Food truck and street food menu

A few dishes, well chosen

A food truck has a small kitchen, little storage and queues at peak time. The menu has to reflect that:

1. Mains: four or five at most. Burgers, tacos, bao, wraps, bowls: whatever your speciality is.
2. Sides: fries and one or two other things.
3. Combos: main, side and drink at a fixed price.
4. Drinks: soft drinks, water, beer and something homemade if you have it.
5. Dessert, if you have one that’s quick to serve.

Include one vegan or vegetarian option among the mains. At a festival or a market, if one person in the group can’t eat anything, the whole group goes to another stall.

Combos and round prices

Combos make ordering simpler and raise the average spend. Give them their own section, with what’s included in the description:

• Combo: “Burger, fries and a drink”, 13.
• Combo for two: “Two burgers, large fries and two drinks”, 25.

Feature the combo with the highlight box: it’s what you want people to order.

Round prices (3, 9, 13) are read faster, add up in your head and speed up payment and change. If your prices end in pence or cents, ask yourself whether they’re really worth it.

Writing to be read from a distance

• Short names: “Pulled pork”, “Smash burger”, “Crispy chicken”.
• One line of description, with two or three ingredients. No paragraphs.
• No subsections or long notes: anything that doesn’t fit in one glance doesn’t get read.
• The truck’s name, nice and big: it’s your brand and what people look for on site.

Because you move around, put where to find you (Instagram, website) at the foot of the menu, and how people can pay: “Card and contactless only”.

Allergens in a small kitchen

In a food truck everything is close together: one griddle, one fryer, one prep counter. That makes traces more likely than in a big kitchen.

• Gluten: buns, batters, wraps, beer. And the fryer: if you fry breaded chicken and fries in the same oil, the fries carry traces.
• Sesame: many burger buns have seeds on top.
• Mustard: burger sauces, barbecue sauce and dressings.
• Eggs: mayonnaise, aioli and house sauces.
• Soybeans: Asian sauces, marinades and many bought-in sauces.
• Milk: cheese, creamy sauces and brioche buns.

Bought-in sauces are the most common trap: check the label of every one, because mustard, soya and egg turn up where you least expect them. If you change supplier, check them again.

A menu for every event

A Sunday market isn’t the same as a festival with thousands of people. Adapt the menu to each pitch:

• At big festivals, fewer dishes and more combos. Whatever takes longest to serve comes off.
• If the event uses tokens or wristbands, say so at the foot of the menu so nobody reaches the hatch with their wallet out.
• What sells out comes off the menu as soon as it’s gone. In the editor you can hide a dish without deleting it and download the poster again in a minute; the next day, you show it again.
• If you change prices for an event, duplicate your usual menu from My menus first and edit the copy.

The menu isn’t your only paperwork. In the UK, register with your local council as a food business at least 28 days before you start trading and check whether you need street trading consent where you pitch; your food hygiene rating sticker can go next to the menu (displaying it is compulsory in Wales and Northern Ireland). In the US, mobile vendors need permits from the city or county health department, and the rules vary by location.

Format

A food truck needs its menu in several places:

• A3 poster on the side of the truck, next to the hatch. It’s the main menu: it gets read from the queue.
• A4, laminated, on the counter for anyone asking up close.
• Instagram post or story to say where you are and what’s on today.
• 16:9 screen, if you have a TV on the truck.

It all comes from the same content: change a price once and export it in every format.

Style

The template’s style is Diner, 1950s American, with sign-painted lettering and prices on tags. Memphis is more pop, Block is pure street food and Market looks like a chalkboard. Try a few from menu templates: changing style doesn’t mean redoing anything.

Make it in MenuDesign

Open the street food template, add your dishes and combos, mark the allergens and download the A3 poster and the PDF for the counter. Free, no sign-up, and saved in your browser for the next event.