Street food carts rely on Twitter and Facebook

Some of Sheri Codiana's favorite restaurants have an address only on Twitter, such as @BBQKALBI, @MoGoBBQ and @SexySoupCart.

"The other day I was up in Palo Alto, heading back for a meeting and had to grab some lunch, so I checked to see who was close by and BBQ Kalbi happened to be there right off the freeway," the Sunnyvale resident said of the Korean barbecue taco truck. "It was fast and convenient, and it's definitely a step up from fast food."

The mobile food trucks and carts Codiana follows on Twitter and Facebook are part of a growing community of street food vendors in the Bay Area who rely almost exclusively on social networks to let thousands of customers know where they are, even if their locations change by the day or by the hour.

"I'm certainly not getting rich, by any stretch of the imagination, but the use of Twitter allows me to have more of an on-demand business," said Curtis Kimball, who has achieved local fame as the Creme Brulee Man. The one-cart operation, known by street food aficionados for its signature dessert dish, has nearly 12,000 followers on Twitter.

'Spread the word'

"It's a really cheap marketing tool, so for a small business that really doesn't have an advertising budget, with Twitter, and even Facebook to some extent, you are able to spread the word really fast," Kimball said.

The convergence of social networking and mobile food first took hold in Los Angeles with the success of Kogi Korean BBQ-to-Go, which started in late 2008 and grew by using Twitter to announce stops and menu specials. The company now has nearly 67,000 followers and has inspired similar food trucks in cities nationwide.

It's a trend that is transforming an industry that used to be dominated by hot dog steamer carts and "old-school taco trucks" that generally operated with set locations and schedules, said Matthew Cohen, who has started Tabe Services LLC. His San Francisco consulting firm helps street food operators plan for startup costs and review city permit requirements.

Cohen estimates that there are 100 to 150 high-end mobile food vendors who hit the streets in the Bay Area regularly.

He said interest in starting a street food business has increased in the past 18 months because of the recession and a movement toward higher-quality "slow food."

Key ingredients

But the rapid growth of San Francisco's Twitter Inc. and Palo Alto's Facebook Inc. added key ingredients to the mix - free instant marketing and the ability to build customer loyalty.

In the Bay Area, the trend has given rise to mobile food vendors such as MoGo BBQ, Kung Fu Tacos, Sam's ChowderMobile, Chairman Bao, Seoul on Wheels and Cupkates.

One company, Curry Up Now, which serves Indian cuisine with a Mexican twist, has 2,000 followers on Twitter and 1,700 Facebook fans. The company announces its planned stops the night before and tweets menu specials once in place. Customers hungry for the tikka masala or bhindi okra samosa chana burritos have been known to line up before the truck arrives.

Hillsborough's Akash Kapoor, a former mortgage banker, said he and his wife, Rana Kapoor, were inspired to start Curry Up Now in September after learning of Kogi Korean BBQ. "It was our first foray into the food business," Akash Kapoor said.

Business is growing slowly but steadily, although Kapoor said he isn't ready to give up his regular job as owner of a consumer debt management firm.

Expansion

Still, the company now has two trucks that make daily stops at different locations, usually in downtown San Francisco and the Peninsula, and plans to add a third truck to expand into the East Bay. Kapoor said he is also trying to get apps developed that will let people place orders from their smart phones.

"When we started, we wanted to get good food out there, but we also wanted to be the most technically advanced taco truck in the country," he said.

Jason Rotairo, a San Lorenzo real estate agent, was looking for other opportunities because of the soft housing market when he heard about the Creme Brulee Man. Rotairo helped start the Adobo Hobo in August, and his business partner, Ed Chui, sends tweets to the food cart's 3,700 followers.

Rotairo, who has no food service training other than what he learned from his mother's kitchen and the Food Network, said Twitter is helping to generate enough revenue to keep Adobo Hobo operating at "more than break-even." He and Chui are also getting bookings to cater events.

"I don't have to go out and do a regular 9-to-5 job, and I can still do my real estate," he said.

Restaurant complaint

Rotairo used to bring Adobo Hobo to San Francisco's South Beach area until the owner of a restaurant in the neighborhood complained it was taking his business away.

"I can respect that," Rotairo said. "He does own a restaurant, he does have employees and he does have overhead."

Cohen said starting a street food service can be expensive - a catering truck can cost six figures, monthly parking lot fees range from $600 to $2,000, while kitchen rentals and health and fire permits can add several hundred dollars more.

Health codes

Meanwhile, he said, the city of San Francisco is rewriting its health code regulations regarding food carts.

Kristin Hoppe, a San Francisco nutritionist who started the Sexy Soup Cart as a fun side business in May 2009, has 5,300 followers. Hoppe is making enough from her organic soups to keep the cart rolling and Twitter is generating leads to catering jobs. She and her fellow street food vendors promote each other on Twitter as well.

"There's still a sense of community among the carts, although it's evolved to the point where people are making it a legitimate business," Hoppe said. "It's not underground anymore."

E-mail Benny Evangelista at bevangelista@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle