This Long Beach spot is where food trucks are born

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred What do Ukrainian food, soft serve and Thai fusion tacos have in common? They’re all served out of trucks built from scratch in an industrial building on Anaheim Street next to the Los Angeles River.“This is where food trucks are born,” said Martin Ramirez, owner of California Food Trucks.Over the past 15 years, he’s quietly had a hand in the success of some beloved local businesses and major corporations.He’s built custom projects for the Long Beach dessert shop SnoCorner and Peruvian food truck Mikhuna, along with major 30- and 40-foot catering trucks for high-profile clients like Google and Monster Energy.Ramirez, his shop manager Cody Madole and four other employees are a one-stop shop for everything a food truck needs, including plumbing, welding and electrical work to transform vans and commercial trucks into functioning mobile kitchens.It’s a niche manufacturing business that caters to enterprising chefs and restaurateurs who are testing a concept or hitting the road for music festivals, farmers markets or a meal break at offices.The food truck industry has grown as the costs to start a brick-and-mortar restaurant have steadily increased.

In a business that’s notorious for having razor-thin profit margins, a truck is a safer bet — and one you can also resell if things don’t work out, Ramirez said.Ramirez, who grew up in Bellflower, found his way to food truck manufacturing through his stepmother.In the late 2000s, she discovered how lucrative the business could be when she bought a truck to start selling tacos in Miami.

Before she sold her first taco, she decided to list the truck on Craigslist to test the resale market.Within a few days, a buyer offered her double what she had paid for it, Ramirez said.After some coaxing from family, Ramirez realized he was perfectly equipped to ...