A quick confession: I have never been a food truck consumer, unless ice cream trucks at the beach count. And I somehow doubt it. However, as food trucks themselves increase in number (and delicious smells), so too do the questions surrounding them. Take for example, these posts on Silver Spring Singular and Greater Greater Washington in the past couple of days:
In sum, the former argues that: “After my initial enthusiasm over the arrival of this new truck wore off, I started to wonder if this arrangement is really fair to more permanent Silver Spring restaurateurs. Simply by virtue of being on wheels, any new food truck spotted in Silver Spring will create a buzz that eclipses that enjoyed by most of the local ‘brick & mortar’ restaurants.”
In a direct response, the latter points out that food trucks are not competing with traditional restaurants, but rather filling the gaps in Silver Spring dining: “Successful food trucks are ones that offer something that brick-and-mortar restaurants currently don’t. They’re also ways to draw hungry customers to areas of downtown Silver Spring that haven’t finished developing, which could help the restaurants already there.”