Starting a restaurant can be expensive, but so can starting a food truck, where by some estimates costs can run from $28,000 up to $114,000.

To avoid the expense and uncertainty of a traditional food truck, one local entrepreneur has started what she calls a “virtual food truck” specializing in breakfast burritos, using $10,000 of her own money.

“I am a complete efficiency and process geek,” said Emmy Tellez, 48, who started Sunrise Tortillas in August. “I’ve eliminated all the risks of wasting food.”

Rather than hanging out on the street not knowing whether she’ll sell everything she’s made, Tellez has customers place orders through her website, SunriseTortilla.com, by 5 p.m. the day before they want them. She begins preparing the burritos at 3 a.m. at a commercial kitchen with two friends and then delivers them starting at 6 a.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. Saturdays at prearranged stops in her SUV.

Tellez said she doesn’t know of any other food trucks operating in such a way and the method is certainly different than the typical trucks that have filled L.A. streets in recent years. The L.A. food truck scene has grown from a trendy niche industry to a mainstream business model, with an estimated 3,200 operating in Los Angeles County as of 2014.

Tellez said she has been selling about 300 to 500 burritos a week at $6.75 to $7.50 each and estimates she’ll do $150,000 in sales next year.

“I’m going for the slow dime on this,” she said. “The growth is much slower probably but the expenses are very manageable.”

Tellez came up with her concept as a way to earn a living while spending more time with her 16-year-old daughter. Before moving to Los Angeles, she owned a restaurant outside of Washington, D.C., where she tested out the burritos as a one-off.

Eventually, Tellez wants to add a brick-and-mortar location serving breakfast and lunch. She hopes the food truck will help her identify the best area as well as attract a partner or investor.

– Caroline Anderson