Food Trucks Heaven

You can smell it as soon as you pull into the parking lot. The overwhelming aromas of chile-laden beef birria; fried rice with caramelized soy sauce; garlicky mashed plantains mounded into Puerto Rican mofongo; and so much more, emanating from over 50 food trucks in the parking lot of a Central Florida strip mall. For a curious eater, it’s heaven. Food Trucks Heaven.

Chuck Young came up with the idea for a large food-truck park when trying to figure out how to take advantage of Kissimmee, Florida’s warm climate and the parking spaces that opened up after his strip mall closed at night. He determined that he could comfortably provide space and electricity for some 50 vendors. Food Trucks Heaven opened in May of 2023. Now, there’s a waitlist for new vendors who want to sell their food in this culinary hub. 

With a fixed location, low overhead cost, and a consistently large and ravenous customer base, it’s a good deal for Central Florida’s entrepreneurial cooks.

It’s also a great situation for diners. Central Florida’s diversity is on full display on a bustling acre of asphalt. You can start a meal with a teardrop-shaped Brazilian coxinha fritter, feast on a Venezuelan burger for a main course, and finish with a cool, sweet cup of boba tea.

Though the menus span the whole planet, the majority come from Latin America. Sabor do Nordeste, a black truck with a decal of a green cartoon saguaro cactus wearing a black hat, features the myriad dishes of Brazil’s northeast. Regional specialties include escondidinho de mandioca com carne de sol, with mashed cassava and sun-dried beef; and baião de dois, a rice-and-beans dish. The truck also prepares acai bowls and Japanese-Brazilian fusion fare like deep-fried sushi rolls with cream cheese. 

Frutas los Chamacos, a truck painted like a giant Mexican flag, specializes in Mexican fruit juices, fruit cups, and mangonadas, a beguiling mango shaved-ice drink with mango chunks, chili-lime flavor, and the spicy-sweet-umami seasoning known as chamoy.

There’s an Italian pasta truck. A ramen truck. A coffee truck and a gelato truck. A truck dedicated to Caracas-style hot dogs. There’s a different option for almost every week of the year.

On a typical night, upwards of 300 parking spots outside of Food Trucks Heaven are filled with customers. Families drift between vendors and sit next to them on picnic tables, or in the sheltered area inside the strip mall.

If choosing what to eat isn’t enough to keep you busy, the space hosts events almost every weekend, often with live music. Customers can take a break from their meat skewers or tacos to belt out their favorite tunes on karaoke night, or get moving with friends during the Summer Dance Party.

“We have, like, a party atmosphere,” Young said. “It’s [a] happy place.” A little patch of food truck heaven in Central Florida.