How Street Food has moved to restaurants

What is street food? Often bold in flavors, exotic, not local, and often introduced to the public thru street fair stands and food trucks. As the pandemic has reduced the pedestrians, food truck stops are not as successful which gives restaurants the opportunity to add affordable food items to their menus for to go/delivery so that their customers can experience something “new”.

In 2019, Seattle was considered the number 1 city for take out delivery in the country due to the high percentage of Gen Z consumers who do not cook and have good paying jobs. They sought out ways to travel the world thru food, but the pandemic stopped all that.

Many successful restaurants have had to pivot from their traditional menu options to revitalize offerings to be affordable and travels well.  To keep food costs down, options have been reduced, so you find smaller portions of dishes done in sandwich style or power bowl style to keep consumers returning.

Last year one of the highest in demand food truck foods, Mexican Corn is a fantastic example. Its affordable, healthy, different, and delicious and has become a brick-and-mortar restaurant option all over the country. Most recently Pan Asian and middle eastern cuisines are becoming popular like Satays and Kabobs, and why not? We have seen these items eaten by everyone when at festivals due to their affordability and non- fussiness.

As more people are focused on healthy eating, whether vegan, dairy free, or Non-GMO, foods from around the world are getting an opportunity to expand into the US further due to the pandemic, and into the hands of people who want something tasty and different.

Let us hope more affordable and authentic cuisines from around the world continues to make it onto delivery menus everywhere.