Latino food trucks provide alternative for College Park workers
As workers tend to prefer the food trucks, Latino restaurants are being affected
By Amanda Donohue
Staff Writer
Food trucks, which are already popular in many prominent cities, have found their way to College Park, while some Latino restaurants have seen their business affected by the convenience and variety that food trucks offer to construction workers.
As construction has evolved for several months in front of the University View apartments near U-Md., two food trucks, which are basically a mobile kitchen, station during lunchtime near construction sites to satisfy the workers’ appetites.
One truck arrives at the side of the View around 11:45 a.m., while the other stations at Number One Liquors at around 11:30 a.m.
Hugo Daris, the driver of the truck, delivers the food during the week for lunchtime and stays for about 10 to 20 minutes.
“The food comes from Iguana Cantina LLC in Baltimore,” Daris says. Iguana Cantina LLC, which has recently closed, is a nightclub that also sells Latino food.
Although food is provided in the truck, the driver also allows them to bring their own meals that they previously cooked and they can simply refrigerate or reheat them.
One side of the truck holds hot foods, such as chicken and beans, while the other side holds an abundance of snacks, such as candy and chips.
“The food consists of either American or Latino food choices,” said construction worker Ricky O’Neill said. The American side is “your potato chips and soda,” while “the Latino foods contain a lot of spicy choices.”
For the Latino food choices, “you can choose from chicken, salad, beans, and many other good foods,” said Maria Castillo, a crossing guard at the construction site.
Yet the variety and savings that the food trucks provide for construction workers has caused a decline in workers’ consumption in Latino restaurants around the area.
Rachel Cruz, who cooks food at the restaurant Pupuseria La Familiar across from University View apartments, said that she sees many Latino customers every day, but sees a large amount of construction workers.
The percentage of construction workers consuming in the restaurant would be higher if the food trucks did not exist, according to Cruz.
Although this truck is used mostly by the construction workers for their own convenience, food trucks are becoming common not only for workers.
“In cities across America, new trucks, selling everything from clam chowder to cupcakes, seem to roll out every week,” according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.
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