KEEP ON TRUCKIN’: Mobile food vendors say Aurora market has room to grow

AURORA | In the narrow kitchen of North of the Border Grill’s hulking red truck, Frankie Sanchez feverishly piled chicken atop fresh tortillas.

And after he sprinkles lettuce and jalapeños on a plate of fresh tacos, he leans down and asks if they want to try the sriracha ranch.

“It just gives them a little something to remember,” he said of the sauce that’s been so popular that he also sells it by the bottle.

With that, Sanchez turns back to the grill and quickly whips up another burrito or plate of tacos or nachos for his growing number of customers.

Sanchez’s big, red Chevrolet truck is one of more than 130 food trucks registered with the city and part of a growing national trend.

According to California-based research firm Intuit, food truck revenue will top $1.7 billion by 2017, a four-fold increase from 2012, when food trucks pulled in more than $650 million.

And Aurora is in on the boom, too. From July to December this year, the number of food trucks registered with the city climbed 11 percent, going from 123 to 137.

Still, even with the boom in food trucks, Sanchez said he sees ample room for the local food truck scene to grow more. Some of the events North of the Border has worked have open slots for more trucks, a clear sign that there is still plenty of demand.

“They don’t have enough food trucks for all those events,” he said.

For Sanchez, the route to owning a food truck started a few years ago with a taco cart at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre.

Sanchez, who also works security, always liked to cook. When the opportunity to jump into the food business came about, he did just that, even though he didn’t have much experience in those early days.

“It was on-the-job training, I guess you could call it,” he said.

That one cart grew to four, and from there North of the Border added the truck about eight months ago.

The truck is an ideal way to expand, Sanchez said, because it didn’t require the kind of capital needed for a brick-and-mortar restaurant, and it offers ample flexibility.

The set-up time is nothing compared to the carts and canopies he once relied on at events, Sanchez said, and the atmosphere around a food truck is always a fun one.

And, as they were last week in front of Two22Brew off South Reservoir Road, running the truck can be a family affair. Sanchez and his wife, Darleen, took orders and made the tacos, burritos and nachos, and their children ran the food to customers.

An Aurora native, Sanchez said the truck has also been a fun way to give back to his hometown, whether by donating food or letting youth sports teams work events and donating the proceeds.

Still, Sanchez said, while opening a food truck isn’t as heavy a lift as opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant, he said it’s still complicated. Trucks have to pay local taxes a few times a year and go through similar health inspections that restaurants do.

“You see a lot of these businesses come and go real quick,” he said. “People don’t understand the financing behind it.”

Sanchez said his goal is to keep building up his business, and maybe one day open a brick-and-mortar restaurant. He has spoken with investors about that possibility, but said he isn’t ready to take the leap quite yet.

“I don’t know if we are ready for that,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”