Manayunk Hops on Food Truck Bandwagon

Mt. Airy will participate in a , featuring gourmet food trucks from around the city. Manayunk will take notes from that event, as the business district prepares for its , which will similarly offer a variety of food trucks on a Saturday afternoon this fall.

Caitlin Maloney and Alicia Dietzmann are organizing the event with the  and say the recent uptick in food truck interest certainly played a part in the new event.

"There's something very unique about food trucks. There's a thrill in finding this quality food throughout the city," Maloney said.

Read more about the StrEAT Festival here.

From Popsicles to tacos to cupcakes to coffee, mobile food vendors are entrepreneurs with a variety of backgrounds. Sure there's many underground merchants driving trucks around Fishtown, but Maloney also pointed out that more traditional restaurateurs, like Jose Garces, are involved, as well.

"Events like the StrEAT are supporting small businesses and small business owners," Dietzmann said.

One vendor, Josh Kim from Spot Gourmet Burgers, said the Manayunk event capitalizes on the growing food truck trend. He often sets up his 4-by-8, two-person burger cart at 32nd and Arch Streets near Drexel University. He connected with the MDC at a Brewerytown event—similar to the Mt. Airy Night Market.

"The food truck business is really starting to pick up a lot of steam just this year," he said, adding many organizations, business districts and the "City of Philadelphia are really advocating for mobile food vendors."

Kim said gourmet food trucks certainly are a West Coast creation, but they are a spin on hot dog vendors that formed in New York and Philadelphia many years ago.

He transports his burger cart all around the city—this week to Schmidt's Piazza, the Mann Center and Drexel. He launched Spot Gourmet Burgers in February and relies heavily on social media to promote his name.

"The foodie crowd is very connected and is organized in a grassroots way. Lots spreads through word of mouth, Facebook and Twitter," Kim said.

Maloney agreed, saying that's part of the fun—"It's such an industry driven by social media. It's almost a scavenger hunt in trying to find them."

The StrEAT Festival will be Sept. 29 at locations throughout Main Street. VisitManayunk.com for more information.

Follow Spot Gourmet Burgers on Twitter here.