Ethnographic Research Questionnaire

The questions that we have come up with for our ethnographic research questionnaire are as follows:

Customer Questionnaire:

1. Where would you most like to eat? (Given the 4 choices of images)

2. How do you think others feel about eating on the streets?

3. Has the way you eat on the street changed over time?

4. How do you feel about eating on the streets?

5. Draw your fantasy food truck dining experience.

5.5 How would eating on the streets change for you if it could always be like your fantasy?

6. How would you feel about eating on the street if you won the lottery?



Driver Questionnaire:

What environmental aspects influence your business the most?

Does available seating for your customers influence your decision on where to park?

Of these four images, where do you think your customers would most like to eat their meal?

Of these four images, where would you most like to eat your meal?

Around how much square footage of free space do you have in your truck?

Can you indicate where it is located within the truck on this map?

Auntie's Fry Bread

This week, our group visited Auntie's Fry Bread

The truck was located off the sidewalk in a parking lot with a group of other food trucks.  The location was good, because it was visible from the street, and it was also very accessible.  There was more than enough parking, so it was convenient for people to come specifically for the trucks.

The food at Auntie's Fry Bread was called a Native American Fusion.

The portions were huge, and the food was delicious!  I actually went back for seconds.

The ambiance was much different than our previous visits.  We still had the cars going by, but this time there were multiple trucks playing different styles of music.  Auntie's Fry Bread was not playing music, but we could hear rap coming from another truck and salsa music from yet another truck.  There was also a live performer playing violin outside an ice cream truck.  There were a lot of people, and if you weren't standing up in front of a truck, you almost felt in the way.  You'd constantly be navigating through people.  It was a very food court experience.

Amenities were a bit scarce.  There was a long white wall along the sidewalk that a lot of people ate at.

A lot of people actually brought their own fold out chairs and even tables.

The truck also offered napkins for grabbing on the outside of the truck, rather than making you ask for them.  This was very convenient.

A truck employee asked us about the food when we went up for napkins.  They were really friendly and we told her it was the best food truck we had ever been too.

Bathrooms were located a parking lot away at K1 Speed Indoor Go Karts.  They were clean and spacious with multiple stalls.  Very well suited for this kind of food truck event.

As for this weeks design opportunity, we were to develop the previous week's idea further.  This was a bit of a challenge to relate to this week's truck since the situation was so different.  Our food bus idea was developed to help out a truck when it wanted to go to a location that had nothing to offer the customers.  In this case, they could still use the seating area in the bus, since all that the location had to offer was a wall.  Since people were bringing their own seating, it may have also been helpful to use the extra bus space for extra food supplies and trash, since this was such a crowded event.

Oh Snap, it's a Food Truck by The Gap!

Pico de Gap is a food truck used as a marketing tool for The Gap.  They often park in front of their own stores, and various festivals.  This weekend, they were at the Abbot Kinney Festival in Venice along with about a dozen other trucks.  

Marcel Vigneron, runner up on Top Chef, was hired to create the trucks menu.

The food was some of the best, and cheapest I have found on a truck so far.  Any 2 tacos plus a drink for $1.69
In addition, for every two tacos you receive a coupon for $20 off your next purchase at The Gap.  The coupons are all coded, and you could be the "golden ticket" winner of a free pair of jeans.  Because nothing goes better with Tacos. 

No Jodas Cuban Kitchen

This week, our group went to the No Jodas Cuban Kitchen food truck.

The truck was parked in the parking lot of a store called Wine Expo.  This location seemed like a bad choice because there was hardly anyone walking by on the sidewalk and, even if there had been, the truck was parked up close to the store hidden by the cars and poorly lit.

The whole time we were there, we only saw one other customer.  The Wine Expo store didn't seem to have much traffic either.

There was one up side to the way they parked their truck though.  The lighting from the shopping center made for a well lit area in front of the order and pick up windows for the customers.

The truck's employees were friendly and the truck had the usual homey food truck feel with hand written signs in the window and a tip jar.

The food was packaging was very green and non wasteful, though it lacked aesthetics.

To print the No Jodas logo or character on the packaging would help the aesthetics of the packaging.

The food itself was bad all around.  Flavor was lacking in all of our sandwiches.  The bread on the vegetarian sandwich was overly sweet.  Butch actually regretted eating the food.

The bread on Earl's chicken sandwich was completely flavorless and reminiscent of the pizza crust on a mini microwavable frozen pizza.  He ended up taking the chicken out and throwing the bread away.

As for the ambiance of the eating environment, there was no music.  Cars drove by and halogen lights buzzed loudly.

Amenities were lacking for the most part.  There were no tables, no benches, and the only wall to sit on was pretty high and thin.   They did offer a trash can as part of the truck, which was very convenient.

The Wine Expo did have bathrooms, though the food truck did not have a bathroom contract with the store.  When I asked the food truck employee about restrooms, he said he didn't know if we could use the Wine Expo's restroom, but we should just walk in casually and quickly and just go.  The environment of the Wine House was highly contrasting to the parking lot.  Soft music was playing and people were dressed nicely.  I stuck out like a sore thumb walking through the crowd in my t-shirt and shorts.  It was definitely a change of environment.  I didn't take photos because when I entered one employee confronted me with a somewhat unwelcoming "Hello", which I guesses was because of my attire.  I didn't want to get kicked out.  The bathrooms themselves were spacious, clean, and well stocked though.

As for design opportunities, we came up with a food bus.  The food bus would have all the space that the food truck has for the kitchen and then some.  In the extra space, there would be room for booths for the customers with comfortable seating and tables.  This idea would not replace food trucks, it would just be another option for situations where the location offers nothing for the customers.  In the Wine Expo's parking lot, there were no tables or chairs, and very limited wall space to sit on.  Despite the lack of amenities for the customers, No Jodas still wanted to come park here.  If they had a food bus, they would be able to bring it out to locations like this one and offer more amenities to their customers in places that don't already have them.

Outdoor Grill

For our second meal, we went to the Outdoor Grill located at the corner of Washington Place and Washington Blvd.

The Outdoor Grill shares a parking lot with a car wash.  In a sense, the Outdoor Grill is an amenity to customers of the car wash.

The restaurant had a decent sized menu, much bigger than the usual size for a food truck, and offered a small indoor seating area.  There was also seating outside and on the roof of the restaurant.

Trash cans were available upstairs and downstairs.  Tables were clean and the overall look and feel of the place was very appealing.

Restrooms were available in the car wash, though at the time we were there the car wash had already closed.

This restaurant is their first location started in 1996, and they have opened another location that is larger in North Ridge.

The food was perhaps a step above that of our previous food truck visit.  The macaroni and cheese had a good cheese taste, despite seeming to have been under a heat lamp for a long time, the corn bread was good, and the chicken tacos were flavorful and fresh.  

The menu lacked vegetarian options.

The ambiance of the restaurant varied based on where you decided to sit.  Inside there was a noisy kitchen with loud fans whirring, and there was no music.  

Outside you had the ambiance of the street, cars, motorcycles, etc. You could also smell the literal outdoor grill.  Sitting on the roof, there was a nice view and even a bar where you could sit looking directly at the spot of the car wash where your car would come out when it was finished.

As for design opportunities, we noticed that the food was being served on styrofoam which lacked aesthetics and practicality.  It is very bad for the environment and it doesn't work to make the food more appealing or fun to eat.  Also, condiments and silverware were only available downstairs on the inside.  So it was inconvenient to go back downstairs to get those things when you were already upstairs sitting down with your food.  It would be nice to find a way to serve condiments and silverware upstairs without having to worry about them being stolen or taken advantage of.