FAST-MOVING FOOD TREND: Rolling restaurants emerge across the state.

• Author: Sukin, Gigi
• Position: FOOD INDUSTRIES REPORT

This March, Denver was recognized as the second-most food-truck friendly-city in the country by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's annual "Food Truck Nation" report.

And Denver ranked No. 1 for permitting and licensing requirements, thanks to its uncomplicated processing and low startup fees.

"Starting a food truck is easy and straightforward," the Denver section of the Food Truck Nation report claimed. "Operating a food truck and maintaining compliance are equally straightforward."

Not so fast...

"It takes a ton of work," says Hosea Rosenberg, executive chef and owner of Boulder's Blackbelly, which began as a food truck back in 2011 and evolved into a permanent location in 2014.

WHY THE SUDDEN EXPLOSION?

Food trucks serve as vehicles for entrepreneurial activity and economic growth.

The industry is estimated to have reached $2.7 billion in revenue in 2017, according to Emergent Research. Though this number represents a mere fraction of the $799 billion in restaurant sales last year, the estimate shows a sizeable increase from the $650 million food trucks pulled in revenue only a few years before. Food industry experts cite the Great Recession for food trucks' uptick in popularity, driven by the affordable prices attached to gourmet eats. Without the added cost of wait staffs, these quick-service kiosks, carts and trailers have lower overhead than restaurants and can be moved if one location does not attract enough business to pay the bills.

Add that to a collective consumer desire for convenience and social media serving as a marketing tool for these eateries on-the-move, and the momentum makes sense.

COLORADO'S WARM EMBRACE

In Denver, the number of food trucks has more than tripled since 2014, and the trend has spread beyond the Mile High City. From Pueblo to Fort Collins, mountain towns to Front Range suburbs, the lunch wagons, taco trucks and more are taking to the streets.

"Colorado has really seemed to embrace the concept of food trucks," says Mircea Vlaicu, senior growth marketing manager of California-based Roaming Hunger, a company that tracks the movements of food trucks nationally. "Colorado has embraced the idea of experiencing more than just your typical food trucks, too."

Produced by Civic Center Conservancy, Civic Center EATS gathers about 25 food trucks during lunchtime Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, May through October. This year, more than 80 trucks participated throughout the warm weather months, drawing 1,000...