Food truck owners avoid photos on menus for simple items
10 posts across 2 communities in the last 90 days; 90% from r/foodtrucks.
“I have a qr code to reviews, to allergen info, even to social but I'd never replace the menu with one. I mean even with 3 metre tall menus people still walk up and ask what you have. If they cant be bothered to read that, what makes you think they would take extra steps?”
“I wouldnt go over 10. Do ten items well, not 15 mediocre. You cant be everything to everyone in a food truck. 8 key items + 2 specials. Replace lower margin lower volume items with specials that tested well.”
“No one who owns a food truck needs someone else to make their menu. What grade are you in? [re: Would you let someone else create a menu item for your food truck if you got paid per order?]”
Food truck operators generally refrain from using photos on their external menus when offering standard fare like hot dogs and burgers, preferring to showcase more unique or complex dishes with visual appeal.
SOURCES (40)
“No one who owns a food truck needs someone else to make their menu. What grade are you in? [re: Would you let someone else create a menu item for your food truck if you got paid per order?]”
“The 2 options aren’t AI or pay a massive sum of money for professional pics. Customers would rather see iPhone pictures of real food. Nothing fancy, just a true depiction of what they can expect to receive. I’m 30 fyi, I’m just someone who prefers to utilise their brain.”
“Haphazard, sloppy, or difficult to read menus. As a customer, I just want to see exactly what you're selling, and what it costs. I don't want to have to read someone's sloppy hand written chalkboard cursive. I don't want to have to look at a random combination of marker on the side of your truck, vinyl decals, and papers with Sharpie writing to get a complete picture of your menu. And I don't want to be blasted with a bunch of cartoonish pictures of your products, with no act”
“hm...did you know people see the world with their own EYE LEVEL? It's their level. Let them stay there. If you are fellow food truck owner, it's better for you to have more of those kinds.”
“Preferably both QR and menu board. Although, please use markers and not chalk for your boards. I cringe every time I see particles flying and mixing in with the ingredients.”
“An offshoot of this question any recommendations for displays that can handle full California sun? Planning a 50” ish digital menu on my food trailer. Portrait display”
“QR code. Do pizza. Way too difficult to have a menu board. Do I have one? Yes. Do I use QR also yes. Not listing out 30 toppings on a board. I'll print a menu one of these days.”
“I walk past every time it's a QR code. We later mock said QR code at the other truck with a proper board.”
“I have a qr code to reviews, to allergen info, even to social but I'd never replace the menu with one. I mean even with 3 metre tall menus people still walk up and ask what you have. If they cant be bothered to read that, what makes you think they would take extra steps?”
“Do both. A significant number if people will walk by if they have to scan a QR code to read your menu. Some of them just off principal. Some of them just don’t want to bother.”
Food is personal. QR codes and automated ordering is an instant turn off.
“there is not a soul alive who prefers QR menus, they have uses but a menu board will always be better for people deciding what they want to order”
“They said why, dynamic pricing, sell outs, specials... Etc... Also customer here. I hate QR codes and also dynamic pricing, unless I was trapped I'd probably just walk away and find something else.”
“QR codes are the lamest shit ever. Oh look, I have to open my phone to scan the code and click on the link to a web page that has the menu that is also right in front of me. Just make your menu simple, clear and focused and have your truck name in big letters that are easy to read. If you are doing well enough that your line is 30 deep all day long, yeah, maybe consider a big QR code for the back of your truck”
“Customer here. Why not both? I love a QR code if I can order with it. I literally cannot think of a reason why they would be mutually exclusive”
“Do not use QR codes. They have about the same customer reaction as when they see AI being used obviously for things like menu pictures. And from my experience, QR menus on the phones are formatted really half-assed and introduce usability problems. If you want to speed up menu order, use some digital tablets with a nice customer experience, but I'm gonna be one of those that swears by....have your own menus and let the customer order with a real human being on the truck. Isn't that part”
“Who’s your intended customer base? Different demographics will respond quite differently.”
“I have almost 100 different items you can choose from. My customers love all the different choices.”
“Huge menus is only great if you have great chefs. 1 to 3 menus is very enough for food trucks or booth. Its even get trusted easier by the customers”
“100% keep the menus small! In-N-Out is the best example. You can get like five things and it’s all amazing. I book a lot of food trucks for events and work with a lot of customers looking for food trucks and I can tell you with absolute confidence after thousands of events that customers are overwhelmed by large menus and they often only select a couple items anyway. Do something really really well and keep it small. It’s better for you and the customer.”
“Have only one source of truth for your menu items and prices, like a database, and do everything from there, from prints to pages on your website, inventory and whatnot. Have aggregators link to yourwebsite.com/menu instead of supplying them with actual menu pages (Google allows to setup a link to an external website, by the way). Name your URL in such a way that it can stay like that forever, so avoid the likes of yourwebsite.com/menu_summer_2026 . It will take a while for the old menus to fina”
“We started with a core menu of three sandwiches, small kids menu and 3 appetizers. A comment I hear from customers a lot is how consistent the food is. This is fourth season and we have basically added a new item each season. It was usually a special that we ran that was popular but also easy to add to the flow of the regular menu and prep.”
“Tight list is better. Because it would seem to mean the truck will likely to run more efficiently and customers will order faster. That’s a plus for me.”
“100% we have our small menu and execute it really week. Every once in awhile we do specials so our regulars get to experience something new.”
“a short menu is a flex. it says "we know exactly what we're doing and we're not wasting your time." a huge list just means you're gonna spend 15 minutes deciding while the person behind you dies inside”
“i’ve noticed that the food trucks i end up liking most usually don’t have massive menus. sometimes there are only a handful of options, but you get the feeling they’ve spent years perfecting those few dishes. on the other hand, a bigger menu is nice when everyone in a group wants something different which do you prefer, a small focused menu or a food truck that has something for everyone? submitted by /u/Healthy-Evidence-150 [link] [comments]”
“Increasing the number of items on your menu never guarantees more people will come to your food truck. My go-to food truck has just 5 items, but the consistency of their taste is commendable. I think rather than filling up your menu board, you should focus on improving the taste and maintaining consistency in both taste and speed of service.”
“I wouldnt go over 10. Do ten items well, not 15 mediocre. You cant be everything to everyone in a food truck. 8 key items + 2 specials. Replace lower margin lower volume items with specials that tested well.”
“Keep it simple. Most people want to look at pictures and point. The menu should evolve to the point where you have 3-4 different popular unique items. 20 is OK for figuring it out but too much for production. If you want to start with that and figure out which one prints money then remove the others that is reasonable. Buying and prepping for a menu item you must have but makes up less than 10% of your average revenue -- kick it off the menu. It makes no sense to waste time, energy, and food for”
“Great points. We have a large customizable menu on the side of the truck. And then a full descriptive menu typed up available at the counter (to handle most questions up front.) So perhaps we could find a compromise here by featuring different stuff every day while keeping all the ingredients available. I can roll with that.”
“I was watching a YouTube video about food truck do’s and don’ts, and they were interviewing an operator who said the best menu size is around 6–8 items. Even if you cross‑utilize ingredients and keep waste low, nobody wants to sift through a huge menu trying to figure out what to order. A big menu slows customers down, and that takes time away from the people still standing in line.”
“2 of our front facing windows are covered with a photo + full description of product. I.e. "El Grande" a bed of nacho chips, then a layer of seasoned ground beef and nacho cheese. Iceberg lettuce, a second layer of seasoned beef, shredded cheddar, tomatoes, black beans and roasted corn medley, black olives, pickled jalapenos, and sour cream. Finished with fried gordita chips. Your choice of house made red sauce or hot sauce at the pickup window. It cuts down on questions and given we h”
“We just changed our menus and the photos on them, and everything now in a photo is getting ordered way more.”
“I had customer engraved wood signs made that I have magnets on. Put what’s available on the outside of the truck before events. Each sign has a little artists rendition of what the item looks like.”
“No photos. Personally I find most food photos unappealing. We sell grilled cheese and have a cartoonish logo with one.”
“We do not have photos. 7 regular items and rotating special with sides, kids meals and drinks. Nothing visible when the doors are closed. But we don't have a website or phone number either lol”
“If im selling hot dog, burgers, sandwiches, etc.... no photos. If im selling jerk chicken with beans and dirty rice... yes photos.”
“Hey everybody. I hope you are well. I am taking my business through a rebrand soon (name stays the same), and part of that will be redoing the physical menu on the trailer. Currently our menu is roughly 20-inches by 30-inches, and resides on the right side of our window. It has no photos, and the menu also can’t be seen by potential customers when we are closed. In addition, it makes it hard for customers to determine their purchase ahead of time when they are in line. The plan is to remove it f”