Episode Details

The food truck went from gritty roach coach to a line of 40 people waiting for an $18 lobster roll. This episode traces its roots to 1866, when cattle rancher Charles Goodnight turned a surplus Army wagon into the chuck wagon, through Walter Scott's night lunch wagons in Providence and Thomas Buckley's mass-produced lunch wagons.

We examine how regulation and blue-collar routes created the truck's reputation, then how the 2008 recession put cheap trucks in the hands of laid-off chefs who used Twitter to build loyal followings. We also cover Chicago's 200-foot rule, plumbing-related health violations, and global versions from 1920s Paris to Thailand's bouquet trucks.

• How the chuck wagon solved the problem of feeding cattle drive crews
• Night owl wagons for late-shift newspaper workers and Buckley's standardized designs
• Why the Great Recession sparked the gourmet food truck boom
• Restaurant protectionism, Chicago's restrictions and the plumbing problems behind violations
• Government-backed fry trucks in Paris, pandemic-era grocery trucks in Thailand and Japan's kitchen cars