Food truck parks are increasingly popular, drawing tourists and locals alike to their open-air hubs with a variety of dining options. Southwest Florida is home to quite a few.

A ribbon-cutting this month celebrated the opening of the most recent local food truck park, Slipaway in Cape Coral. Julia Miller came by boat to one of the park’s docks. She explains the appeal.

"We live a little bit further north in Cape Coral, so it's only about a 10 minute boat ride. So it was very easy, very quick, and it's very easy docking, and it's one of our favorite restaurants now."

Elizabeth Kohn of Naples was recently a first-timer at Backyard Social in south Lee County. She was meeting a friend for lunch.

"I've been to Celebration Park [in Naples] quite a bit, and this is bigger and better, so we thought we'd come check it out." Celebration Park is closed for the month of September, so Kohn and her friend, Sofia Scalvini, met a little farther north.

Some people, like Missy Knight of Cleveland, Ohio, find Backyard Social a great stop before going to Southwest Florida International Airport.

"We're visiting Fort Myers Beach. We stayed here this week, and we're waiting for a flight to come in, so we stopped by here for a bite to eat and just chill and relax and maybe pick up some rays, because been a little cloudy, but today the sun's poking out, so it's nice to kind of just relax here before we go to the airport," she said.

For others, the food isn’t the only draw. Gary Hatton of Estero brought visiting family members and they were playing darts.

"My son's here from California, so [it's] just a place to hang out for the afternoon,"
Hatton said.

According to the market research firm WifiTalents, as of 2023, there were 4,000 food trucks operating in the United States. The top three states for food truck operations are California, Texas and Florida.