinion, is a mobile restaurant selling the same basic kind of food – burgers, pizza, etc., even if it is really good. How about fresh food from local growers. And here is another potential benefit. If we get in on this movement, you get to know the people trying to get there businesses going and what that operation is all about, how they connect with growers and you see how much they love what they do. Saw Grace’s Goodness at the DFM on Saturday and she is trying to get a truck up and running – THAT’s the kind of thing I want to see. good fresh food and enthusiastic, happy people. not just a successful business.
Let competition do what it will, that is not my concern. Nor is my concern, immediately at least, where they will park. i want to see a community that is more ‘connected’ to their food because they voice their opinion about what they want and follow through on those ideas.
FYI – The WOW! Truck and Duck’s both support local farmers. In fact we buy weekly from folks like Flat Creek Lodge, D&A Farms, and Crystal Organics for the restaurant. We plan to do the same thing on the truck. We also host a monthly dinner called the Go Local at which the menu created using only local food from surrounding farms.
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Any food truck that can find a way to set up near the CDC will be jammed with customers every day…
I’m behind attracting food trucks to Decatur. A this point, they are still more of a novelty to really detract from regular restaurant traffic. Limited frequency, one day every couple weeks or even once a month, would be fine for a city of this size.
I think the trend will be for independent, truck only businesses to win the day. These things started as ways to get a quick, easy, good meal on the go. I’d rather see that than a food truck for every brick and mortar establishment. IMHO, if the trend goes that route, it’ll all be over once the weather changes.