Sat Oct 10 08:59:00 -0400 2009

Reuters (Los Angeles)

- Every Thursday night, Lonnie Bishop and Lisa Case have a dinner date. For $5 each, the couple dines on fancy hot dogs served from a food truck parked outside their favorite wine shop in Los Angeles.

With the economic downturn, restaurateurs have struggled to find funding to open full-scale restaurants, said Tom Forte, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group in New York City. The cost of setting up an eatery on wheels is a fraction of what’s needed to open a sit-down restaurant, Forte said, noting it takes $900,000 to open a Chipotle Mexican Grill.

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