While food truck parks have sprung up more and more in Bakersfield, many of them have been left empty for hours or even days as temperatures reach triple digits.
- Video shows various food truck and food truck parks within Bakersfield, many of whom are facing the difficulties of the rising heat.
- Aly Zepeda, who owns Fuego's Tacos, said she had to get a second job to mitigate their lost revenue this summer.
- At the Brickyard, Los Tlaxcaltecas and Mondough's both say they've seen less customers the last few months.
Inside Los Tlaxcaltecas, the heat from their stoves is on par with what they’re feeling outside, and they’re not the only food truck workers experiencing it.
“We got rid of our employees. We had to, because a lot of our cooks are older, so we didn't want them here in this heat,” explained Aly Zepeda, owner Fuego’s Tacos, one of Bakersfield oldest food trucks.
Zepeda said the last few years, the increasing heat during the summer months has forced this cook out of the kitchen. While her husband manages the truck, Zepeda has returned to working in the medical field in order to supplement their revenue losses.
“I had to get another job,” she said. “I got something that would kind of take over the revenue that we're missing here, not as much, but it's helping.”
While food truck parks have sprung up more and more in Bakersfield, many of them have been left empty for hours or even days as temperatures reach triple digits. At the Brickyard on 18th Street, Armando Fernandez said they go hours, even days with an empty lot/
“It’s been pretty dead,”he said.
Fernandez operates Mondough’s, a food truck serving pizzas, sandwiches, and street dogs. He said due to the heat though, he can no long offer pizzas every day.
“Pizza’s are on my menu but today, pizzas aren’t available because I didn’t do dough, and there’s no point in me doing dough and nobody coming out and me having to through it out tomorrow,” he said.
Many food courts like the Brickyard and Fuegos have tried to mitigate the heat, securing canopies, fans, and misters. But even that isn’t enough to drum up more business, forcing food truck operators to get more creative. Zepeda said they’re considering doing family meals at a discount to entice customers, while at the Brickyard Fernandez said they offering entertainment and other deals.
Yet some food truck operators are forced to make some tough choices.
“The other trucks that were a part of this, when there’s not really a guarantee of someone walking through the gates and place an order, they have to do what’s best for their business,” Fernandez said.
Zepeda said Brick and Mortar might sound like the obvious solution but with rising rent costs it’s not always feasible. In fact, she had to close their Brick and Mortar location even before these challenges. That’s why she’s asking the community to come out and support local food trucks, even if it’s only picking up a meal to-go.
For many food trucks like Fuegos, they say a good way to keep up with some of the changes that are being made during the summer months is to follow along on their social media pages:
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