It’s a sign of Lebo spring as reliable as the blooming of Bird Park. The food trucks are back, bringing anything from arepas (Cilantro y Ajo) to fattoush (Hummus Pittsburgh) to “Korean Korn Dogs” (The Boonseek), practically to your doorstep, at least if you live in Mission Hills, Sunset Hills or on Serpentine Drive, though other neighborhoods may soon follow.

At this point, food trucks are more than a fad. They’re here to stay – there are more than 100 in Allegheny County alone. The initial investment is small, compared with getting a brick-and-mortar restaurant up and running. They’re nimble, able to raise the window in Oakmont one day and Whitehall the next. And they offer an affordable taste of street food from around the world.

The history of the food truck can be traced back to long before rubber hit the road. Think of the chuck wagon, a horse-drawn kitchen that fed hungry cowboys on western cattle drives in the mid-nineteenth century. Over the following hundred years, the covered wagons were replaced by motor vehicles, found mostly in urban areas. (A July 1928 classified ad for Pinkerton Motors on the North Side listed a 1925 Ford “tea and coffee truck” for sale.)

By mid-century, food trucks were common at construction sites. Some earned the unfortunate nickname of “roach coach.” The Red Cross dispatched trucks to disaster areas. In 1981, Lunch Wagon Girls, a Porky’s style comedy starring several Playboy Playmates, was the highest-grossing independent film of that year.

But the modern era began with the 2008 recession, when a couple of Los Angeles entrepreneurs created Kogi Korean BBQ, a roving truck serving Korean/Mexican barbecue fusion foods. They took advantage of nascent social media to post their schedule on Twitter and Facebook, and hungry fans followed.

Years later, as is our wont, food trucks arrived in Pittsburgh. As of 2013, there were a handful of them. Franktuary and PGH Taco Truck helped pave the way. In 2015, city regulations were loosened, and the truck rush was on. According to the website Roaming Eater, as of 2025, there are 165 food trucks, carts and popups in Allegheny and surrounding counties.

Mt. Lebanon neighbors started inviting food trucks to their streets in 2020, the pandemic year when dining out was not an option and few of us saw our neighbors. Tom Richards, who helps corral the trucks for Serpentine Drive, said it started when a neighbor, Sue Cain, invited Hibachi Lou to set up shop for her daughter’s birthday. He and Cain polled neighbors on the Serpentine Drive Facebook page; finding sufficient interest, they welcomed Hibachi Lou back the day before Thanksgiving of 2020. By 2021, they had lined up a season’s worth of Food Truck Thursdays. They’ve been doing it almost every week, May through November, ever since. The only exception is the week of July 4, when attendance has been low.

“Popular favorites are lined up for this year, Richards said, including Yovi’s Hot Dogs and Cousins Maine Lobster. New additions include Vitalia Wood Fired Oven.

The Mt. Lebanon School District brings a food truck to the high school parking lot on Thursday afternoons through the summer, beginning June 12. Follow their schedule at mtlsd.net/foodtrucks2025/home.

Meghan Cox, who organized the food truck schedule for Mission Hills for four years, understands the art of booking trucks: researching what’s out there, working with neighborhood needs and truck availability, sometimes finding a substitute truck if the scheduled one can’t make it, and other duties. And sometimes folks just don’t like the food. (Richards has a sad story about overly spicy food truck spaghetti.) But Cox said she never has to worry about booking Hummus Pittsburgh.

“I would say they’re top three in the neighborhood,” Cox said. “They have variety and value with friendly service. They really value the community and it shows.”

As it happens, Hummus Pittsburgh’s community is Cox’s community. The Middle Eastern food truck, along with Chicks n’ Waffles and Big Lou’s, are all owned and operated by the Latef family, who moved to Mt. Lebanon in 2018, after leaving Iraq for San Diego in 2008. (There was a brief stop in Erie, said daughter Lena, Mt. Lebanon High School Class of 2023 and currently a Pitt student. “But we decided we were city people.”)

“My dad’s been in the food industry for many years,” Lena said, adding that her mom’s “an absolute genius in the kitchen.”

The Hummus Pittsburgh menu includes falafel, baba ganoush, stuffed grape leaves and gyros, both chicken and the classic beef and lamb combination.

“People love to see the meat on the spit,” Lena noted. The neighborhood events are especially enjoyable: “People are always down to try new things. They always ask questions. Some kids try hummus for the first time.”

Business is booming, said family patriarch Louie Latef. “It’s truly become a passion,” he said. “We love traveling to events and being part of people’s special occasions.”

Louie agreed with Lena that Mt. Lebanon food truck nights are some of the family’s favorites.

“When we’ve done neighborhood dinners in Mission Hills and Sunset Hills, we like to share that we are Lebo residents. Clients love it and make it a point to always reach out and support us.”

Scheduling the trucks “is definitely a team effort,” Richards said. “We try to get as much diversity as we can.” Most trucks visit twice over the season, which is set to end December 4. Updated information can be found on the Serpentine Food Trucks Facebook page.

The always-reliable Hibachi Lou was also the debut food truck in Sunset Hills, back in November 2020. Since then, Food Truck Fridays have become a warm weather tradition. Cassondra Glevicky has been the organizer since the start.

“I’m always searching for new trucks to add to our rotating lineup,” Glevicky said. They’ve also had a couple of double-truck days: a clothing boutique on wheels once, and a live plant truck another time.

This year’s lineup is posted on the private Sunset Hills Mt. Lebanon Facebook page. Trucks include Franken-fried, serving up smash burgers and fries, on June 27 and September 26, and Billy’s Carolina Food Company on July 18 and October 10. Cousins Maine Lobster closes out the season on Monday, November 17.

Mission Hills organizers hope this is the year they land the Cousins truck. It’s in high demand, and it’s always been “just out of reach for us,” said Cox.

Like Richards, the 2020 pandemic was an inspiration for Cox: “Having to make dinner every night took on a whole new meaning.” By the following year, food trucks were setting up every other Tuesday at Parkway and Orchard drives, by the neighborhood greenspace known as Peace Park.

“It’s always great to see people there,” Cox noted. “You’ll see strollers and bikes and kids playing. Some people will invite their friends over.”