
A food cart is a
mobile kitchen set up on the street to prepare and sell
street food
Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...
to
passers-by. Food carts are often found in cities worldwide selling food of every kind.
Food carts come in two basic styles. One allows the vendor to sit or stand inside and serve food through a window. In the other, the vendor stands next to the cart, while all the room in the cart is used for storage and to house the cooking machinery, usually a grilling surface. The cart style is determined principally by the type of food.
Food carts are different from
food trucks because they do not travel under their own power. Some food carts are towed by another vehicle, while some are pushed by a human or animal.
History

The first food carts probably came into being at the time of the early Greek and Roman civilizations with traders converting old
hand-carts and smaller animal-drawn carts into mobile trading units. Carts have the distinct advantage of mobility, should a location not be productive in
sales
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...
, as well as for transporting goods to/from storage to the marketplace.
However, the use of carts exploded with the coming of
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
s. Firstly, highly mobile customers required food and drink to keep them warm within the early open carriages. Secondly, locomotives needed to stop regularly to take on coal and water, and hence allow their passengers use the toilets, eat and drink. Thirdly, few early trains had any form of
buffet
A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve themselves. A form of '' service à la française'', buffets are offered at various places including hotels, restaurants, and many social eve ...
or
dining car
A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a passenger railroad car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.
These cars provide the highest level of service of any rai ...
. Finally, when passengers did arrive at their destination, or at a point when they needed to switch trains or modes of transport, some refreshment was required, particularly for poorer passengers who could not afford to stay in the railway-owned hotels. This expansion lead to a mutually successful relationship with some of the first
concession stands and laws developing from mobile traders operating from restricted railway property. This form of concession based operation can be seen still in many countries, but at its most original in the under developed stations and
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...
of Africa and Southeast Asia.
The railways also brought another benefit: a plentiful supply of new suitably sized carts. Often traders requiring new carts would simply buy old railway station
luggage carts and adapt them to serving food, knowing that these were sized/scaled to fit in between the necessary doors and lifts.
Today the size and scale of carts have generally increased, and most are towed behind 4x4 vehicles. But hand-towed food carts are still a common sight where access is restricted and hungry people can be found.
Modern engineering and function
In the 21st century, innovations have included modular designed carts made with stainless steel, fiber reinforced plastic and aluminum. Some have been developed to drive themselves.
Some food carts are associated with restaurants. Most of the food served from the cart is the same as the food in the restaurant.
See also
*
Food booth
A food boothalso called a food kiosk, food stand, food stall or temporary food service facilityis a temporary structure used to prepare and sell food to the general public, usually where large groups of people are situated outdoors in a park, at ...
*
Gastronorm, a European standard for food containers
*
Kiosk
Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...
*
List of food trucks
*
List of street foods
*
Mobile catering
*
Serving cart
*
Taco stand
*
Yatai
*
Pojangmacha
References
External links
"Inside the underground economy propping up New York City's food carts"by
Jeff Koyen, ''
Crain's New York Business
Crain Communications Inc. is an American publishing conglomerate based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with 13 foreign subsidiaries.
History
Gustavus Dedman "G.D." Crain Jr. ( Gustavus Demetrious Crain Jr.; 1885–1973), previously the ci ...
'', 12 June 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Food Cart
Fast food
Restaurants by type
Street culture
Cart