Has anyone tried the Wonder Truck?
MsSumida said:
supposedly WO is not included, yet I see trucks in town all the time.
Not yet but the Council is considering it. April 26th is the next Council meeting:
susan1014 said:
I put the app on my phone last night, and expect we'll give it a try. I also suspect that the prices will rise as the venture capital gets used up (like the Uber model). The prices for many of the offerings look a bit too good to be true, so they may build business by undercutting local takeout/delivery. On the flip side, the menus are very short, presumably to optimize storage and finishing in a small truck, and to keep things cost efficient.
However, to me this looks like a possible Webvan problem, of building far too much infrastructure for the amount of profit to be made. Anyone remember Webvan? Ran through a billion or so in VC trying to build their own grocery/dry-cleaning/shoe-repair delivery infrastructure rather than working through a grocery chain.
We still use Webvan bags for drycleaning and their plastic bins for storage, and still use the key lockbox that they installed on our garage...
I take it back... the more I've researched Wonder, the less likely I am to try them. Having a truck idling / running a generator in front of my house for 15-30 minutes for each order seems like something my street doesn't need. I also fear that, if they succeed, it will be as another category killer, like Amazon. I'm going to try to keep my food purchasing more local.
I do have to say our air fryer has changed our takeout experience somewhat. Lots of takeout items don’t reheat well in a microwave … they get soggy or rubbery. A couple of minutes in the Hot Air Fryer (Hot AF) warms things up nicely without overcooking or making stuff soggy.
I agree I’m unlikely to try this, unless they come up with an electric fleet that can avoid local emissions while parked out front.
mrincredible said:
I do have to say our air fryer has changed our takeout experience somewhat. Lots of takeout items don’t reheat well in a microwave … they get soggy or rubbery. A couple of minutes in the Hot Air Fryer (Hot AF) warms things up nicely without overcooking or making stuff soggy.
I agree I’m unlikely to try this, unless they come up with an electric fleet that can avoid local emissions while parked out front.
Isn't there a municipal ordinance against idling a vehicle that long? At least in Maplewood? Did they get an exemption of some sort? Also curious about the liquor license issue as mentioned above.
HatsOff said:
…I find the whole concept strange and it doesn't appeal to me, but whatever, I don't need to order from them. But the environmental side of it isn't great unless there is some twist I'm not seeing.
Yeah, just seems like yet another concession to work-life imbalance.
But, to each his/her/their own.
jamie said:
I caught a little discussion on this online - anyone have a summary? Is there some question as to how these guys can sell alcohol? Did they figure out a loophole?
They have a physical location in Cranford and bought a liquor license there.
This allows them to serve alcohol in other town, apparently.
yahooyahoo said:
They have a physical location in Cranford and bought a liquor license there.
This allows them to serve alcohol in other town, apparently.
I think they must be taking advantage of the current temporary legislation allowing to-go alcohol in NJ. There is a bill in the works to make it permanent so I guess they’re waiting to see how that rolls out.
mrincredible said:
I think they must be taking advantage of the current temporary legislation allowing to-go alcohol in NJ. There is a bill in the works to make it permanent so I guess they’re waiting to see how that rolls out.
That would be an enormous loophole. Have one license and then just set up trucks in parking lots wherever you want?
Any technically they may not be violating idling laws… just using generators while parked on our streets, which has more or less the same impact.
There is an article on Westfield TAP that answers a lot of the questions posed in this chat, but I was not successful in linking it. (The description of how the food is prepared gave me an immediate flashback to when frozen Stouffer’s involved a boil-in-a-bag method.)
Heynj said:
There is an article on Westfield TAP that answers a lot of the questions posed in this chat, but I was not successful in linking it. (The description of how the food is prepared gave me an immediate flashback to when frozen Stouffer’s involved a boil-in-a-bag method.)
Was it this one:
Interesting line they have to walk. Is it a delivery service or a food truck/mobile kitchen? It sounds like they’d like to be regulated as the former, but market themselves as the latter.
It's not 20 minutes. It's like an hour. We had that thing outside our house on a beautiful spring evening last night. It's a double length sprinter van with a generator the size of a refrigerator parked at the end of our driveway idling… Both engine and generator… For a full hour. We thought it was some sort of lost city transit bus and went out to find out what the thing was. It's loud AF. It's an awful idea. It's literally peak gilded age entitled environmental hostility on wheels. I can't think of something more selfish than running a bus and 50 amp generator in a sprinter truck to make a personal meal for two. This thing needs to go away and go away soon and go away forever.
I could not agree more. Just another way for rich people to do environmental damage.
mattpeyton said:
It's not 20 minutes. It's like an hour. We had that thing outside our house on a beautiful spring evening last night. It's a double length sprinter van with a generator the size of a refrigerator parked at the end of our driveway idling… Both engine and generator… For a full hour. We thought it was some sort of lost city transit bus and went out to find out what the thing was. It's loud AF. It's an awful idea. It's literally peak gilded age entitled environmental hostility on wheels. I can't think of something more selfish than running a bus and 50 amp generator in a sprinter truck to make a personal meal for two. This thing needs to go away and go away soon and go away forever.
good rant!
I saw my first Wonder Truck in action yesterday evening. It was parked in Maplewood and the generator was running and it was not quiet.
I don't see how this company can survive based on the current business model. It seems like a large amount of cost & resources to deliver hot meal for a few people. My guess is that many towns will start to respond with ordinances restricting their activity.
I passed another Wonder Truck recently and stopped to listen. The engine was running as well as the generator for the kitchen.
They're providing a free lunch to my squad and the SO first aid squad on Thursday. Was not tempted to pay for it but I'll take a freebie. I'll let you know how it is.
I can't confirm, but,....the only thing I know for sure is a Wonder truck caught fire in Cranford about a week ago. Someone claimed there was a driver and chef aboard who were playing some adult games and not paying attention to the food.
Somewhere I read, food is prepped in their base location, and only warmed through convection cooking on site.
I found an older article about the company. It’s on Medium, apparently you get up to three free article views there.
jmitw said:
I can't confirm, but,....the only thing I know for sure is a Wonder truck caught fire in Cranford about a week ago. Someone claimed there was a driver and chef aboard who were playing some adult games and not paying attention to the food.
Somewhere I read, food is prepped in their base location, and only warmed through convection cooking on site.
playing adult games. What games? Hide the salam.. aww forget it.
The food is really good! I tried it once about a week ago and I would order again.
DanDietrich said:
How long were they at your house?
About 20-30ft by my reckoning.
DanDietrich said:
How long were they at your house?
About 10 mins. I only ordered 1 dish to try it out.
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I caught a little discussion on this online - anyone have a summary? Is there some question as to how these guys can sell alcohol? Did they figure out a loophole?