Spring Has Sprung: The Ultimate Guide To Food Truck Catering Your Outdoor Event


LA is known for its amazing weather year-round, but when spring rolls around, people are especially excited to enjoy the sunshine: April through June is a time for weddings, corporate events, and other exciting bashes in the great outdoors. 

If you’re in the midst of planning your own outdoor event, you may be wondering, what’s the best way to leave all my guests full and happy? The answer’s simple: food truck catering.

Whether you’re coordinating a work happy hour or a once-in-a-lifetime wedding, food trucks and food carts provide a simple solution to all of your catering needs.  

In this blog, we’ll tackle why food truck catering is the best option for outdoor events, share tips and tricks for booking food truck caterers, and walk through some menu ideas that hopefully inspire you! 

Let’s get started.

WHY FOOD TRUCKS ARE PERFECT FOR CATERING ANY AND ALL OUTDOOR EVENTS

Food truck catering is the absolute best option for outdoor event planners looking to take advantage of the sunshine. Here’s why: 

1. Food trucks suit outdoor venues and the outdoor vibe.

More so than traditional, run-of-the-mill buffets, food trucks suit the outdoor venue and vibe that you’re going for. They make for a 

2. Food trucks provide options, options, and more options. 

Not everyone has the same taste. When it comes to sizable guest lists, food truck catering is the perfect fix because it provides variety.

While one guest prefers burgers and hot dogs, the other may be more in the mood for sushi; food truck catering provides enough variety that neither person is left hungry! You can easily book more than one food truck with specific portions to guarantee that everyone is pleased.

This is especially important in a city like Los Angeles, where there are so many different cultural influences and culinary options.

Guests can try new and interesting foods that they may have not had the chance to otherwise! 

3. Unmatched convenience. 

Food trucks are a convenient option for outdoor events for main two reasons:  

  • They provide a quick and easy way to serve food. 

Food trucks require very little setup time; typically, they can start serving food right away.

This means that your guests won’t have to wait long for their food, and they can get back to enjoying the party. To coordinate a smooth dining experience for a large, outdoor event, the ability to produce high-quality food at high-volume is key. 

  • They can be set up in almost any location and moved if necessary. 

Food trucks are very flexible: they can be set up in almost any location and moved if necessary— plus, as said before, they inherently complement an outdoor space.

4. Mobile catering creates an interactive experience.

 Food trucks also provide an interactive dining experience that is perfect for outdoor events. Guests can watch their food being prepared, and can even customize their orders to their liking. This adds an element of excitement to the event and makes it more memorable for attendees.

5. Best of all, food trucks are a cost-effective option.

Large events already require a lot of time, energy, and money, so one of the absolute pros to food truck catering is that it’s often a more cost-effective alternative to traditional catering. 

Because it doesn’t require a lot of equipment or setup, you can provide some of the best eats in Los Angeles without breaking the bank.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR BOOKING A FOOD TRUCK

Booking a food truck is made simple and easy when you book through FTALA.

Typically, you would need to handle all of the logistics– from the permits and licenses to the timing, menu, and portions on your own– but when you work with FTALA, you’re put in contact with an event coordinator to assist you right away. 

We recommend beginning your mobile caterer booking process by first learning about food truck catering at large. It’s important to understand what this kind of dining experience entails, and what events FTALA has experience catering. 

Once you have a clearer idea of what food truck catering looks like, you have the opportunity to browse through our selection of vendors. Here’s where planning your event gets really fun! 

The Los Angeles Food Truck Association offers 20+ cuisines, which means you have full reign and customization power: your menu is totally up to you.

If you’re not sure what menu items you should or how many portions make sense, these details are exactly what our coordinators are trained to help you with! 

You can reach out whenever you feel ready to talk through booking. 

Extra tips? While an outdoor event is all about enjoying the spring and summer sunshine, you never know when the weather might change. Think about booking food trucks with indoor capability so that you have a backup plan in case of rain. 

In the same vein, think about venues that can be flexible! 

REFRESHING MENU ITEM IDEAS FOR YOUR UPCOMING OUTDOOR EVENT

When you’re hosting an outdoor event, refreshing menu items go over really well with guests, especially during spring and summer months. 

Here are a few ideas you can use for menu inspo. 

Ice cream

You can never go wrong with ice cream, and you can book the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck for some of the most delicious ice cream Los Angeles has to offer.

Their flavors run the gamut from traditional crowd-pleasers like Strawberry, Chocolate, and Vanilla Bean to a vegan range made with cashew milk and oat milk varieties.

For another option, consider Sure Good! Sure Good is all about doing soft serve right, sourcing premium and environmentally conscious ingredients to create a small-batch soft serve experience unlike any you’ve had before.

Ice cream is the perfect menu item to cool down your guests at an outdoor event. 

Seafood

Seafood is another light, fresh option for food truck catering your outdoor event. Sound intriguing? Book Cousins Maine Lobster

From launching a single food truck in 2012 to appearing on ABC’s Shark Tank, Cousins Maine Lobster has grown to become a lobster truck empire, and for good reason: they offer the most succulent lobster rolls in all of LA.

Whether you’re a fan of Maine or Connecticut style lobster rolls or prefer chowder and lobster grilled cheese, you can count on Cousins Maine Lobster for the most delicious and unconventional array of lobster delicacies the city has to offer.

Açai Bowls and Smoothies

Amazebowls specializes in açai and smoothie bowls that are made with 100% fruit, making this food truck the perfect caterer for a day in the sun. 

Not to mention, the açai food truck specializes in customizing bowl colors for any event, so you can add festivity along with delicious food! One thing’s for sure: booking the Amazebowls food truck will brighten your guest’s day with colorful and healthy bowls. 

TIME TO ENJOY THE SUNSHINE

Food truck catering is a guaranteed way of providing high-quality, delicious food at high-volume. With spring time in full swing and summer just around the corner, you definitely should be thinking about booking food trucks for your upcoming outdoor event.

Whether you choose to opt into refreshing eats like seafood and ice cream, or you want something more filling and savory like BBQ or tacos, booking a food truck with the Los Angeles Food Truck Association gives you 80+ premium caterer options so that you can enjoy the sunshine to the fullest! 

Interested in booking a food truck? Contact our team today! 

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