Thinking of buying a food truck - what food options do you think MK is lacking that you would love to see

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Pitiful-Confection56@reddit

All these people that love mexican but don't know about Baja or taco shack?

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Good Mexican food is a topic that comes up Reddit quite often as being in short supply in the UK, so that could work well. There has been a one van in MK that did Mexican called the Taco shack, they were popular but not sure if they are still going.

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Odd_Kaleidoscope3723@reddit

There was also a really good Mexican place in the new Santander building but I assume their lease ended and have gone back to their main hub in Hitchen.

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__mz@reddit

I don’t think of empanadas when I think of Mexican food, maybe you mean enchiladas

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Contact_Patch@reddit

Baja Cantina do fantastic Mexican, and slightly further afield, Tacos el Pap.

For me, Street Food needs to be easy to eat on the go, so think about that - probably kills Vietnamese Pho as an idea.

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CalmStomach3@reddit

I would like good Mexican, las iguanas is very poor. Also good Vietnamese. With trucks would you be located somewhere with seating, I like the food truck experience and I understand it is meant to be a grab and go but providing a sort of camp like experience with a log fire and comfortable outdoor seating would be cool.

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darybrain@reddit

good Vietnamese

Are place like Pho or Hanoi no good or just overpriced? Not aware of any others outside the centre.

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Contact_Patch@reddit

Cafe Sen as well?

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CuZa24@reddit

Pho in MKC always has a queue, but that’s what happens when you’re in the busiest retail spot in town. High footfall does a lot of heavy lifting. I’m not saying it’s bad, just that a long line outside doesn’t automatically mean it’s life-changing.

“Hanoi” feels more like a night-out venue that happens to serve Vietnamese food (with cocktails to guarantee a second day masive headache). The reggae launch party and all the other vibes didn’t exactly scream traditional Vietnamese heritage nor too much to do with Asia besieged the name.

If you’re willing to go five minutes further north and swap the shiny centre for Wolverton Market Square, you’ll eat just way better. MK Viet Kitchen does a genuinely solid pho, and HK Flavor is great for Hong Kong–style cart noodles and a proper Asian selection.

To be honest, I don’t think the shiny lights are an indication to something traditional nor one of something good, but more an indication of pay more for less.

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darybrain@reddit

I don't care about shiny lights. I just good food want at a good price. I've been to a lot of places that look like shitholes where the food is top notch. Unfortunately Wolverton for me is never 5mins but well over an hour by both bus and walking — there hasn't been a more direct bus from NP to Wolverton for over a decade. I only eat there if I just happen to be in the area.

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CuZa24@reddit

Indeed, having good food places doesn’t mean also good public transport options.

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comfortablesocks@reddit

Mk Viet. Hanoi is Vietnamese inspired at best.

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darybrain@reddit

MK Viet is in Wolverton so pain in the bottom for me to get to via bus, but I'll check it out if I'm ever over that way. Didn't even know Hanoi existed until yesterday when I walked past it to get breakfast at Spoons. That's how little I go to the theatre block nowadays as the prices are stupid.

How good is Pho?

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Bdlwaller72@reddit

There’s already some well established Mexican vans in MK, taco shack, Baja Cantina. The rub do good BBQ. But it’s dependent on what you’re offering. Here is Sophie Etc’s page with her guide to the top 10. https://www.sophieetc.com/best-street-food-milton-keynes/

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Bdlwaller72@reddit

Eat street happens every month, in stony and starts again in a couple of weeks, maybe go and see what’s on offer?

https://www.stonystratford.gov.uk/council_events/eat-street-mk-at-york-house-centre/

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Busy_Pickle_1460@reddit

Anything as long as it’s not: Burgers, Fried chicken, Turkish, Kebabs or pizza. Absolutely sick of the over-saturation of these 🤢🤢🤮🤮

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rogeroutmal@reddit

Good quality decent burritos that aren’t £15 are really hard to find. Taco Bell is slop.

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Impressive-Bird-6085@reddit

Taco Bell really is terrible slop. Last year we had a Taco Bell open for the first time in my town. I thought I’d give it a go and bought something from there. Never again!!!

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CasioJay88@reddit

And decent food truck pumping out burritos will be charging the same. The overheads on these things are crazy.

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soaklord@reddit

On food trucks or burritos?

A good burrito is basically flour and water for the tortilla and meat/filler/cheese for the filler. Most Mexican food meats are not prime cuts.

In fact with the right prep you’re better off with low grade cuts.

Cabeza is an example of this.

If you are doing rice and beans as fillers that’s basically poverty food.

Since almost all Mexican is marinated you can do dark meat for chicken as well.

With a staging area a lot of prep can be done in advance. Salsa and fillers can be made/cooked in bulk. Sous vide the chicken or al pastor or carne asada and have it in bags ready for a quick grilling on site. Frozen chips into the fryer.

Possibly the biggest factor is whether or not you can get restaurant supply pricing on meats and getting your stock right so you don’t have spoilage.

Simple recipes, simple menus, really good salsa and then it’s a matter of marketing and hype.

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soaklord@reddit

Key assumptions:

Startup costs under £20k. Easiest way to do this is with a used trailer instead of a truck but that requires a vehicle to pull it or a really used food truck.

If you can get startup under that price and drive 300 transactions per week, you need about £4 margin on average order.

At that rate payoff of initial investment is around two months.

Assuming labor is the proprietor and this is a side gig doing three days/wk labor would be “free” at first.

Once that is paid off the average take is about £3k/wk.

This doesn’t include marketing. That’s a huge consideration to get that foot traffic initially. But once there is guess it would be consistent.

My foot traffic assumptions were based on Eddie Kebabs in Whitehouse based on casual observation.

I’ve not modeled the recipe pricing. This could take some creativity.

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cuntthemage@reddit (OP)

Thanks that's really insightful. We are lucky enough to be getting gifted the funds to startup on the terms we use it to start a business only so the cost of the food truck isn't going to be factored into profit and losses. That's what I think will help us survive the startup period.

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Aggravating-Snow-784@reddit

Bratwurst

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foodie756@reddit

There is a mexcian food truck called Cantina Baja and they have amazing tacos. Im not Mexican nor have I been to Mexico so no idea how authentic but its a family run business and their food is great.

https://www.instagram.com/cantina_baja?igsh=MTQ5a3l2ZjczMXBjMg==

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TheMopFromMars@reddit

Vegan food!!

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SolidAcanthisitta278@reddit

Toad in the hole van.

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FinchMandala@reddit

The Yorkie Wrap Co exists.

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darybrain@reddit

I thought that was manly chocolate

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FinchMandala@reddit

Oh man a chocolate van would be great.

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venomweb00@reddit

If you do a proper Mexican food truck I am in... You have a customer... Ps I am Mexican!!

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direct-evil@reddit

It seems as if Mexican food never really takes off in the UK. Taco Bell is going all out in the UK but they're not performing very well. I think if you do something unique with Mexican food and set up a primary social media platform to promote it, you could do really well. Tik Tok is great for that because for some reason people love watching food getting prepared 1st person

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AvailableName1814@reddit

I think Taco Bell is tex mex, not Mexican. In my opinion they are doing bad because their food is pretty poor, not that real Mexican food isn't popular.

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sb_ryan@reddit

Veggie options as my 5 year old has decided she doesn't like meat and we're running out of things to try!

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Jomuu@reddit

Whatever you do please make a good vegan menu

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Psychedelia_Smith@reddit

There are definitely at least two Mexican ones and the Burrito boat passes through often too. They seem popular though and no Mexican restaurant so room for another I’m sure!

Slow cooked barbecue is always good.

Where are the great falafel stands in MK? I find them all over other cities.

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darybrain@reddit

There used to be a Mexican restaurant in Xscape next to Wagamamas. It speciality was the tequila bar although the food was pretty good - visiting Mexican colleagues thought so anyway. It didn't last long as barely anyone went to it. Perhaps there were too many other options that people were more familiar with.

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BananaHomunculus@reddit

Over saturated with middle eastern - Turkish - Indian - pizza - burgers.

But to be honest I think if you just do authentic food at a decent price with no frills and maximum flavour it should be fine.

If you just wanna make money and don't care about food that much then let's leave it there.

If you care about food. I'll help you out for free.

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cuntthemage@reddit (OP)

I'm passionate about food and I'm not looking to get rich (I wouldn't mind) if me and my fiance can leave our current jobs and earn enough to cover that income I'll be more than happy. Tacos seems to be the consensus on here and I absolutely love Mexican food so I think I'm sold. Don't get me wrong I've got a wedding to get done first then serious planning begins so it's likely end of this year things get serious.

I'd love some support hahaha we can pay in tacos.

I also plan on revisiting this post when it's all up and running and dropping some discount vouchers to everyone on here

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BananaHomunculus@reddit

Al pastor

Birria

Chicken tinga

Corn fritters

Fresh guacamole

Pico de gallo

Pineapple habanero salsa

Totopos

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SeaVeterinarian1624@reddit

MEXICAN!!!! With veggie / vegan options PLEEEEASEEEEEE xxxx

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richboyadler@reddit

oh definitely tacos and loaded nachos !!

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NasserSenior@reddit

I know this is a far reach, but MK is really lacking when it comes to Middle Eastern food; North African (Egyptian, Moroccan), Levant (Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian), Arab (Iraqi, Saudi, Yemeni), etc. I would have started this business if I had the experience (and the money 🤷‍♂️), as I see this as an untouched business opportunity.

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FinchMandala@reddit

The day I find Moroccan food in the UK (especially chebakia) will be the day I die stuffed and happy.

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NasserSenior@reddit

I tried some Moroccan food in Cambridge and I loved it! MK really needs some variety in the food scene, other than Turkish and SE Asian.

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RadicalDog@reddit

Having actually done this, pick something that is lowest common denominator. People making falafels make much less than people making fried chicken and chips. If you have to explain what your main product is to the average person, you won't make enough money. Unfortunate reality is that for every person who is adventurous, there are 2 who want something familiar. With that in mind, burritos/tacos > empanadas.

Start with a menu that is really simple. You'll do better with a 2/3 item menu than a 10 item one, because of the waste etc. The other clever option is a way to have the same base which turns into a bigger menu, like the pasta places with choice of 3 sauces and 2 protein for 6 options.

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carolinatoastey@reddit

Do Portuguese!!! You can make bifana and prego - both sandwich type of thing with their own recipes that you can easily replicate if you learn it. You also can make our amazing chorizo bread… there’s only one other Portuguese restaurant in MK and I’d love for my country’s food to be more commonly appreciated! And you’d stand out as there’s not really any food truck of the sort.

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OK_Cake05@reddit

Second Mexican. Anything that’s not Turkish, burgers or chicken and chips really

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awonderland333@reddit

Really good quality authentic birria tacos 🌮!

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FinchMandala@reddit

MK isn't lacking in the food department at all. But having an actually decent veggie/vegan option on your menu would be great. I'm not talking falafel or halloumi bullshit.

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soaklord@reddit

My vote is for Mexican. But with a few caveats…

Corn tortillas please (gluten free option) Rolled tacos - Beef, chicken, potato Al Pastor/Adobabda Carne Asada Birria

Mexican food is kind of a salsa delivery system. So nail the salsa!!! Mestizos in London has some great restaurant style salsa if you can get close to that you have a winner.

Carne Asada Chips would probably do really well considering how many places do loaded chips.

If you go down this road, dm me. I’d love to help get it up and running. I’ve worked in a commercial kitchen so have some experience.

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cuntthemage@reddit (OP)

Thanks I really appreciate the insight and the offer. I'm planning a wedding currently but once that is done I'm focusing on getting this started so it's likely to be back end of this year up till the middle of next year depending how long it takes to set up but I'll be in touch

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Beautiful_Shine_6787@reddit

Definitely mexican. You make a killing. Or Jamaican but that's hard to get right.

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pineapplesAreGross@reddit

Definitely second the shawarma comment. Authentic Lebanese or Syrian shawarma.

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shbinsolaiman@reddit

With Sai bread 🤤

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8u11etpr00f@reddit

I think you should focus on the cuisine you are best at instead of basing your approach on Reddit suggestions.

Of course everyone here will suggest authentic, high quality food at a good price but executing on that requires a real level of experience, especially if it's a niche cuisine.

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Longjumping_Let8597@reddit

Simple things to consider:

What can YOU cook well - no point trying to deliver something that will be bad quality

What can you produce quickly and at a profit - no point offering something that takes more than a few minutes as thats not the food van audience. Can you mass produce it to keep costs low?

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soovertrying@reddit

Lebanese, with knafeh and decent baklava! 🤤

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Perfect_Sink_6542@reddit

High quality shawarma or baked Arabic food like fatayer and falafel and Manakeesh. There's a very successful falafel stand in Oxford that's proof that it works

A really good halal mexican place

Maybe even a smoothie / drinks place?

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MrTibee@reddit

I miss having giant snitzels, fried mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini. I know you can get fried chicken from pretty much anywhere but there are lot of things can be fried and they are delicious