Field Notes
Field notes from the shop.
Real costs, licensing headaches, POS setups, and dough opinions - field notes from someone who actually runs the trucks. No gurus.
Food Truck Speed of Service: A Faster Line Doesn't Mean Faster Food
Two people run most of our events. The ordering apps promise to double your throughput, but the line was never the ceiling: the oven is.
How Many Pizzas Does a Food Truck Actually Sell in a Day?
Real sold-counts from a working pizza trailer: 60 pies on a typical $1,500 event, a $6,700 best day, and why the 70-an-hour oven specs measure the wrong thing.
Read-Only: What Toast Won't Let You Build
I pay Toast $450 a month to read my own sales data. Writing an order into my own register isn't sold at any price, to me or to you. What that lockdown keeps every operator from building, with real numbers, and why I'm building my own POS instead.
The $2,000-a-Month Cash Register
Three Toast software invoices autopay every month across my restaurant and two food trucks: $2,016.73 before a single card is swiped. The real numbers, and why I'm building my own POS.
I Closed the Dining Room and Kept the Restaurant. The Number Was $15,000 a Month.
We were losing about $15,000 a month for about a year. I closed the dining room at the end of January 2026, kept the restaurant open, and the loss stopped.
Moneyball for Pizza: Data, Discipline, and the Art of Running Lean
You can't outspend Domino's, but you can outthink them. How independent pizzerias win the Moneyball way: small, compounding edges in labor, food cost, loyalty, and tech.
Adding a Food Truck to Your Restaurant: The Real Numbers
How adding a food truck grows a restaurant's revenue: what it really costs, where the money actually comes from, and the systems trap that eats owners. From an owner who runs both.
Adding Detroit-Style Pizza to Your Menu: The Whole System
Detroit-style is the most system-friendly pizza an operator can add: pan, dough, cheese edge, bake. Here's the whole program, from a guy who runs one.
Great Food and Service Aren’t Enough: Every Restaurant Needs One of These Three
Great food and friendly service are the entry fee, not the strategy. The three things that actually carry a restaurant: lunch, liquor, catering.
Truck vs. Trailer: I Bought a Trailer. Here’s the Honest Math.
I bought a trailer, not a truck - four of them now. Costs, tow vehicles, parking, permits, and the two situations where a truck wins.
Setting Up Toast on a Food Truck: What I’d Do Differently
I run Toast on a restaurant and two food trucks. Here's how I'd set it up today: menu, mods, online ordering, and what happens when the signal dies.
What a Pizza Food Truck Really Costs in 2026
The honest 2026 ranges for a pizza food truck (rig, oven, permits, insurance) from a guy with four trailer builds on the books: $21,456 to $91,689 all-in.