Like many new trends and fads, the food truck craze began in the west, California to be exact. What started in the late 1900’s has become the biggest trend in food over the course of the past five years.

“Food trucks experienced a boom just as the economy started to tank. Restaurateurs who were hesitant to drop serious cash on launching a restaurant turned to mobile trucks as a less expensive way to sell food in a down economy,” said Moe Min, of The Huffington Post.

Food trucks can be found nearly any place across the United States. With a simple search on Google or even Yelp, you can find a food truck for just about anything. Ice cream, donuts, tacos, pizza, burgers, grilled cheese, frozen yogurt, waffles, you name it.

Many food truck businesses have social media accounts for their small business that tell of their locations for the week – many of which involve some sort of “round up”.

“Social media has played a large role in not only making the trucks more accessible, but allowing them to cultivate the crucial element of community,” said Min.

A round up is much like a get-together, but for all those in the food truck industry in one common area. For example, the city of Chicago formally announced a rally that would bring a roundup of all local food trucks in the Chicago area to Daley Plaza on a specific day of the week.

Some of the food trucks in the area that participate in the roundups are Toasty Cheese –  an artisan grilled cheese truck, Beavers Donuts – a donut truck, and Milt’s BBQ Truck.

“Consumers have wearied of giant chains but still demand food that is novel, inexpensive and fast, food trucks are the new incubators of culinary innovation,” said Jonathan Gold of Smithsonian Magazine.

Many think that food trucks are here to stay, due to the fact that they are quite literally meals on wheels.

If one location seems to lack business, the food truck can quite simply relocate to a busier location. As soon as the news spreads of the truck, the business grows in each and every location.

There are currently over 100 active food trucks in the Chicagoland area. There are multiple apps that track where all of your favorite food trucks are for the day.

Not only are there tracking apps, but you can follow most of your favorites on Twitter and Instagram to track their locations for the week.