Chowspotter: use this tool to find food trucks all over Philly

Thanks to a few Philadelphians’ side projects, we’ve got a taco finder, a beer finder and now, a food truck finder. Meet Chowspotter.

Find food trucks HERE.

Created by software developer Joe Krill and designed by Lindsay Argenziano, Chowspotter maps roving food trucks and aggregates their schedules so you don’t have to sift through Twitter to find them.

Krill’s not even a food truck enthusiast, as the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, he’s just into playing with new tech tools and challenging himself to stay current in the field, which he says can be hard when you work a corporate 9-5 job (Krill works at a local financial services firm).

The project took Krill about six months. Currently, he collects all the food truck schedules manually but is working on a way to automate the data collection. It’s been tricky, though, he says. Another potentially tricky aspect of the tool is food truck vendor engagement. Krill says he’d love to get the vendors directly involved with Chowspotter but knows it’s tough because they’re so busy.

He says he’s considering monetizing the tool but isn’t sure yet how he’d do it, adding that he didn’t start the project thinking he’d make any money off of it.

As for new features, Krill says the possibilities are endless: “I think it would be cool if people could set favorite vendors, then get notified when they are nearby. Mobile apps. Ratings. Reviews. Menus. Support for events (Night Markets, Popups, etc). Verified schedules. More interactive maps. More tools for vendors (let them alter their own schedules, or embed them on their own site),” he wrote to Technically Philly in an email.

Also check out Chowspotter on Foobooz.