Food Truck 101 Advice from Experts: Mei Mei Street Kitchen

Food Truck 101 Chat with Mei Mei

The awesome folks at Mei Mei Street Kitchen were kind enough to host a live web chat in which they answered questions about starting and running a food truck.

I loved what they had to say and knew others who missed the chat would appreciate this valuable info, so I’ve re-created it all below. (Please note – I took some small liberties with edits.)

Mei Mei’s Street Kitchen launched their first truck in 2012, and have found enormous success since, obtaining thousands of devoted followers and recently expanding to a brick and mortar location. Join us below for their awesome Q&A.

What first inspired your food truck?

Irene Li : We got really excited about food trucks back in 2012 when we saw the Great Food Truck Race on Food Network and also noticed a few trucks popping up around Boston. It seemed like a great way to test drive (ha!) dishes and menu ideas without spending too much money. Our big bro had worked in fine dining and wanted a change, and my sister and I just loved food and cooking. It seemed like a great matchup!

Margaret Li : Sadly Andy can’t make it today but he says hi everyone!

What’s a double awesome? I want one!   

Margaret Li: The Double Awesome is one of our top-selling items- it’s a scallion pancake sandwich with Vermont cheddar cheese, local greens pesto, and two slow-poached then fried eggs. I invented it right at the beginning of our food truck days when we realized that we needed super quick items to make during a lunch rush. It combines some of the Chinese food we ate as kids with things we love – LIKE CHEESE.

Mei Mei's Scallion Pancake Sandwich
Can you sense it’s awesomeness?

Irene Li : She’s basically a culinary genius ^_^

Margaret Li : Hahahaha. Anything with two eggs is two times awesome in my book!

Being siblings, business partners, and friends, how do you deal with disagreements that pertain to the restaurant? 

Irene Li : I think the most valuable part of working together as a family is that we already love and trust each other. And when we argue, we can always call on Mom! Plus, we each oversee a different part of the business – Mei the biz side, Andy the front of house and truck, me the menu and sourcing – so we’re getting used to picking our battles.

Margaret Li : We certainly have our moments of ‘disagreement,’ but the best part is we trust each other implicitly and know that we’re each always doing our best for the business. We try not to pull each other’s hair.

Does the extreme winter weather affect company profits?  

Margaret Li :  The weather in Boston, particularly this winter, does affect profits seasonally. The weather causes us to make adjustments – more hot items and more items that can be served fast so that no one waits too long in the cold! That’s also part of why we opened a brick and mortar restaurant – it’s still affected by snow, but not to the same degree.

What is the process like for getting a food truck licensed? And what are the things people often underestimate when they consider starting a food truck?

Irene Li : The process for licensing a food truck in Boston is a big task. You have to work with the city program, the fire dept, the health dept, public works, parking and transportation, etc.

I think people interested in opening food trucks definitely underestimate the sheer amount of administrative work it takes. You can’t just buy a truck and pull up to any curb in the city – though that would be nice.

Margaret Li : People also are often surprised by the number of people working the truck. You need a lot of staff to put out food for a big lunch rush, so running a food truck means managing lots of people and lots of moving parts. We usually have 6 people on busy days and that involves a lot of coordination!

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it’s hard work back there!

The other important thing to keep in mind is that every city/town has different rules. The industry is new, so a lot of city governments are still figuring out what works best. A lot of times you figure things out with them as you go along!

What’s the difference between running a successful food truck and running a successful restaurant? Do you guys have plans to expand or moving into a permanent place?

Margaret Li: We actually opened a restaurant in the Audubon Circle neighborhood of Boston in November. It’s 506 Park Drive for you Boston folks (shameless plug!)

Many people don’t know that most cities require you to sell your food out of a licensed commissary kitchen. That means you need to rent licensed, inspected facilities and can’t just cook food in your home kitchen and roll out to sell.

People don’t realize that you have to pay rent, and this can often be quite expensive in a city such as Boston where there are not too many licensed facilities. A lot of people expand from food truck to restaurant because having your own restaurant allows you to use the physical spot as your food truck commissary, so you are combining your costs with two sources of revenue.

Where do you guys come up with some of your menu items? Some are SO creative, I’m really curious where those ideas come from. Genius shower moments?  

Irene Li : We draw on lots of different sources for inspiration, including our Chinese background. We also let seasonal availability of local products dictate a lot of our menu direction. We grew up in a Chinese American house, but we ate all sorts of different foods.

Quality and sustainability are so important to us – we try to make sure all our dishes feature ingredients that we’re proud to sell – and of course, we want everything to be delicious!

What role has social media played in the growth of your business?

Margaret Li : We use social media a TON with our business and I think it has played a huge role in our success. Not only is it useful for logistical details (here is where we are parked today and here is the menu of the day), but it is also amazing for building relationships.

For example, two of the people on this Tawk thread (hi Megan and Steven!!) are big time Boston food truck industry supporters. We met them both on social media and have also connected with many other restaurants and food trucks via Twitter and other channels. It’s a great way to talk to our guests and other industry folks!

 

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friendship is magic

Irene Li : Especially when we were a mobile business with no base of operations, social media was a really nice way to stay connected with people we only saw once or twice a week, or less. Since we’re a family business, we want our guests to feel like they’re part of our story and part of our community! Sharing photos or tidbits on Twitter or Facebook has helped us do that well.

What’s been the biggest challenge in moving into the brick & mortar? Any plans to get a liquor license?  

Margaret Li : This question reflects what a lot of other people have been asking in terms of challenges on the restaurant side. Opening a restaurant is TOUGH. It is awesome, but it is lots of hard work every day.

The liquor license has been a particular issue for us. For those of you following our business, you may know that we applied for a beer and wine license in January and had TONS of support. Over 1000 signatures on a petition, lots of neighborhood people supporting the license, etc. Unfortunately, there is a quota on beer & wine and all-alcohol licenses in every city/town in Massachusetts, which is decided on the state level (this has been a particular source of difficulty for us so prepare for a bit of a rant).

What this means is that when there are no longer licenses available, as we encountered in January, you can no longer get one from the city at an affordable price. Your only option then is to purchase one from another owner at extremely expensive prices.

Small entrepreneurs (often minority-owned and independent businesses in less popular areas of town) lack the capital to acquire these licenses, which means that big restaurant groups with lots of investment end up having the advantage over small shops like ours.

Would BYOB be a solution to this problem?

Irene Li : BYOB is not legal in Boston, unfortunately!

Margaret Li : Unfortunately these laws have been on the books forever and people are trying to change them, such as City Councillor Ayanna Pressley, but that kind of change takes time.

So in the meantime, because beer & wine sales are a huge source of revenue in this industry, we have taken the step of purchasing one. It has just gone through the city and next the state, so we are hoping it will be up and running in June or July!

Irene Li : TL;DR there will be beer at Mei Mei soon!

Margaret Li : Yes! We are excited to have craft beer and kickass wine on the way. So come in and have a delicious adult beverage with us soon.

I was curious to know if you guys find it challenging to source locally while also keeping costs down?  

Irene Li : I love talking local sourcing and this questions is a good one. It can definitely be challenging but we’ve found certain ways to make local sourcing work as well for us as it does for the farmers. A lot of this has to do with being flexible and helping them reduce waste or move a bumper crop of something in a pinch.

[Fun Fact – a “bumper crop” refers to a crop that has an especially productive harvest, aka, a crop that’s in surplus]

We try to plan ahead with farmers about what we’ll buy so they can grow produce or animals just for us. It builds security into the business relationship for both sides.  Since we opened, we’ve sourced over 120,000 pounds of local product to Boston, and we’re working to do even more in the next growing season!

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Do you think the popularity of food trucks is going to eventually lead to a drop in quality?

 Margaret Li : This is both a logistical question as well as a market question. For example, the Boston food truck community still could do with a lot more trucks offering different cuisines.

However, there are only a certain amount of trucks that can fit on the streets of Boston, and it’s getting harder for new trucks to get into those prime locations. The good news is that there are more and more towns outside of Boston that are looking for more food trucks.

Really, I think actually the opposite is true – More trucks means more dedicated operators, more great cooks, more passionate people who will take a chance on a food truck. The bar is raised and new entrants have to hit a higher level of quality to compete.

Mei-Mei-Food-Truck-10

Do the food trucks in Boston congregate in one area, or are they all over? How do you map out your route?  

Margaret Li : In Boston, the food truck locations are decided by the city mostly, with some input from the community and trucks, so there are only certain locations around Boston that are actually available for food truck parking. This is not the case in all cities, it really depends.

 Can food trucks park anywhere they want? Or do you need a permit to park in a street?

 Margaret Li : So on the tough side, you can’t just pull up and sell anywhere. But on the bright side, you know that this location is yours on Mondays from 11-3pm and no one else can park there. So you can be more reliable for your customers and develop a weekly following.

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I love food trucks! What is your favorite part about having one? 

Irene Li : My favorite part of the food truck is getting to be involved in both the food and service side of the business. I love that I can make sandwiches and also wave to guests and say hello to regulars at the same time.

When I used to work in a restaurant, I missed having that connection with the people who ate the food I prepared. I would watch salads walk out the kitchen door forlornly and wonder whether the people eating them were happy or excited!

I bet a ton of people would love to get into this business but don’t know how to get started. What advice would you give to people who want to open their own food truck?  

 Margaret Li : I think a great first step is to go work at one!

Irene Li : We’re hiring 🙂

Margaret Li : That way you get a sense of the hard work, what service is like, how you prep the food, how to drive it, how to CLEAN IT. The 3-4 hours of lunch service is only one small part of the whole thing. It takes multiple hours to prepare the food and LOTS of time to clean it afterwards.

Working for a food truck, you’ll get a sense of what food truck life is like and can use that to develop your concept.  Having a strong concept and identity is important. And a good crew of people! Definitely don’t try to do this on your own. If you can rope in your little sisters, all the better. Then you have to name the food truck after them (Mei Mei = little sister in Chinese!)

Speaking of cleaning, are there different standards for food trucks than restaurants? I’m sure it’s hard with limited space and equipment!  

Margaret Li : Someone asked a while ago about food trucks being clean because you break them down every day. That is certainly true. In addition, what a lot of people who think of food trucks as ‘roach coaches’ don’t realize is that our entire food truck is visible to people coming up and ordering, so you have to keep it clean!  

Irene Li : We’re inspected regularly – more often than many restaurants – and are held to the same standards by the health department. We all have hand washing sinks, refrigeration, and heating elements, just like restaurants.

Can you share an anecdote about opening the restaurant? Maybe something that was terrible at the time, but makes for laughs now?

 Irene Li : The opening was definitely insane – little sleep, much stress. But the thing that really put a smile on my face through those days was seeing a lot of restaurant and food truck industry friends come through to support us.

It really meant a lot that people came out to say hi – Chris Cronin from the Washington Square Tavern brought us half a pig’s head! Rebecca Roth from the Gallows brought over a care package – band-aids, duct tape, tampons, advil. It really made us feel like we were part of a community – and that everything we were going through was worth it and we weren’t alone!

What’s the best foodie area in Boston? Any suggestion for people looking to visit and focus on a foodie adventure?  

 Margaret Li : Great question, there’s so much food stuff around! The Greenway during the week and SOWA markets on Sundays are amazing. SO MUCH GOOD FOOD!

SOWA food trucks

If you’re on the Greenway, you could then meander to Fort Point and go to Row 34 or Drink or Sportello or Tavern Road or Flour. Washington Square in Brookline is another new hotspot! We love Washington Square Tavern, Ribelle, Fairsted, the Publick House…so much awesomeness going on there.

Irene Li : Plus we grew up right in that neighborhood – it’s been awesome to see it develop into a food destination!

Margaret Li : Awesome stuff going on in Somerville too. We love Union Sq Donuts, Bronwyn, Journeyman. 

Are you guys doing anything with Top Chef while they are filming in Boston?  

Margaret Li : Not at the moment, but if anyone from Top Chef sees this, we’d love to! Kristen Kish and Padma Lakshmi were at SOWA market over the weekend and they did stop by for a Double Awesome and Thai Curry Nachos.  Some of us here are avid Top Chef watchers, so we’re excited to see how the Boston episodes go down!

What are pain points in regards to technology that you face constantly? Anything in particular that you think would be helpful for food trucks?  

Margaret Li : We use a POS (point of sale) system on the truck that runs on wifi. The wifi cuts out all the time in certain locations! Reliable mobile internet would be great.

How difficult is it to build an audience when you moving from place to place?

Margaret Li : While it can be difficult that we’re only in each space once a week, it does mean that we can hit many more areas than a permanent location! So we get to see people near Copley Square, South Station, City Hall Plaza, etc. That gets many more eyes on the truck, and therefore, many more potential customers.

Even though we move consistently, we still have regulars at each location. And if they only see us once a week, they may be more likely to make an effort to come eat lunch with us – no one takes us for granted!

Mei Mei's Street Kitchen Food Truck

We’re going to wrap up now, thank you all so much for hanging out this past hour! Thanks for your enthusiasm, everyone! It’s great to know there are lots of folks out there who care about food. Come visit our truck or restaurant and say hello – this has been a blast!

Don’t forget, you can keep in touch with Mei Mei Street Kitchen on:

This talk is composed of segments taken from the Mei Mei live chat on Tawkers – go there to see the full Q&A!