MEET THE CHIFTA
The Chicago Food Truck Association believes that nothing brings people together quite like food on wheels. As an association of the best mobile vendors in Chicago, we are dedicated to curating top-end mobile food experiences that spark joy, foster social bonding, and inspire communities by providing delicious food.
Whether you’re looking to hire a gourmet food truck for your event or to facilitate a marketing promotion, we’re your turn-key service for any and all of your mobile culinary needs. With a team of creative minds and industry experts, we are driven to provide the best possible catering service for your next wedding, corporate event, private party, and more. We sweat the details, so you don’t have to.
why choose us
- The best eats on the streets - We’ve tried everything on the menu, which is why we can offer up to 50 different types of cuisines with the utmost confidence in our selection. From developing customized menus, to picking from our hand-selected vendors, we know good food.
- Experienced professionals - What do 200+ food truck catering events a year get you? The ability to both identify and prevent problems before they occur and fix those that arise unexpectedly. The Chicago Food Truck Association is a team of proactive problem solvers.
- Compliance and success - It’s more than just ensuring trucks show up on time. We handle all logistics from insurance paperwork to securing the proper permits, to managing a point of sales system.
- Premium vendors - we take pride in knowing that our members are properly insured and up-to-date on their health inspections, as well as personally vetted for food quality, cleanliness, reliability, and customer service. We are 100% committed to providing you the best of the best.
Our Brand
By partnering with local mobile vendors, The Chicago Food Truck Association helps to grow our members’ local businesses and to share their cuisine with people all over the greater Chicago area. Think of us as the middle-man: we bridge the gap, connect our vendors with business opportunities, and bring additional revenue streams through branded promotions. By taking different approaches, we are able to ensure that all of our members stay relevant, busy, and successful year-round. Our members are diverse culinary artists who operate throughout Chicago and are approved by the Department of Health. Our relationship with them is built on mutual trust and powered by our common love of both good food and good company. The Chicago Food Truck Association is community-driven, always aspiring to sustain high-quality food, enforce street safety, and enhance food truck experiences.
CHIFTA faq’s
The average food truck ranges between 18-24 ft. long and 8 ft. wide. Food carts and trailers range between 9-24. ft long and 5-7 ft. wide. Check out our members to view each vendor’s truck and/or cart dimensions listed on their member page.
Yes, CHIFTA only works with Chicago food trucks that have health permits, insurance, and have been issued an ‘A’ letter grade from the Chicago County Department of Public Health. Our members are personally vetted and carefully selected to ensure they meet the highest degree of food quality and hospitality. All certificates of insurance are kept on file and can be provided upon request.
Depending on your event, payment can be structured in one of two ways:
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- Private event buyout: Event host covers the cost of the catering and food trucks services directly, and there is no charge for the guests. Prices are estimated at a per-person and time-based rate.
- Private event sales: The hired food truck accepts cash and credit card sales on-site. There is typically a minimum sales guarantee required.
CHIFTA members will generally travel within the greater Chicago area,
depending on location
Food trucks come prepared to serve the number of people agreed upon in the contract. Depending on each truck’s storage capability, our members typically bring 10% more product to serve additional portions at an additional per person cost, which is specified at the time of booking.
We understand that unexpected things happen. If you need to reschedule your event date or time, we will make our best effort to accommodate your request. If you need to cancel your event, you are subject to our cancellation policy, which will be discussed upfront at the time of booking.
Many of our members have trucks and/or carts that can be powered by electric and operate indoors. Check out these members here.
Absolutely! CHIFTA can source as many vendors as needed for your event,
from a single cart to dozens of food trucks.
The minimum cost to produce a branded promotion is $15k, but pricing can vary depending on the scope of your project. Please fill out a form and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss your project in more detail.
CHIFTA will work with you to find the perfect parking spot or obtain the
necessary parking permit for your branded promotion.
Yes, we believe that brand ambassadors (BA’s) can help create genuine interactions and meaningful moments for consumers interacting through the promotion. We work with a great roster of brand ambassadors who are bubbly and love sharing their passion for your product. We can provide you with as many brand ambassadors as needed for your event. Our brand ambassadors are highly trained with the latest data capture programs, so that once the activation ends, you can harness the valuable data and insight that has been collected.
Every aspect of our branded activations are highly customizable. We handle everything from custom wraps, to interior/exterior fabrication, branded goods and packaging, and custom menus. Our in-house culinary team can create almost any food and beverage items imaginable for the tastiest interactive experience!
Typically about 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the activation, however, every project varies in scope of work and might require additional production time. We recommend filling out our Branded Promotions Form as soon as possible so a member of our team can discuss your project in more detail.
After finalizing which truck/cart would best suit your needs, our team will send you a template for your graphic designer to use when creating the graphics for your custom vinyl wrap. We are happy to design the wrap on your behalf, but additional fees will apply.
