Making a living side of the road bbq/food truck

work2play2

Banned again & will band again soon
Just got back from a short trip along the coast. I was amazed at how many smokers on wheels/food trucks with people selling bbq. Made me wonder how in the world these people make a living. Anyone know anyone that knows anyone that sells bbq on the side of the road and actually makes a living?
 

elfiii

Admin
Staff member
Cookin' good Q is hard enough by itself. If I had to hit the road and sell it for a living after I cooked it I believe I'd just rather be a full time WalMart greeter and have to deal with the people of WalMart 8 hours a day.
 

LTZ25

Senior Member
I see the guy at the 4 way on hwy 212 selling boiled peanuts and he seems to be doing a good business , I always tip him when I stop . If you are retired and bored than could be interesting .
 

bilgerat

Senior
Long time friend O mine has one in Gulfport Miss, The Big Pig BBQ. He works his tail off and barley makes enough to survive. The County is always messing with him.. once he satisfies all their rules for a road side bbq stand the change them or they change the zoning for his location.. Hes had to move about once a year since he started it up 5 years ago.
 

JackSprat

Senior Member
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

Most GA. health dept. won't let you do it. Usually, a competitor drops a dime on you. See bilgerat's post.

The money is in working fairs and festivals, private party. Biggest problem with that it's rough -during the season, Thur. shopping, Fri. is cooking, Sat and Sun is for getting there, getting set up at 6 a.m. and working 10 hours. but you can make good money if you hustle, pretty much like anything else.

Biggest risk is weather. You stock up on Thurs. with enough meat for a 30,000 person festival, and Fri. night a hurricane moves in. You are basically screwed. You have to be prepared for any one event to be a bust.

Two years ago,one of the biggest arts and craft shows in the USA in Murphy, N.C.-50,000 people. 200+ vendors got cancelled on Fri. -- That festival was a lot of the vendors "Black Friday" for the year.
 

gunnurse

Senior Member
I have posted in other threads why you pay $10.00 for a large bbq nacho and $5.00 for a sweet tea. You are essentially financing their risk. Also, don’t complain so much about their “tip jars.” Live and let live.
 

fish hawk

Bass Master
I have two buddies that operate a ice cream truck,they do pretty good
 

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specialk

Senior Member
there's a guy in our 'hood that sells bbq-ribs pulled pork, sausage, shrimp, turkey legs, chicken-all smoked....all the sides...pulls a cooker round....he will call me when he's going to be in the area.....code enforcement pulled up one day in the parking lot while he was selling and wrote a ticket....I got to talking to him and he was ok with the ticket....cost of business he said.....cheaper to pay a few tickets than run a storefront......
 

j_seph

Senior Member
Ask unicoidawg about those peanut stands
 

Meriwether Mike

Senior Member
Some of these portable BBQ stands buy their meat and supplies with their EBT. They are only out the cost of labor. They do not have to buy a business license or pass a health inspection until the local government catches up the them. Saw some folks buying lots of meat, racks of ribs, gallons of mustard and mayonnaise at the local Food Depot with their EBT. It was obvious what was going on.
 

Redbow

Senior Member
How about people selling hot dogs out of a hot dog cart...The Wife and I were in Jacksonville NC at Lowe's one day and a guy had his hot dog cart set up just outside the front door..I got to talking to him about the hot dog business and he said it was good. I told him that in my younger days I worked many hours behind a grill fixing hot dogs and burgers for the public. He tried to hire me on the spot so he must do pretty good..He told me he was going to be in Beaufort NC the next day and for me to come and help him with his business,, I declined..I see more than one hot dog cart in other places selling dogs with all the fixings.

Another business in a trailer opened up about 3 miles from us and they sold BBQ and burgers along with FF and other goodies. They stayed open for about a year then folded...Their BBQ was not good, burgers were okay..
 

rospaw

Senior Member
I talked to a food truck/trailer vender at a large equip auction. i had seen him a few times before. He was serving breakfast and lunch/ dinner for the 2 day auction. Large sale with a 1000 plus pieces of equip. He said he normally does 12k plus on that day and 6k on the 2nd day. :hair: I asked how much after EVERYTHING is paid, He said about 8k but said this is not a every weekend thing, maybe 2-4 times a year. He does alot of smaller auctions where he said 1-3k is normal. All auction workers eat/drink free. Food was good not great and he had about 5 folks working with him.
 

JackSprat

Senior Member
How about people selling hot dogs out of a hot dog cart...The Wife and I were in Jacksonville NC at Lowe's one day and a guy had his hot dog cart set up just outside the front door..I got to talking to him about the hot dog business and he said it was good. I told him that in my younger days I worked many hours behind a grill fixing hot dogs and burgers for the public. He tried to hire me on the spot so he must do pretty good..He told me he was going to be in Beaufort NC the next day and for me to come and help him with his business,, I declined..I see more than one hot dog cart in other places selling dogs with all the fixings.

Another business in a trailer opened up about 3 miles from us and they sold BBQ and burgers along with FF and other goodies. They stayed open for about a year then folded...Their BBQ was not good, burgers were okay..


Hot dogs and comparable products fall under different rules - they are considered a pre-cooked product, and the vendor only warms them.

Peanuts get by because they are an agricultural product, and their sale is regulated by the Dept. of Agriculture.

It gets even more fun, convenience stores that sell groceries are regulated by the Ag Dept. They can sell hot food as long as there are no sit down places. Ag. Dept regs on food prep and storage are more lenient than Health Dept. Put in a couple of booths, now hot food prep and sales is regulated by the Health Dept. Same location, same food, same kitchen.
 

JackSprat

Senior Member
I talked to a food truck/trailer vender at a large equip auction. i had seen him a few times before. He was serving breakfast and lunch/ dinner for the 2 day auction. Large sale with a 1000 plus pieces of equip. He said he normally does 12k plus on that day and 6k on the 2nd day. :hair: I asked how much after EVERYTHING is paid, He said about 8k but said this is not a every weekend thing, maybe 2-4 times a year. He does alot of smaller auctions where he said 1-3k is normal. All auction workers eat/drink free. Food was good not great and he had about 5 folks working with him.

I vended BBQ at small fairs and festivals for a few years. Tried to only do the one day events, My goal was to clear $800-1000 a day, and I usually made it. Plus I usually picked up one catered event for a later date which is where the real money is because you have no competition. What's really good about catering is it is 2 hours on site and then you are gone.
 

Dub

Senior Member
I have a buddy at work who talks about doing this all the time.

I suppose if you had specific catering events lined up you could make a run at it.

Overall....it just seems to be a big expense and would be a struggle to break even.....and a heap of work.

I'd grow to hate it, I'm afraid.

Much better to work at our normal jobs and keep BBQ as a hobby on the side.
 

Dr. Strangelove

Senior Member
In my travels between Athens and middle GA or Western North Carolina in the past, it was pretty common to see folks selling BBQ out of a little stand or tent right in their own front yards or on vacant lots on Friday and Saturday nights. I guess roads are bigger and wider now and most of the little towns have by-passes, but I even accounting for that I still don't see as many as I did 20-25 years ago.

I know here in the People's Republic of Athens you aren't going to be able to do that, unless you happen to be a minority, of course, in which case the county will probably supply you a food truck courtesy of the taxpayers.

I used to love to stop for ten minutes or so and buy a BBQ sandwich or ribs or whatever from these kind of places and shoot the breeze. I guess taxes and the health department have about run these folks off. It's a shame, because guess what? If I stop on the side of the road and buy food from someone selling it out of an Easy-Up™ tent in their front yard - I know I'm taking a risk, food-wise. I'm OK with that.

Just another tradition gone by the wayside, I suppose.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Most of the world doesn't worry about regulating street food.

 
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