When it comes to the variety and convenience of food truck fare, Eric Weiner wants to be the go-to guy.
Weiner finished the final leg of a national food truck tour this week, with that goal in mind. His trip took him up and down the eastern seaboard, his last stop being Hartford.
While it sounds like a foodie's dream, the purpose of Weiner's journey went far beyond indulging in the best restaurants on wheels have to offer -- he's working to bring those trucks to growling bellies across the nation.
His trip allowed him to build an interactive database of food trucks in the U.S. -- a website called FoodTrucksIn.com that will not only calculate your location and the food trucks nearby, but it will also allow you to plan trips around food trucks by finding far away vendors and events.
The idea for FoodTrucksIn sprouted out of necessity, said Weiner, while enjoying a sandwich from Hartford's "Toasted" truck.
According to Weiner, he became aware of a lack of tools available for vendors to connect with potential customers. Some cities have incomplete food-truck maps, and many vendors have taken to Twitter to announce their daily locations and specials, but both tools leave many in the dark.
Accordingly, FoodTrucksIn.com dispatched six individuals to canvass the nation over a three week span. The result: a database of over 3,709 vendors.
The database provides trucks with a free listing and the opportunity to subscribe to a check-in service, allowing the website's users to see which trucks are present on any given day.
Weiner said the site is in the final stages of construction and he hopes to reach full functionality within three weeks.
Weiner visited trucks in New Haven and Hartford before returning to his native Providence, Rhode Island.
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