Inside Paisani: 140 Chicken Sandwiches in Two Hours From a Boston Food Truck

Paisani is a food truck in Boston that does one thing: chicken cutlet sandwiches. Chicken parm, vodka sauce, buffalo, and an Italian with chicken instead of cold cuts. On a good day at Dewey Square, owner Ryan and his team sell 120 to 140 of them in two hours.

This isn't a pizza shop. I went anyway, because a lot of owners watching are thinking about a truck or a trailer before they ever sign a lease. And the way Ryan runs a tiny menu at high volume applies to any counter.

The numbers

• 120 to 140 sandwiches in two hours on a busy spring day, about 100 on a normal one
• 11:30 to 1:30: the whole lunch window. After that the offices empty out
• 45 seconds to a minute per sandwich to keep the line moving
• $20 a sandwich
• 5 sandwiches on the menu, plus one seasonal
• 50 to 60% of this year's customers were regulars

8 to 9% of sales off the top at one of their spots, in a business where good operators keep 8 to 11%

They planned a big menu and ended up a cutlet truck

When they started, the idea was pasta, maybe pizza out of the oven. Within about two weeks they figured out people wanted cutlets. So that became the whole brand.

Ryan said he couldn't sleep at night with 20 sandwiches on the menu. Every item you add is one more thing your people have to make exactly the same way, every time. Five items is hard enough.

If you've got 60 things on your menu, ask yourself how many of them your weekend closer can make right.

Why people pay $20 for a sandwich

People think a food truck should be cheaper. Ryan's paying three or four people to sit in an hour and a half of traffic every day before they sell a thing. Customers who've had the sandwich pay it without blinking. It's huge, it's the same every time, and over half his business this year came from regulars who follow the truck around the city.

The people who complain about the price are usually the ones who haven't eaten it.

The spot takes a cut

Some locations charge a flat daily fee plus a percentage of sales. That's a big chunk in a business with thin margins. I told Ryan I hate percentage deals. Give me a number, and if it's worth it I'll pay it. He pushed back a little: the Greenway puts him in a prime spot and connects him to outside work, so the relationship pays off in other ways.

Same lesson for a pizza shop looking at a landlord deal or a delivery partner. Run the percentage at your best week, not your average one, and decide if what you get back is worth it.

Catering keeps the business going

Some days the truck skips its regular spot to do a catering job. Ryan doesn't love leaving his regulars, but catering is guaranteed money. He knows the labor, knows exactly how much bread to order, and there's no waste. They keep catering simple too: set packages built from what they already make every day.

What a pizza owner can steal

• Figure out what people actually come for and build around it. Paisani found out in two weeks.
• Keep the menu small enough that every item comes out the same no matter who's on the line.
• Don't apologize for your price if the product earns it. Regulars are the proof.
• Read the fine print on any deal that takes a percentage of sales.
• Push catering. It's the most predictable money in the business.

The sandwich

I went with the vodka sauce chicken. They put sauce on the bottom and the top so the middle pieces stay crispy, and they don't hold back on the chicken. I'll say it: I like chicken sandwiches better than cheesesteaks.

You can find Paisani at Dewey Square in Boston on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and around the city the rest of the week. Check their Instagram for the schedule, and get there right at 11:30.

If you want to talk through this stuff with other owners, that's what SPM PRO is for.