Free-wheeling food : the history and growth of the food trailer scene of Austin, Texas

What began as small taco carts on South Lamar and catering trucks at construction sites in Austin, Texas, local entrepreneurs have recently taken the idea of mobile food and expanded it into a regional phenomenon. This report focuses on the range of trailer owners in the Austin, the challenges owners face in the competitive food landscape and tough economy, regulations, and the process of getting started in the new frontier of food service. Austin boasts one of the largest communities of food trailers – stationary, yet technically mobile – populations in the United States and has influenced a growing culture throughout the country in recent years.