Cupcake Stop
Truck started: June 2009
Store opened: Dec. 2010
Address: 70 Greenwich Ave.; 212-627-0200
Lev Ekster, founder and CEO of Cupcake Stop, started looking for a storefront just four months after his truck hit the road. Visitors to the Greenwich Village sweets spot, which seats just 10, can order many more treats than are sold on the truck. “We were able to significantly expand our menu when we got the store,” says Ekster. “We have a full coffee bar, and cookies and brownies. Our blondies and pecan bars are very popular. On the truck it’s the cupcakes [that are most popular] — the red velvet and a French toast cupcake.”
Taco Truck
Truck started: Oct. 2009
Store opened: July 2010
Address: 62 Newark St., Hoboken, NJ; 201-850-1400
After using the truck, which moved between Hoboken and Jersey City five days a week, as a marketing and brand-building tool, the first of many planned Taco Truck stores opened in Hoboken last year. It sells the same organic Mexican dishes available on the truck and mirrors the mobile version with aluminum walls, concrete floors and bench seating. “A lot of our customers go to the truck and the brick and mortar now,” says CEO Jason Scott. “They’re happy not to have to stand in the snow at times like these!”
Dessert Truck
Truck started: Oct. 2007
Store opened: Jan. 2010
Address: 6 Clinton St.; 212-228-0701
Dessert Trucks’ Lower East Side café [it’s called DessertTruck Works, slightly different than the name of the truck] is frequented by college kids and young professionals keen to get a sugar rush from the delicious cakes and puddings that made the truck so popular. They can order coffee and ice cream too, as well as macaroons and candies not sold on the truck, and not surprisingly spend more than most truck customers. “Our average spend is still very low; about $12,” says co-owner Jerome Chang. “Sometimes we get 90 per cent more business than the truck; sometimes the truck is busier than the store. It’s impossible to predict.”
What’s in store for truck stops
Treats Truck (treatstruck.com)
Truck: Rotates between stops on the Upper West Side, Midtown and Gramercy Park from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., and 4 to 6 p.m., three to five days a week, and is renowned for its Rice Krispie treats ($2) and sandwich cookies ($2).
Store: When it opens in the spring, the shop will seat about 40 people, and have a backyard that can be rented for parties. The store will also stock sandwiches and milkshakes.
Schnitzel & Things (schnitzelandthings.com)
Truck: Serves chicken, cod and pork schnitzel sandwiches ($8) and platters ($10) Monday to Friday, at one spot each day (Midtown, Downtown, NoMad) from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.Store: More side dishes and veal, a sometime-special on the truck, will go on the menu permanently when the 14-seat store, which will be open Saturdays, too,
debuts next month.