The food truck boom (2010s)
Mobile food vendors, long a construction-site staple, spread across American cities in the 2010s as a low-cost entry point into the food business. Cities built permitting systems to manage street vending as the sector grew.
Food trucks became a permanent part of city dining, from lunch crowds to outdoor events.
Mobile food units went from novelty to a standard small-business format.
The Popcorn Shack's mobile license is a small instance of the same low-overhead mobile food model that kept expanding through the 2010s.
