Signs and flyers around campus direct people to food trucks, which have now returned to San Francisco State University after a long hiatus due to the pandemic. The trucks, which come on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and are parked near the Gymnasium Building, Cox Stadium and Thornton Hall, offer a new variety to the campus dining scene.
“I love that the food trucks are back,” said Alex Orr, manager of learning spaces for Academic Technology. “When you work in any place, you get burnt out on the food options, and it’s nice to have a choice.”
The food trucks started as an effort by the university to improve the on-campus dining experience in the northeastern part of campus in 2012.
“Food trucks were first brought to campus years ago in response to a request to have some food service in the area of campus near Hensill Hall and Thornton Hall,” said Chris Farmer, director of operations for the University Corporation. “There wasn’t any food and beverage options in that part of campus, so food trucks seemed like a good way to address the need and to bring some additional options to the campus community.”
According to Farmer, the decision to bring back the food trucks was made in Spring 2024.
“We’ve held off bringing the program back as we’ve wanted to support our on-campus partners first and to ensure their success,” Farmer said.
There are differences between the program before the pandemic and how it is currently.
“I did remember enjoying it when they used to come every day,” said Dennis Yu, a staff member for Housing, Dining, and Conference Services. “We just had a different truck each day. I just remember always looking at the website to see what will come each day.”
So why only Tuesdays and Wednesdays?
According to Farmer, they’re “the busiest days on campus each week with the most in-person classes scheduled and we wanted to be able to reach as much of the campus community as possible.”
Yu said that having food trucks on those days seems to be enough for now but would like to see them on other days if possible.
Additionally, the location has changed from its pre-pandemic spot due to the construction of the new Science and Engineering Innovation Center but Farmer assures the community that the new location is just as convenient.
“The prior location is no longer available due to the new science building’s footprint, so we identified a new location on the path between the gym and Cox Stadium,” Farmer said.
The food truck schedule is available online. The selection of food trucks changes every week and is based on a pool of vendors who have expressed interest in serving the SFSU community.
“We built a pool of trucks that were interested in coming to SF State over several years,” Farmer said. “Some trucks reached out to us and we reached out to some that we had heard of or had been given recommendations to contact to see if they were interested.”
Staff and students expressed their desire for a wider variety of food options on campus and the food trucks are seen as a step in the right direction, according to interviews conducted by Golden Gate Xpress.
“I think that’s really exciting. So it gives staff and also students the choice and variety of food choices to choose from and, and also at convenience, as well,” said Sugeetha Chelliah, a staff member in the College of Global and Professional Education. “I think they should have it every day, different food to try, different varieties.”
Adrien Dizon is a third-year molecular biology student who hopes to see more Asian and Mexican options on campus but praised the return of the trucks.
“I’m just glad that it gives more options to students on campus,” Dizon said.
Dizon hopes to see more than one food truck per day but liked that they were on campus on Tuesdays and Wednesdays since those are the days he’s here.
Orr shared a similar sentiment.
“If people are willing to do it, then great, I think we should let as many in as we can,” Orr said.
