Rave: Food Trucks

[maddash]

Yeah, I know they're the food fad du jour (like cupcakes were a few years ago [btw, pies are the next big thing]), but I love the concept. First off, they're jamming econo, living the DIY life. Someone says you need to build a restaurant on terra firma at a static location, you say, "[expletive] it, I'm putting it on wheels". Then I love the idea of a restaurant having the option of using a food truck to bring their food to a location where a restaurant may have never worked - you don't have to drive there for lunch and they don't have to open up a restaurant near you. And it's almost always good food too. When you're at different locations every day, and live by social media and word of mouth, your food better be good for people to go through the effort of finding you. The best part though is that it's kind of renegade. Both in the sense that it's street food, but also that the local government either don't know what to do with them, or they try to ban them outright. If we're dealing in stereotypes, the typical foodie liberal doesn't often openly express his/her displeasure with government regulations, but they moan up a storm if you ban their favorite food trucks. This is one area where liberals can say join hands with conservatives and actually agree on something.

Of course, there are some cons. Being in St. Louis, we're at least 2-3 years behind on most trends, so the number of food truck options are in the handful. Pi is probably the most recognizable name. Cha Cha Chow is pretty good. And I hear there are few more truck options on the way. I'm dying for one of the mexican restaurants on Cherokee to get a truck. The other drawback is that even though this is sort of street food, it's not really cheap. I don't want to say it's a bad value, but it's not like walking up and getting a cheap brat from a street vendor.

Some twitter feeds for St. Louis trucks:
http://twitter.com/pitruckstl
http://twitter.com/whereschacha
http://twitter.com/HolyCrepeSTL
http://twitter.com/guerrillastreet (coming soon)

[Freed Roger]

not sure what twitter feed this one is on.



copyright- JL

[Wekse5]

we have several food trucks around the nashville area now...love them to death...one of them is a grilled cheese truck, amazing.

[Radbird]

We've come a long way from the Roach Coach.

[heyzeus]

[maddash]

Nice commentary on food trucks and politics:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/t ... rucks.html

This issue strikes me as a promising one for a left-right alliance. You've got small entrepreneurs yearning to serve multicultural tacos and hot dogs with fancy mustard, avocado slices and arugula on them. And people like this to serve as the movement's face. Especially at a time when American jobs are less secure and permanent than ever, it seems to me that we need to let every aspiring entrepreneur thrive as best we can. And as I tried to explain in City Journal's last issue, that means ensuring our municipal laws fit the times.

And some more:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2010 ... _glaes.php

So what's stopping food trucks from proliferating in Boston? The most common complaints are "complex licensing and zoning regulations'' -- would-be vendors say licensing can take many months.

Food trucks do need to be licensed, at least to ensure safe food. Moreover, trucks should be charged by the government when they occupy public space. (Private landlords can presumably make their own arrangements.)

Controlling public space and protecting public health are legitimate reasons for regulation, but the loudest voices against food trucks often come from restaurateurs complaining about competition. Preserving the monopoly power of local eateries is a terrible reason to restrict food trucks.

[lukethedrifter]

I'm too dumb ^ to understand.

[haltz]

The other drawback is that even though this is sort of street food, it's not really cheap. I don't want to say it's a bad value, but it's not like walking up and getting a cheap brat from a street vendor.

But OTOH it's not spending $40 plus tip. Anyway, it will definitely hurt the brick and mortar restaurant industry. There is a generation of foodies that now have disposable income, but the market crash totally took the wind out of the sails of the white tablecloth restaurant industry where you are mostly paying for overhead. Some of those places that still exist are different now, and some of them simply don't.

Expense accounts have been slashed and people are more careful with their personal funds on top of that. Give them good food relatively cheaply, without the pomp and circumstance and they're fine with that. Full service lunches especially are a thing of the past, in my opinion. If a restaurant does a good one, that's great, but they aren't making any money off of it. We do an awesome lunch, and get 150-200 people in there a day, and it probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't in the lease that we have to be open. I saw that Frazer's has some $5 lunch special. Just close the doors until 5pm and save yourself the dignity.

Blues City Deli is killing it, because it's relatively cheap, it's fast, you don't have to tip, and it's delicious. I'm surprised it's taken this long for food trucks to happen here. They give someone like me what I care about, and none of the [expletive] that I don't.

[Freed Roger]

this doesn't make sense. banning food trucks.

[Arthur Dent]

this doesn't make sense. banning food trucks.

Haha. That's ridiculous. The explicit justification is that they want to oppose business competition.