Moscow's Grub Truck Twitches Online
On Friday night a sizeable crowd gathers downtown outside one of Moscow’s longstanding watering holes. Laughter spills into nearby Friendship Square as the raucous crowd waits around a big yellow truck with a Neanderthal emblazoned on the side. A purveyor of late-night meals since 2013, Grub Truck Wandering Kitchen consistently feeds the Palouse with an assortment of mac and cheese, tacos and burritos to sop up the college crowd’s whiskey sodas.
Their offerings range from a “Death by Garlic” mac and cheese to pork carnitas tacos topped with a limey slaw and cilantro. The kitchen preps their food earlier in the day in a rented kitchen space, making the cheese sauce, the mac flavorings, the taco fillings and nearly everything from scratch. It’s not Michelin-rated, but it’s fresh, fast and cheap: three things that appeal to everyone looking for a late-night snack.
Yet, what makes Grub Truck unique is not their creative mac combinations; it’s owner John Fletcher’s innovative use of technology and Twitch. For those not familiar with the service, Twitch is an online streaming platform for digital videos. Twitch initially gained popularity with gamers but now hosts over 2 million unique streamers each month with varied interests in music, arts, lifestyle, talk shows, cosplay and, of course, food.
Enter, Grub Truck.
Last spring, Fletcher, having a long history of restaurant experience, started getting bored with the routine of the Grub Truck. He wanted to expand and grow the business, but wasn’t sure in which direction. A new hire mentioned that his roommate made a decent amount of money as a content streamer on Twitch. John didn’t know much about the platform, but quickly learned about Twitch’s “IRL” section. IRL, or In Real Life, contains folks broadcasting everything from exercise to book discussions to travel vlogs—even an eating and drinking channel where people share their experiences with food. You name it, IRL has it.
Without delay Fletcher mounted two cameras inside his truck to film his crew and two cameras outside to stream customer interactions. The experiment began. He wasn’t sure initially who—if anyone—would watch.
At the start, Grub Truck’s Twitch captured an average of 20 viewers a night. Word spread. Six months later, they were engaging 140 viewers per night, and today, an average of 250.
The channel has been a huge hit with customers and the Grub Truck staff. Viewers from around the world can donate money to employees in the form of tips, or to customers in the form of paid meals. The crew loves it. “We have almost no turnover,” says Fletcher, an impressive feat for college town food service. Split between the team, each employee typically clears an extra $5/hour in tips in addition to in-person gratuities. An interactive chat connects viewers to the customers waiting outside.
“I can’t speak to the psychology of it,” says Fletcher, but he notes that hungry patrons are happy to sing a song or do a dance in exchange for a viewer-purchased burrito.
In an average month, viewers donate roughly $1,000 to Grub Truck’s Twitch, either via Bitcoin or PayPal. At an estimated $7 per meal, that’s nearly 142 free burritos a month. Fletcher says he’s definitely seen an uptick in business since entering the digital world. The platform, a favorite of college kids, brings students from nearby Washington State University over the Idaho border to participate in the spectacle and eat giant servings of truffle mushroom mac.
Fletcher mans the cash register and interactive chat while the crew prepares food and exchanges witty banter back and forth. On a recent night, the chat ranges from how favorite teams are doing in the playoffs to the importance of beard nets, peppered with plenty of emojis and sarcasm. One user laments that the Grub Truck isn’t in Portland, while another user expresses the same sentiment about New York City. A handful of viewers pop in the chat asking where Grub Truck is located. “Moscow, Idaho,” says John aloud. The viewers interact with the staff, the customers, and back and forth with each other. A user with the handle BaileyEagle says “You guys are so relaxing to watch. I watch yall whole [sic] falling asleep.” CheetoDustSniffer chimes in with, “I think it’s awesome how the. people who work at the truck seem like a family. I remember some of the old employees swing by like alumni … or is the grub truck more of a cult? Hmm.”
It seems a strange concept, but in our increasingly digital world filled with Food Network reality shows, why not pair a food truck with technology? It almost seems natural— like mac and cheese.
Watch archived videos or catch Grub Truck’s live stream Friday and Saturday nights.
