The food truck that didn't quite happen (yet)

I decided to get a food truck this summer. We found a used one I really liked. Good equipment and even a TV built into the side so you could change the menu from day to day.

Because True Thai is so close to St. Paul, I wanted to be able to use the truck in both cities. That may have been a mistake.

If you want your food truck to operate in Minneapolis, you must fill out the Minneapolis food truck permit papers, complete with drawings of the inside of the truck and a diagram of where you will park it off the street when not in use. As well as all your business information. And then you do the St. Paul applications which are almost entirely different.

It took a while but we got all our application information in order and started working on getting the graphics for the truck. Getting big decals with your restaurant name on them is not as easy as you might think, and that took a while longer. The summer was quickly disappearing but we kept moving forward and finally, in early September, we were ready to make an offer. And we learned that the original price was still what they wanted, but that we would have to pay for the truck with one check and not payments as we had discussed. I was very disappointed but cash is tight and that was that.

Next year we will have a food truck but for right now we will have to wait. Why? That is a story for Sunday's post when you may be surprised to find out where True Thai's money goes.

More about those changes

Yesterday I told you how much more quickly our kitchen gets food to you, the customer. Today I want to tell you what we are doing with our extra time.

First and most important, True Thai now delivers! If you read my blog you already knew that, but if you are new to Anna's True Thai News, we have been delivering to local hospitals and colleges. We will also deliver to your home if you order at least $25 worth of food.

Now let me tell you the catch: You have to live within 5-6 miles of True Thai. Sorry, no deliveries to Wayzata or Woodbury!

Deliveries have been going very well, and even though we haven't done much to publicize our deliveries, we keep getting more calls. And I suspect that after I publish this post, we'll get still more calls and that is a good thing.

Now you may be thinking, Anna Anna! Why don't you get a food truck?! That is a story for another day. Tomorrow, as a matter of fact.

Our new kitchen manager

One of Korey's most important recommendations was that we get a new kitchen manager. Ever since Ped died, different employees have tried to fill the gap but Korey saw that it was not working well. Too much inefficiency, too much running to the grocery store for produce we should never run out of.

Jason Dorweiler is our new kitchen manager. Formerly with Big Bowl, Jason and Korey have already transformed our kitchen. I think you know that when you have all your ingredients ready to go, Thai food is very quick to prepare. Nothing cooks better than a hot wok if you know what you are doing. But you need prep people and alert wait staff so that food gets to the table as quickly as it leaves the wok.

It's hard for customers to see this difference, but you will notice it. Takeout orders now take fifteen minutes or less from the time you call in until your food is out front waiting for you (OK, if we're really busy maybe 20 minutes but we're working on that). Even I could not believe it. Jason keeps things running smoothly and Korey has found new staff who take their jobs very, very seriously. True Thai is not fast food, but we now serve quality food quickly.

Tomorrow I will tell you more about what we are doing with all that time we are saving.