Students bring business to San Diego from Ben Tatum on Vimeo.
Video by: Grant Holland and Ben Tatum
Cash in hand, junior Daniel Bodden orders a Buffalo Chicken Melt from the Devilivious Food Truck parked out front of the Hilton Hotel. Daniel was one of hundreds of students competing at the National JEA Spring Convention held at the hotel.
“I was hungry, and it was the closest food joint around,” Daniel said. “The line was short and I love buffalo chicken so it seemed like a good fit.”
To prepare for the large food demand, restaurants in San Diego stocked up on produce to feed these teenage competitors.
“We’re always naturally busy, but because of the convention we really had to step up our game,” Chef Fernando Mendez at Burger Lounge said. “We got a flood of kids that came in and their tab ended up coming out to $200 which is a lot for a Thursday night. We’re a strong team though and always come prepared.”
Cost is a factor in any teen’s decision making which affected the quality of the students’ meals and nutrition value.
“The ingredients we use are more high end than any other food truck,” owner and sandwich artist Kenneth Danco of Devilicious Food Truck said. “Cost are a little more expensive than others by about 15%, but the quality and taste is way better hands down.”
However, teens with certain food allergies had to pay more attention than others to what they could and could not.
“I have a major gluten allergy,” sophomore Reilly Cordell said. “I can’t really eat at most restaurants, and when I do I have to make sure my waiter knows about my allergy or else I swell up and have to get an allergic reaction shot to stop the pain. The group that I go out to eat with also has to deal with my allergy, because the restaurant selections are down to a minimum.“
Restaurants of San Diego took these certain allergies into consideration when they created their menus.
“We attend people to their needs,” Chef Fernando said. “We have regulars with food allergies, and it wouldn’t be fair to turn away from their business just because of their food allergy. They can’t help what their body can and cannot take. Also, having a menu that has acceptable ingredients for people with food allergies makes us unique and more likely to have customers that come back.”
Even though the majority of restaurants in San Diego made an effort to accommodate customers to their need for allergy-free foods, food trucks, on the other hand, had limited capability to meet these needs.
“I usually recommend to customers that it’d be better to find somewhere else to eat if they have a severe food allergy,” Kenneth said. “We have limited space in the truck, and because foods are constantly touching each other, it’s very easy to contaminate food which can lead to customers having an allergic reaction.”
by Lauren Anderson
