Frequently Asked Questions
Click on the “Locate Nearby Vendors” button, then:
- Use GPS- it will focus on your current location and show all nearby vendors. You can zoom in and out to focus on a narrower or broader geographic area.
- Use the address bar at the top- type in any address or city and it will take you right to that point. To exit the address function, just click the GPS button again.
Alternatively, you can search for vendors within your area by a particular style/cuisine of food, or just see all trucks within your area as a list.
Red means that the vendor is open. Go get some food!
Yellow means that the vendor will be open later today.
Grey means that the vendor is currently closed.
A vendor on the move will mark when and where he’ll be. He won’t be there yet, but you can plan your meal for later! (Vendors do their best to mark the arrival destination and time accurately. Contact them through the app if they’re not where they’re supposed to be.)
That’s easy. The first time you tap on each vendor icon on the map, a Google directions image will show up in the bottom left of the map. Click it and Google will help.
If you’re at the vendor’s profile page, click the little yellow map-marker next to the profile pic.
Tap on the vendor icon and a mini-profile will display. If you want to order food, see more details, connect via social media, and more, then tap the mini-profile and the full profile will display.
In the “Favorites” tab, you can view all the gourmet vendors that you’ve selected as your favorites by clicking on the star at the top of each vendor’s profile page. You can also view the “Most Favorited” vendors in town. On this tab, vendors are ranked top to bottom based on how many foodies like you have marked them a favorite. So mark your favorites to help foodtrucks rank higher!
If you know of an event/festival in town that we haven’t listed, tell the vendors involved that they should post it and we’ll bump it up to a promoted event.
Alternatively, you can click on the + button in the top right of the events tab and shoot us a message with details and we’ll feature it on the app and website!
We’re a small business, and we’re quality oriented and customer focused. All the merch on the site is very high quality. One or more of us personally checks each piece of material upon receipt to ensure that it’s as expected. Shirt materials are very soft, like your old high school tshirts that you wish you could sleep in every night. The rest, we assure will satisfy you as well.
Of course! We’d love to do that. Do you have a vendor in mind? Maybe a particular style of food, or are just looking for something in your budget? Let us take care of it. We’ve got plenty of experience managing special events, banquets, catering, and BEOs. Just use the “Book Me” button from any vendor profile, or here or on our website. We’ll take the hassle out and ensure you are satisfied with the service provided.
At any time, you may request to be removed from our platform and have all of your personally identifiable data permanently removed from our databases. To make your request, write to us at contact@WheresTheFoodtruck.com and include the email address that your account is linked to (Google, Facebook, Apple ID, or email address).
For health concerns, placing your order through WTF keeps you (and the foodtruck operators) at a safer distance. It’s quick and easy to order and pay. We’ll send you order status updates, making it easier to pick up, too!
For operations concerns, foodtruck operators prefer this so that they can focus on their passion: making good food for your enjoyment. Without having to manage the window and register, they can prep, cook, and serve food quicker, bringing you a fresher, quicker, and more enjoyable experience.
After you complete your order, the foodtruck receives and confirms it. You’ll get a notification that your order is in progress.
When the order is complete, you’ll get another notification, letting you know that your order is ready for pickup.
After you’ve had time to enjoy your food, you’ll be given an opportunity to tip the staff who prepared your meal.
Once your order is placed, the foodtruck will get to work making it. They’re hustling in that foodtruck.
If you need to modify or cancel your order, we suggest contacting the foodtruck directly using the links in their WTF profile. You can get right to their profile by clicking their name on your order info.
We cannot guarantee that this is possible. If the vendor makes any changes, they can issue a refund themselves through their point-of-sale.
Your payment information is secure and encrypted. As a matter of fact, we (WTF) don’t ever touch or have access to this data.
All transactions are processed via Square (if you use a credit card) or through Google Pay or Apple Wallet if you have this setup in your device.
These processors use the most current security methods to keep your data safe.
Click here for more about Square, here for Google Pay, and here for Apple Wallet processing and security measures.
Menu prices are set by the foodtruck. We pass this along without modification. What they charge for their food is what you pay.
Taxes are applied where applicable and are reported to us by the foodtruck.
We apply a $0.99 convenience fee to help cover our development, hosting, and other costs.
Tipping is optional, but encouraged. Your tip goes directly to the foodtruck operators.
All this is clearly summarized in your orders so there’s no confusion.
We charge ZERO fees to the foodtruck. No commission, no per-order-fee, no tip-sharing, nada.
This ranges based on the event type and by vendor, as each foodtruck is a small business of its own. There are 3 common types of events for foodtrucks:
- customers pay individually
- the host/organizer pays
- catering (full service, partial service, or drop-off)
Despite the event type, costs range between $12-20 per person, based on the specifics.
Use our form and a catering specialist will reach out to you to get the best results.
There’s no way to tell until we dig in. Our specialists reach out to our extensive list of certified vendors in search of the best options based on your food requests, budget, and vendor availability. Contact us with our request form to get started.
Great question! The vendors on our lists will be able to serve 60-100 guests per hour, based on the cuisine and serving specifics. Let’s discuss what you have in mind. We’ll make tailored suggestions to your event for the best possible experience.
Unlike traditional caterers, foodtrucks work quickly, making it quicker for us to get a list to you. We allow 3 weekdays for vendors to respond. If you request on a Friday, this means by Wednesday we’ll have a list of ideal foodtrucks for your event, including their proposed menus. You’ll narrow down your options with your dedicated WTF catering specialist.
Yes. To an extent. A pizza truck isn’t likely to make tacos for you, but the chefs who own and operate these restaurants on wheels enjoy creating a special experience for you. We’re here to help create the experience you desire.
Foodtrucks are a great addition for so many occasions. Here are just a few types of events we’ve had the pleasure of taking part of in the past.
- Wedding receptions and rehearsal dinners
- Fundraisers
- School festivals
- Sports games and tournaments
- College and University campuses
- Corporate lunches
- Employee appreciation
- Professional gatherings
- Networking events
- Community/Neighborhood events
We collect and keep on file all required business licenses, health permits, and insurance documents so you don’t have to worry about that.
Some jurisdictions require special permits for events. Please check your local regulations to ensure compliance. We also suggest checking with your venue for assistance.
*When you use Where’s The Foodtruck, our partner City Flavor will provide additional insurance. Please ask for more details.
No problem! If you haven’t finalized your venue, you’re sure to do so soon. A general location is all we need to start with. As you narrow down your list of foodtrucks for the event, we’ll need to narrow down your venue to determine any restrictions that they might have regarding outside food and/or mobile food vendors.
Yes, there are a few items to consider for your venue when planning to use a foodtruck caterer.
- Will your venue permit a foodtruck on-site?
- Can a foodtruck access your venue? Drop-off, full-service, and truck-present catering options each have different requirements that we will discuss with you.
- Is the venue’s setup location appropriate for food service? Is it on stable, level ground? Is electrical available? Is there venting (for truck-present service)?
There are many varieties of mobile food vendors, including trucks, trailers, carts and pop-up tents.
Trucks are typically 16′-28′ long, 8′ wide, and 10′-12′ tall. We recommend 14′ height clearance.
Trailers can be smaller, but can also be larger, and need space for the tow-vehicle to navigate.
Carts and pop-ups require the least amount of space. Usually 10’x10’x10′ will do.
Whichever type of vendor you hire, ask their specific size requirements.
Any food vendor for your event will need a level workspace. We will communicate to you any specific requirements they might need for their setup.
Beyond that, our mobile food vendors are fully self contained. You will have to provide access to restrooms for the caterers and their staff. If you don’t want them running their generators, you’ll need to provide a power source. (Typically a 20-amp outlet on a designated circuit is enough, but this varies by setup.)
We manage the entire process for you. Once you’ve selected your desired vendor(s), we can secure them for your event with a 50% deposit. The remainder is due two weeks prior to the event date. The vendor will not receive final payment from Where’s The Foodtruck until your event is successfully completed. We do this to ensure you have a great experience.
We offer scheduling software to help you easily and efficiently book foodtrucks at your bar, brewery, corporate office, and everywhere else. With full access to our vendor network, you’ll be able to choose from a wide selection of cuisines and options, and be able to easily select the perfect foodtruck, all with the click of a button. Schedulers should click here to learn how to get access to our proprietary scheduling software.
We also offer a fully managed option, at no cost to you. We have the pros who know what it takes to schedule foodtrucks for your site.
No problem! We are happy to handle and manage the scheduling of your property, completely free of charge! You heard that right – free of charge! All we will need from you is some information about the property and timing, and we’ll handle the rest. You can be as involved or uninvolved as you like – we will work for and with you to make it great!
The cost for the use of our scheduling software is free to you! We are partnered with vendors who pay a small, fair fee for us to connect them with lucrative business opportunities. Advanced scheduling capabilities may be available for an additional fee, on a case by case basis.
Our vendor network is nationwide, and encompasses all types of flavors and cuisines. By utilizing our national platform, you will be connected with the largest network of mobile food vendors in your area.
Our vendors are top-notch, vetted, licensed, insured, and health-district-inspected. These are the best gourmet foodtrucks around! We consider them restaurants on wheels.
No worries – we are here to help! Some properties are perfect for mobile food vendors, and some aren’t. We’ve seen them all.
If you aren’t entirely sure, submit your information here and one of our scheduling experts will reach out and work with you to come to the right decision.
That’s a loaded question.
To grow any business, especially a foodtruck, you need to advertise and market yourself. We’ve built the best system to do that.
- Share your location.
- Offer mobile ordering & payment (ZERO WTF FEES!)
- Access our catering and job posting board.
- Get a unique business webpage and URL.
- Improve your SEO and search rankings.
- Be discovered by new customers.
- Get repeat business from existing customers.
All of this is FREE. Absolutely, positively FREE, at NO COST to you!
We’ve built the BEST and EASIEST system for you to use. Want to learn more? Click here.
So why shouldn’t you?
Our basic account is free. We don’t even charge you to offer mobile ordering and contactless payment to increase your sales!
We do offer two membership levels above basic. They are Premier and Elite Memberships. For more information on the differences and pricing, click here. Basically, a paid membership gets you special app badges, the ability to promote deals, daily specials, & events to more users on our app, and discounts on all kinds of products and services that a small business owner in this industry needs.
(Integration with mobile ordering is through Square. Square charges transactional and credit card processing fees, which we can’t control. Visit their website for their current rates.)
You need the vendor app; download it here. We need your profile info; send it to us on this short form. We’ll create your profile and you can get going as a basic account for FREE.
We’ll send you a couple of emails with tips & tricks to make the most of the app, so make sure to add Contact@WheresTheFoodtruck.com to your contacts list.
Here’s a page to walk you through it: CLICK ME.
OR:
To integrate with mobile ordering, go to your settings tab on the left side-panel of the app.
Click on “Mobile Ordering”, check the checkbox, then click “Connect” to log into your Square Merchant account and allow the integration permissions. Verify the selected ‘Square location’ is correct and update it if necessary.
That’s it! All done!
(*You must log in to grant us access to your Square account so that we can interact with your POS for orders, inventory, get your tax rates, pass customer info back and forth, and ensure that we’re properly synced with your account to provide the best experience to the customer.)
We also offer free consulting to optimize your Square menu to 1. improve your on-site workflow, and 2. maximize mobile ordering revenues. Schedule a brief call with one of our experts here to discuss. Or, check out our guide.
Why would you want to do that?
If you really must, you can:
- “Pause” it, which stops it until you hit resume or until the next time you’re marked OPEN for business in the app.
- “Stop” it, which stops it until you hit resume.
- “Disconnect” from your Square Merchant account. If you do this, you’ll have to log back into Square next time customers want to order something from you through the app.
If you use Stock/Inventory Tracking in Square for your menu items, then we already know that you’re 86’d that item and won’t let a customer order it.
If you don’t track your stock (and not all of us do), then hop into Square and edit that item. You can:
- Remove the category from the item to hide it from our app, or
- Enable stock tracking and mark the inventory at “0”
*Don’t forget to add the category back to the item, or increase available inventory, when it’s back in stock.
No need. Once you’ve connected your Square Merchant account, we’ll pull all your data over.
We’ll populate your food categories, menu items, pricing, modifiers, options, tax rate, inventory status,… everything that’s been assigned to your ‘location’ and has a ‘category’ will be imported.
If you have your categories, menu items, modifiers, inventory, descriptions, and pricing setup properly in Square, this will be an effortless process.
To make the most of mobile ordering, check out our guide to optimizing your Square menu.
If you want help, reach out to us directly at Contact@WheresTheFoodtruck.com. We’re here for your success.
You’ll see that order appear on your Square POS. You’ll also receive a notification in your WTF Vendor app.
If you have a printer connected to your Square for kitchen tickets, you can also set the order to print.
To accept and begin the order, click “Mark In Progress” through Square. The customer will get a notification that their order is started.
When the order is complete, click “Mark as Ready” through Square. The customer will get a notification that their order is ready for pickup.
(We also built in an Orders tab in the left side panel of the WTF Vendor app for you to review current and past orders, and to contact the customer directly if there are any issues with the order.)
All transactions are processed through your own Square Merchant account. Payments go directly into your Square account just like any other sale. We never touch your money so there are no delays or accounting errors.
*A note about the ‘Fees’ section of each transaction: you’ll see the WTF fees in there. This is the fee paid by the customer and routed through your account to ours. Square categorizes it as a fee, so you’ll see it in your fees.
The customer will have to contact you directly. They can do this through our app.
Our customers are aware that after an order is submitted, you’ll start cooking it ASAP and that modifying or canceling the order is at your discretion.
We encourage you to always keep in mind the customer experience.
If you need to refund an order, you can do that directly through your POS as usual.
Open the app and decide where you’ll next be doing business.
- If you’re already on site, hit the GPS button (big yellow button in the bottom right of the map screen), then tap ARRIVING SOON if you’re not open yet, or OPEN if you are. Follow the prompts. You’re now on the map for all customers to see, and we’ll send out push notifications to nearby customers to promote your business.
- If it’s at a future location (like you’re about to drive to your destination), type the address or location name into the address bar at the top of the map, then click ARRIVING SOON and provide your estimated time of arrival. All of our customers will see that you’re on your way. (*The app will mark you open at the time and location that you tell it. **To mark a future location, you can also drag and drop the truck icon on the map.)
The app will automatically mark you closed at the time you say you’re closing.
Get the customer app here and see what they see.
Not more than any other app. The GPS is only active for the moment you press the GPS button. Play with it all day and your phone will probably warn you that the app is eating up battery. (*TIP: you can close the app and customers still see where you are. If you’re worried about your battery, this will help.)
Red means that you’re OPEN. Make your money!
Yellow means that you’re ARRIVING SOON.
Grey means that you are closed.
This is what our users see as well. You want them to see red every…time…you’re…open!
This is your billboard! Sell yourself! Make them WANT you!
We already input the basics that you provided to us. Feel free to change this as you want. Add more food styles for customers to find you by searching, add to your description, more links, deals & daily specials, and promote upcoming events.
And CONNECT YOUR MENU so folks can order ahead, saving you time, labor, and effort, while maximizing your profits!
We also create a business page for you at “WheresTheFoodtruck.com/vendors/YourFoodtruckName” (*as it appears in your profile).
(Ask if you’re having issues, or check out our video tutorials here.)
We suggest listing any event that you’re part of, big or small. Include your profile name in the description. If it’s a big event, shoot us a message and we’ll promote it on the app, sending out a notification to all nearby customers and a reminder just before the event. Your individual events will be sent as notifications to anyone who’s marked you as a favorite.
To increase profits, you should feature a deal or daily special on a regular basis, just like restaurants do! Take an amazing pic, describe what it is, and make our users crave it. All nearby customers will get a notification of your latest deals or daily specials.
(*Tip: post a different menu item every few days to hype your business. Think of this like a commercial, only not costing thousands of dollars.)
**These features are accessible to Premier and Elite Members only.
Of course. As a foodtrucker, we believe you should be wearing either your brand or ours. We discount 20% for vendors. It’s all high-quality materials, too. We don’t sell anything we don’t use ourselves.
We also co-brand with foodtrucks. We’ll print your logo and ours on: shirts, hats, aprons, feather banners, flags, and just about anything else that will promote the industry. Contact us with your inquiry.
Hell yeah! We already do that. We have links on each profile page and on our website. We’ll contact you with any specific requests.
We post general requests on the Gigs board in the app first, and it’s the easiest way to book shifts. Paid vendors get notified of opportunities first and are given preference.
We actively pursue leads and lead generation through SEO, ASO, online promotions, ad campaigns, and active outreach.
We invest in you every day.