Best Food Trucks of 2014

FIRST PLACE
Fabricator
Absolute Perfection Vehicle Wrapping
Sykesville, MD
(410) 549-4285
www.vehiclewrapping.com
Designers
Brandon Antol
Chris Fong
Installer
Mike Lawson
Client
Mesob on Wheels
Selling Price
$4,900

Contrary to the ignorant joke made in the movie When Harry Met Sally about Ethiopian food consisting of two empty plates, Ethiopian food comprises meat and vegetables with rich flavors that, if desired, may be rendered extremely spicy with mitmita, a hot-pepper powder. My daughter Annabel loves injera, a spongy, unleavened Ethiopian bread.

Absolute Perfection began its succulent wrap design with an original logo, and to simulate entering a restaurant rather than approaching a food truck, Fong said. He and Antol designed the wrap using Adobe Photoshop, and produced it with 3M Controltac IJ180Cv3-10 air-release media that’s decorated on an HP DesignJet L25500 latex-ink printer. 3M Scotchcal 8518 glossy-finish overlaminate, applied with a Seal 54 laminator, will help the food’s brilliant colors match the appeal of the captivating aromas sure to emanate from the truck. Installers applied the wrap with 3M PA-1 squeegees.

SECOND PLACE
Fabricator
Awthentik
Lake Elsinore, CA
(951) 245-5054
www.awthentik.com
Designer
Josh Tolbert
Installer
Cyle Chislock
Clients
Marlene Makena Pappas and Stephen Michael Pappas

Patrolling the streets of Oceanside, CA, Mad Mantis chef Marlene Makena Pappas offers such eclectic fare as beef sliders, duck and kimchi tamales and coconut-chicken burritos. When a food truck doesn’t cater to one particular cuisine type, the vehicle requires a more universal design that provides broad curb appeal. Tolbert said, “The client provided several praying-mantis photos for reference, and our team thought it would be perfect to create a mad-scientist type of logo. We wanted to make the logo the focal point, with a simple background. The rear was tricky, with lots of vents, so we used this to our advantage and created a cage-like area with a locked-up mantis peering through.”
Tolbert designed the wrap with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and the Awthentik team produced the wrap with Orafol Orajet® 3751RA air-release media, which the shop decorated on a Roland SolJet Pro III XC-540 solvent-ink printer. Applied with a Pro-Lam laminator, Orafol’s Oraguard 290G cast laminate will help the verdant mantis stand at attention. Geek Wraps soft-edged felt squeegees were used to bedeck the food truck with mantis mojo.

THIRD PLACE (Tie)
Fabricator
Palmer Signs
Roseville, CA
(916) 773-5815
www.palmersigns.com
Designers
Justin “Juice” Lee
Tony Palmer
Installers
Chad Compton
Mike Decker
Tony Palmer
Client
La Mex Taqueria

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The Bay Area – San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento – has evolved into Ground Zero for food trucks, and a compelling wrap is required to compete. La Mex Taqueria maintains status as one of the oldest “Sac-Town” taco trucks, and its owner approached Palmer Signs about decorating the truck to update it for a new generation of food-truck fans. Palmer said, “They wanted to maintain some original branding, but wanted a new presence at their usual spot in the city, as well as at special events.”

Using Photoshop, Lee and Palmer used the crest of La Mex’s old logo as a watermark over a stucco-texture, neon-green backdrop with an antique-finish, new logo. The shop printed the wrap with 3M Controltac air-release media that’s printed on a Mimaki JV-33 solvent-ink printer. 3M Scotchcal 8518 glossy topcoat, applied with a Royal Sovereign laminator, will keep the Technicolor truck vibrant.

THIRD PLACE (TIE)
Fabricator
Media1/Wrap This Ink!
Longwood, FL
(407) 331-6161
www.media1signs.com
Designer
Jason Wissig
Installers
Pete Dow
Joe Louree
Client
Vinnie and Sarah Olivieri
Selling Price
$5,500
Few childhood memories evoke more fondness than playing in a treehouse. The Oliveris sought to capture this sense of wonder with a wrap for their Tree House food truck, which serves burgers and cheesesteaks with numerous unique toppings. Wrap This Ink! began its work by sanding away the truck’s prior, handpainted mural to create a smooth, bare-metal finish. Dale Salamacha, the shop’s co-owner, said Wissig produced the shop’s largest graphic file on record – 4.6GB per side – because the design, produced with Adobe Creative Suite, incorporates hundreds of graphic layers onto the approximately 500 sq. ft. of printed material. Wrap This Ink! produced the graphics on 3M Controltac air-release media that’s printed on an HP DesignJet L25500 latex-ink printer. Applied with a GBC Arctic Titan II laminator, 3M’s Scotchcal 8518 gloss-finish topcoat will keep the Tree House rolling for years amidst the balmy Florida climate. To seamlessly remove graphic layers, installers used Knifeless Tech Systems’ knifeless tape. Wrap This! applied film with 3M V-CAT rollers, and the wrap seamlessly flows onto hinges, bumpers and other protruding parts.