Wednesday Treats Truck Line is Out of Control; Help May Be on the Way Soon

I decided to stop by the Treats Truck yesterday after hearing rumors that the Wednesday lines have gotten crazy on 45th & 6th. Sure enough the line was down the block, and that was at 2:30!  I don’t even want to know what it’s like during peak lunch time.  That corner is easily owner Kim Ima’s most popular spot, and she used to park there twice a week, but now that it’s summertime, and the ice cream trucks are back she is only “allowed” to park in that spot once a week (competition among carts in Midtown is fierce, and there is a lot of politics and jockeying for position between the carts.)

You may remember the Treats Truck only started parking in that space regularly last winter, when the ice cream truck that has occupied that spot for years went into “hibernation.”  Clearly he’s back (it’s freakin hot out), which is why Sugar is only there once a week now- but I have a great idea to get the Treats Truck more days on 45th & 6th, and hopefully make the lines shorter… 

I say Kim should cut a deal to make an Ice Cream/Treats Truck ice cream sandwich!  Buy two cookies at the TT, take them over to the ice cream man and let him do the rest.  He makes money from selling more ice cream, the Treats Truck gets to park on that super popular corner more than once a week, and we get ice cream sandwiches!  Everybody wins… hopefully a deal can be cut in time for us to benefit from the 2nd Treats Truck (which I hear may hit the town sometime next week.)

In the meantime, if you don’t want to bear the Wednesday lines, order your treats in advance (they’ll do large boxes for offices too, so you can get your work to pay for them!) or try going to the Tuesday/Thursday spot on 38th and 5th.  The line can still get long, but it’s not nearly as bad as the 45th St. line. 

Oh- and one more thing.  It was Sugar the truck’s birthday on Monday, and to celebrate they’re serving a special edition chocolate frosted truck shaped cookie.  Man time flies when you’re stuffing your face with cookies… 

17 Comments

  • Zach, you are a genius.

  • @ Cait – Not a genius. Just trying to bring people together… and by “people” I mean my mouth and an ice cream sandwich.

  • I never understood why the line moves so slowly! It seems so simple: cookie, money, go.

    Is it that people haven’t decided what they want by time they get to the front of the line, or is Kim just so friendly that she chats with each customer for a while?!

    Regardless, great idea for combining two delicious truck treats, Zach!

  • DocChuck always gets a nutty buddy (if such things fascinate you) and he generally prefers to buy from trucks manned by largish asian women. *twitch* However, He does not like the nuts on this treat, and so he always has me bite his nuts off. His blow-up doll, which he refers to as “Elizabeth” (and sometimes “Mommy” or “Mama”) prefers Push-Ups due to how the shape conforms to her mouth.

  • I’m famous! Thanks for posting that great photo of me and my co-workers waiting for our treats!

  • I hate to be a cynical New Yorker but if Kim was a little less friendly and a lot more efficient she could fly through the line. Plus if the people in line would think about what they want while waiting rather than hemming and hawing once they get to the front, that would help too – you’re buying a cookie, not a Park Ave. apartment.

  • Question for Midtownlunch.com readers: I was at the Treats Truck yesterday and the line was relatively short (3 people in front of me). And I wasn’t standing directly behind the last person on line. But in direct proximity. And yes, I was spacing out thinking about what to get, etc. And so this man wedges between me and gets right behind the person, essentially cutting me. I didn’t say anything because it seemed kind of silly to make a stink and say, “Hey, I’m on line for the Treats Truck.” But should I have? Or because I wasn’t right behind the other guy, was my place in line was questionable?

  • I went yesterday around 2:15 and the line was 20 deep. The line goes so slowly because Ms. Ima is the only person working the truck soup to nuts, from serving the customers to handling change. She needs some help!

    @applekim: I would have gived that cutter a piece of my mind and a piece of my fist. You gotta fight for your space on the treats truck line!!!!!!

  • applekim you should totally speak up! He knew what he was doing! that kind of behavior could get someone cut! no cutting the line when waiting for cookies! That shit is important! I have noticed the TT line moves real slow and it is *totally* bc people get up to order and can’t decide. Now when I’m waiting in line that annoys me, but inevitably I get to the front and suddenly I’m like “wait! no! Actually! I want…. no! I really want… Argh! Everything!”

  • ps I’ll let you guys know if skinny hipsters behave any differently at the Treats Truck at the Renegade Craft Fair this weekend….

  • It’s not that Kim’s talking to them, it’s that people are buying for the whole office. Now, I’d love to be on the receiving end of that, but peeps, if you’re buying more than a dozen, do a call ahead! If they don’t stop that nonsense, Brownie and I will not be able to eat soo many treats and that’s a lose-lose situation.

  • Girlie Food.

    Taser the queue jumpers ladies,pretend it’s a Blahnik sale.

  • Without Kim’s friendly chit-chat and the proferred tray of samples, there wouldn’t be any line. $1.25 for a teensy, perfectly ordinary homestyle cookie? It’s good stuff, but ain’t no way that business would work without force of personality and a good head for marketing.

  • THIS IS NYC PEOPLE!!!!!!! I often find that my biggest issue in trying to get lunch or anything else done outside of the office is the fact that this city is crammed full of commuters who can’t make a decision to save their lives and never seem to care how many people they inconvenience. It really only takes a few, but they always seem to get the most premium spots to cause a backup everywhere you go. I have decided to hand out “‘tard cards” to all offenders everywhere. That having been said… I hope someone will visit me in the hospital after I start this new venture. ;P

  • “I often find that my biggest issue”

    Silly me, here I thought it would be debating whether to pull your head out of your ass before eliminating.

    No worries. almost everyone has potential:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsBvMvHk1BE

  • I have seen the lines at the treat truck, but I would like to know whats the stink about those treats….Can anyone suggest something I would like to sample them but I dont know what to buy…..

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