Did you book a safe Food Truck!?
Make sure that the food you're serving for your event is not real street food!
The concern with feeding anyone is always the quality of the food. As the host of an event, you want to ensure that your guests are eating good food, prepared safely and at the highest standards of cleanliness. But how can you really know just what you're getting when it comes to booking a food truck for your event? Here are the four big things to check before you hire a truck to serve your event.
1. Check Yelp
It is always a great idea to check out the Yelp page for any restaurant you’re going to eat at, and it is also a great first step in finding out if the truck you want to book is the right truck for your event. You’ll get an important score right off the bat out of 5 stars, which is an easy place to start. I recommend only considering trucks that have over 3 stars. Not to say a 2.6 star truck might not be great, it is always important to read the reviews as well, but when you’re paying someone a lot of money to deliver quality food, you don’t want sub 3-star service at all.Next, read through the reviews, and make sure that there haven’t been any reports of uncleanly behavior, food sickness, or anything else concerning coming from other guests that have previously tried to truck. This will also give you a good sense of what catered dishes to select!
2. Permits
It is important to ensure that the food truck has the right permits for the area that you’re serving in. Each city, county, and state have their own separate permits and food laws, and you should absolutely ask the truck planning to serve at your event for copies of their permits for the area. This is just another way to reassure you’re getting quality food legally licensed to serve in the area of your event.3. Food Grade
Every restaurant and food truck has to receive a food grade, and it must be posted on a visible place for all customers to see. That means it must also be given to you if asked for any given food truck you might consider booking. Any grades B+ and above you should be totally the clear - sometimes the tiniest things can knock a truck down a grade. But if you’re dealing with a truck that is B or below, you either should reconsider, or look into more reviews to help understand why they were given that rating.4. Insurance
If you’re hiring a truck for a private event, especially on public grounds, it’s important to figure out what kind of insurance the facilities require a food vendor to have in order to serve the event. All trucks will have insurance, but if they don’t - big red flag. Never book a truck that cannot get you a COI in your / the event properties name.It’s always important to make sure that you get what your paying for, and that what you’re paying for is prepared correctly and safely. It can also be a huge plus to go through a food truck vendor such as www.cityflavor.com, where they handle all the insurance and permit paperwork for you!
Weitteb by Ian Lituchy