Food truck season is coming to a close in the Quad Cities. 

Wednesday was the last night for one of those events: Eat the Streets.  

Dozens showed up under Davenport’s Skybridge.

“No, never, never. I never thought it was going to be such a boom,” says Martin Garcia, La Flama restaurant and food truck owner.  

Garcia was one of the first food truck owners in Davenport. 

That was hundreds of tortilla bags and thousands of customers ago. 

The city started toying with the idea a few years ago, making it a reality last spring. 

“It became a trend and then after that trend it got established the fact that people like it; people like the service, people like the quick bite,” Garcia says.  

Since then, Garcia says his business has nearly doubled.

“It’s like another restaurant, like I have another unit, but instead of customers coming to us I go to them,” he says.  

And events like Eat the Streets have also gone from hundreds to thousands. 

“This year we’ve had a couple that we’re just like, ‘We have no idea where to put all these people,'” says Russell Maidlow, Eat the Streets organizer.

Maidlow started the event last year with just two food trucks, but he saw the demand right away. 

“Absolutely murdered them on the first day. I think they both sold out in about an hour and a half and it’s just kind of grown from there,” he says.  

Garcia is a first timer at Eat the Streets this year, but says the Quad Cities’ food truck industry has gone beyond the streets. 

“Private events will contact us or companies for picnics,” he says.

“And now it’s just sometimes a little too crazy.”

Garcia says the growth over the past few years is an indication that there’s plenty more tostadas, tacos and nachos on wheels to come.

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