Bhubaneswar, Nov. 2: A group of young entrepreneurs have taken street-food business to a whole new level by serving palate-tickling dishes straight out of stylish kitchens mounted on flashy trucks.

Food-on-wheels has rolled in here with Sushree Sangita Nanda, a 32-year-old MBA graduate from IIT Kharagpur, launching So Yummy four months ago.

With So Yummy, Nanda wanted to introduce the popular western concept of mobile food industry in the state.

"A number of my friends residing outside the country told me about the concept and I liked it. The concept of adding mobility to food business was a method adopted long back by our forefathers, but once style and innovation are added to the idea, it gets better and attractive. My attempt was to revive the tradition in a modern way," said Nanda.

So Yummy specialises in Chinese food made by trained chefs from Calcutta. She is planning to start another franchise of her mobile food van in Patia next year.

From offering fusion food to Mexican treats, these culinary ventures have a wide range of food on their menus.

Ananya Mohapatra, a 26-year-old IT professional, is a regular customer at Qdoba, the mobile food van serving Mexican dishes near Ram Mandir Square.

"I love their burrito and papadzules. The food they serve is not available anywhere else in the city. Moreover, the kitchen built inside the truck is clean," she said.

Qdoba was born after 27-year-old Arjun Nayak had enough of his corporate job in Mumbai and wanted to do something different.

"My elder brother and I are food lovers and wanted to give the people here a platter that is very different in taste. We had a limited budget, so a food truck was the best option for us. There are a number of food trucks serving Mexican food in Mumbai and taking a cue from that, we started Qdoba here," said Arjun.

Adore, a food truck parked at the KIIT Square, serve several items that are big hits with youngsters. If chicken cone -minced chicken mixed with sauces and served in an ice cream cone - sells like hot cakes, barbeque chicken topped with Chinese sauce is also very popular.

For 28-year-old BTech graduate Abhijeet Patnaik who started Adore a few months ago, the food truck was a stopgap arrangement till his restaurant took off. But, his key idea has now taken a backseat.

"Seeing the good response from food lovers, I am concentrating on running this business properly. With the city slowly becoming cosmopolitan, the food truck business will become a huge over the next two years," he said.

Young entrepreneurs are drawn to the truck model for many reasons, especially low investment and overhead costs.

The entire set up costs between Rs 1 lakh and 5 lakh depending on the design and equipment. The minimum amount required to start a restaurant or a food kiosk is Rs 8 lakh.

"One does not need to get into the hassle of acquiring several licences to start a business or bothering about things such as decorating an entire area. The only thing that need to be looked into is serving good food," says Sumit Routray, who started Food Factory in January.

He also plans to take the food truck culture to cities such as Cuttack and Puri next year.