All Bubbles Burst: Denver's Deluxe Truck is Dead

The time has come when Denver's food truck boom has hit critical mass, and as I alluded to in my original post about the self-proclaimed Orange Rocket, it was only a matter of time before some of these trucks had to go. What I was wrong about was that the boom would be complete by the end of last summer. Clearly, however, the excess of portable food was only just getting started and all winter long chefs and entrepreneurs alike were working very hard to usher in an unprecedented number of mobile eateries for the summer of 2011.

As reported by Lori Midson in the Westword, the Deluxe food truck is dead. I liked the Deluxe-mobile OK. Not nearly as much as its stationary alter-ego burger joint on Colfax, but it served pretty decent grub at relatively reasonable prices. I suppose now that the newly "discovered" act ("discovered" in the way that Columbus "discovered" America) of eating good food curbside (most of the rest of the world has been doing it for centuries) has worn off on the Denver "food scene" and as a result I would expect more casualties in the food truck world soon.

I think I read somewhere on Westword that there were eighty-some food trucks circulating Denver's streets. I long ago stopped (or better I never started) trying to track the happenings of this new food truck world, partly because I can barely stay current on things like who is president or what country we are at war with, much less the dozens upon dozens of truck launches that have occurred over the past year. Plus, I prefer the original Denver food trucks much more, and when the dust settles I have confidence that the tried and true food trucks, AKA the loncherias, will remain rolling.

In the meantime, good luck to the rest of you mobile eateries, as yours is a fine cause. In spite of what may come across as cynicism towards the newfound trendiness of eating food while standing in the street, I think it is decidedly a good thing and I do it often. On the upside, if you are a bold business entrepreneur and maybe even a little nuts, then I think there is a going to be a growing market of decked-out kitchens on wheels (really there is--check here) with owners that are desperate to sell. Good Luck!