Food Trucks in Vancouver

Food trucks are hot in Vancouver, especially in the summer. It’s hard to believe they’re a relatively recent addition to the city’s food scene. While hot dog stands have been a staple of Vancouver street life for years, it was only in 2010 that city council started expanding the options for food permits. At that time there were already over 400 food carts of all types operating in Portland, Oregon, making Vancouver a relative latecomer to the scene. We’ve made up for lost time, though, as a short walk around downtown streets on a sunny afternoon can tell you, with ‘over 100 food trucks, carts, and vendors permitted to sell healthy, interesting, convenient, culturally diverse, and delicious food on Vancouver streets’ according to the city.

Finding Food Trucks

Eating from food trucks can be a very kid-friendly way to dine, since the food is usually served fairly quickly and you’re eating in the great outdoors where the etiquette rules are lax. The food is usually fairly casual, and often includes items you can eat with your hands. Some food trucks even offer a few kid-friendly items to please those with picky palates.

One of the best way to find great food trucks is to just walk around the city and sample the wares. There are a couple of other good ways to find new food trucks to dine from, as well. The first is to visit the weekly Food Cart Fest, which runs every Sunday during the summer at 215 West 1st Avenue. Starting August 9, 2014, the food truck love will be spreading to Surrey, when Food Cart Fest Surrey takes over Holland Park every Saturday until August 30, 2014.

There’s an App for That

If you’re just wondering where to grab a quick bite for lunch in your neighbourhood, there’s an app for that. The Vancouver Street Food App tells you what food trucks are open right now and where they’re located, as well as who was recently open and who will be open soon. There are versions of the app for the web, iPhone, Android and Windows phone, so you can find food trucks on the go.