On the Move

October 16, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Tiffany Hsu

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

The food-truck revolution is moving indoors.

The owners of some of the most-successful trucks are using the knowledge, fame and bankability gained from operating their mobile eateries to start sit-down restaurants.

“To grow a restaurant from the ground up is impossible,” said Eric Tjahyadi, who with his brother, Erwin, and two other partners started the Komodo Truck with its Asian-influenced food two years ago.

That was in the middle of a recession, when it was tough to start any business, let alone one as notoriously vulnerable as a restaurant.

But the truck, which costs far less to operate than a bricks-and-mortar establishment, was a hit, racking up good reviews and, more important, devoted fans. In March, the Tjahyadi brothers opened their Komodo Cafe in the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles.

“The food truck,” Eric Tjahyadi said, “is an engine for validation.”

Probably the most-famous pioneer of the hip food-truck movement is Roy Choi, whose Kogi BBQ operation has gotten international attention. But back when he and his partners started rolling in 2008, the prospect of starting a restaurant seemed like a distant dream.

“We had $1,500, no job, a career of self-doubt and no one watching or caring what we did,” Choi said. “There is no way we could have gone a traditional route with all the bells and whistles.”

Choi has helped open two Los Angeles-area restaurants: A-Frame and Chego.

Other restaurants that used food trucks as springboards include Flying Pig Cafe in Little Tokyo, based on a truck with a pork-centric menu; Frysmith in Hollywood, known for its french-fry variations; the Gastronomico in Los Feliz, based on the Gastrobus truck; and White Rabbit Fusion Cafe in Canoga Park, which has a menu inspired by Filipino cuisine.

The cost of a used truck can be as little as about $20,000, but opening a small restaurant easily can cost $400,000, while larger eateries can run into the millions, said Tom Miner, a principal with research firm Technomic Inc.

Operating a truck also is relatively cheap. The owner couldn’t fit many workers into the vehicle even if he or she wanted to. Advertising, in the form of social media and word of mouth, often is free.

And even without a wait staff, a truck can serve a steady stream of customers who seemingly don’t mind long waits in line if the truck is popular.

One of Joe Kim’s primary aims in starting his Flying Pig truck was to test the menu before taking on the expense of a restaurant. He had planned to keep the rolling operation open only about six months when it started in 2009.

But the vehicle drew devoted followers, and its popularity even helped persuade potential landlords to sweeten property deals. Kim decided to keep the truck running and opened Flying Pig Cafe in July.

“Our ‘Plan A’ was the restaurant,” Kim said. “But in this economy, it would have been very difficult to get a crowd at the restaurant without having the truck first.”