NEW YORK - Red Hook Lobster Pound trucks pound the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Washington, D.C., joining hundreds of other food trucks in cities across the United States, The Street reports.

"People will seek us out," said Susan Povich, owner of Red Hook. "We have a very unique product and probably one of the best ones. So I can park a couple of blocks off the main path and I will have enough traffic to find me."

Food trucks have been growing in popularity over the past few years, as the lower start-up costs appeal to chefs and foodservice professionals wanting to try new cuisines. The increase hasn€™t been without its critics, as restaurants in cities such as Washington, D.C., and Chicago protest the parking of these trucks near their establishments. New York City food trucks recently created their own trade group to represent their rights.

"The restaurant will never die. This has become an offshoot option for people to have a different level of satisfaction," said Derek Hunt, who co-owns Cake & Shake food carts in New York City.

According to the National Restaurant Association, mobile caterer sales are predicted to advance 3.6 percent in 2011, to reach $630 million. The association placed pop-up restaurants and food trucks as the number-one restaurant operational trend in 2011.

Food trucks give "opportunities to venture into the restaurant business or expand current concepts at relatively low cost," said Annika Stensson, spokeswoman for the association. "The startup cost for a truck is typically well below that of a bricks-and-mortar restaurant."

For a deeper dive into Chicago€™s food truck scene read "On the Move" from the February issue of NACS Magazine.