Hundreds of gourmet food trucks call the L.A. streets home, with more revving up all the time. Some are independents. Others are linked to trendy restaurants run by red-hot chefs.
But now the food truck craze has drawn in restaurant chains that want to take their menus out for a spin.
Workers from the Habit burger truck deal with lunchtime crowds at an industrial park in Rancho Cucamonga. The Habit’s a 40-year-old (mostly) Californian chain that’s been expanding.
The Habit’s Mike Mirkil says the burger chain rolled out its first food truck, for catered events, late last summer.
“We’re still an unknown brand,” Mirkil acknowledged. “So what the truck can do for us is it can be out there in the community and it can be a very great marketing tool to create brand awareness and excitement for us.”