The Longview Food Truck Website Checklist (HB 2844 Just Changed the Rules)
Key takeaways
- Texas HB 2844 opened up new operating ground for food trucks. More events, more cities, more chances to show up — if people can find you.
- An Instagram account is not a website. Eventually a customer wants to know if you’re parked tonight, and an algorithm shouldn’t be in the way.
- Your homepage needs to answer five questions in five seconds: what, where today, when, what’s on the menu, how to book.
- The single highest-ROI feature for a food truck site is a “Where are we today?” block you can update in 30 seconds from your phone.
Food trucks in East Texas are having a moment. The state passed HB 2844, which unlocks new operating terrain across cities and counties. There’s more festival, brewery, and corporate gig work showing up than ever. Which means there’s more competition than ever, too — and the trucks that figure out their website are eating everyone else’s lunch. (Sorry.)
So here’s the checklist. Quick, opinionated, no fluff.
1. Your homepage needs to answer five questions in five seconds
Someone lands on your site, usually on their phone, usually hungry. They want to know, in order:
- What kind of food are you? (“Smash burgers.” “Birria tacos.” “Vegan Cajun.”)
- Where are you parked today (or tonight)?
- When are you open?
- What’s on the menu?
- How do I book you for an event?
If any of those takes more than a tap to find, you’re losing customers to the truck whose site loads in two seconds and shows everything above the fold.
2. “Where are we today?” is the killer feature
This is the one block that, if done right, will outperform everything else on your site combined.
It should be:
- The first or second thing visible on the homepage.
- Updated from your phone in under 30 seconds.
- Showing today + the next 3–5 stops, with addresses and times.
- Linked to Google Maps for one-tap directions.
You don’t need a calendar plugin from 2014. A simple block of editable text works. The key is: you have to actually update it. Stale “where are we” sections are worse than no section at all.
3. Menu, with prices
I know. Prices change with food costs. You worry about being locked in. Here’s the truth: customers who don’t see prices assume the worst. They bounce.
Put the prices on the site. Update them when they change. If you can’t list every item, at least give a price range and a couple of signature dishes with exact numbers.
4. The “book us” page that actually books you
HB 2844 opened up event work. Weddings, breweries, corporate. The truck owners I know who are doing well right now make 30–50% of their revenue off booked events, not the parked-on-the-corner crowd.
Your booking page should have:
- Three event types with rough price ranges (private party / corporate / wedding).
- A short form — name, email, phone, event date, guest count, location. That’s it. Don’t ask 17 questions.
- Photos of the truck at an event, not stock photos of food.
- A response promise. “We reply within one business day” is fine. Just commit to something.
5. Google Business Profile, set up correctly
Yes, food trucks can have a Google Business Profile. Yes, you should. Set the address as your kitchen/commissary or your “home base” location. Set your service area to cover the cities you actually serve. Update your hours. Post your weekly location to GBP posts.
This is free, and trucks that do it well show up in “food truck near me” searches, which are exploding.
6. Photos that look like real food, not styled food
Counter-intuitive, but the highest-converting food photos for trucks are the ones that look exactly like what the customer is about to be handed. Drippy, messy, real. Stock photo perfection makes customers think you bought the photos because the real food doesn’t look as good.
The cheeseburger photo that’s slightly tilted, taken on a phone at a Longview brewery in golden-hour light, will sell more burgers than the studio shot.
7. Social proof, but specific
“Best tacos in Longview!” — meaningless. “We’ve been a regular at the Friday night Riverbottom Brewing crowd since 2024” — specific, true, builds trust. Mention the events you’ve worked. Drop the names of the breweries, venues, and recurring spots. East Texas is small enough that recognition matters.
8. Speed, because everyone’s on cellular
Your customers are looking you up while they’re driving, waiting in line, or sitting at a brewery. The Wi-Fi situation is iffy. Your site needs to load fast on a flaky signal.
That means: compress your photos. No bloated theme. No 14 plugins. Just a clean, fast site.
| What costs you bookings | What earns you bookings |
|---|---|
| Menu hidden in a PDF | Menu as text on the page, with prices |
| “Find us on Instagram” | Where we are today, on your site |
| 20-field event inquiry form | 5-field form with a response promise |
| Stock photos of food | Phone photos of your actual food |
| No Google Business Profile | GBP with weekly location posts |
Where people go wrong (and when to call a pro)
The most common food-truck site mistake is over-designing the front page and under-investing in the boring functional stuff — the location updater, the menu, the booking form. The site that books the most events is rarely the prettiest one. It’s the one where every question a hungry person or an event planner has is answered in two taps. If you’re spending more than an hour updating your “where are we” block each week, the site is built wrong and a quick rebuild usually pays for itself in the first month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really need a website? My Instagram does fine.
Instagram is great for awareness and pretty photos. It’s terrible for “is the truck at the brewery tonight?” because the algorithm decides who sees your post. A website is yours, instantly, every time. Use both — Instagram brings them in, the website closes the deal.
How much should a food truck website cost?
A clean, focused, fast site you can update yourself — somewhere in the low to mid four figures, one time. If someone’s quoting you tens of thousands for a food truck site, walk away.
What about online ordering?
Worth it for trucks that do a lot of business at a fixed location. Probably not worth the headache if you’re at a different spot every night. Start with bookings; add online ordering once your stops are predictable.
Should I use a website builder like Squarespace?
For a single-truck operation, yes — it’s a reasonable starting point. The trade-off is that you’ll outgrow the templates eventually, especially if you want a “location of the day” feature that updates fast. WordPress is more flexible long-term.
Running a truck in East Texas and want a site that actually books events? Let’s talk.