Mobile Food Pods & Downtown Revitalization

[urbanlibertarian]

Usually food vans are around other stuff....work..shopping...having food vans at the  docks is cool but there's nothing else there. Now if there were a cool zip line or something other than a food van....lol...in the islands these vans were awesome and so fresh....i just hope our council keeps their nose out of things....they tend to get nosey and ruin things around here.

Careful, GG!  Someone might mistake you for a libertarian.

But seriously, when politically connected businesses get the government to enact regulations that make it difficult for new or small businesses to compete with them that's the definition of "crony capitalism" and it limits the choices available to consumers.

[BridgeTroll]

Check this out... OMG...

http://www.thegrilledcheesetruck.com/

Plain and Simple Melt (on french or wheat bread)
American Cheese......$3
Sharp Cheddar......$4.25
Double Cream Brie......$5.50
Gruyere......$4.50
Habanero Jack......$5.50

Cheesy Mac and Rib
macaroni and cheese with sharp cheddar......$5.50
with bbq pork, caramelized onions......$7.50

Brie Melt (on black peppercorn potato bread)
Double Cream Brie, homemade fig paste and smokehouse almonds......$6.75
add Smoked Turkey or Bacon......$7.75

Pepperbelly Melt (on cheddar jalepeno bread)
Habanero Jack Cheese with homemade chili, Fritos, fire roasted salsa and cilantro lime sour cream......$7

Veggie Melt (on 6 grain bread)
Gruyere withe shaved fresh fennel, house smoked tomatoes, fresh arugula and balsamic syrup......$6.50

Dessert Melts! (on sweet brioche bread)
S'more Melt: Marshmallow cream, Nutella and crumbled graham crackers......$5
Mom's Apple Pie Melt: Sharp Cheddar with caramelized cinnamon apples and candied walnuts......$6.50

[BridgeTroll]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204456604574201934018170554.html

FOOD & DRINK
JUNE 5, 2009.

Food Truck Nation

Locally sourced lamb. Grilled sweetbreads with sherry. A growing fleet of vehicles around the country is serving high-end, gourmet fareâ€"and changing the lunchtime landscape..By KATY MCLAUGHLIN

A new generation of lunch trucks is hitting the streets. They serve high-end fare such as grass-fed beef hamburgers, escargot and crème brûlée. As they rove cities like Austin, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, they alert customers to their locations using Twitter and Facebook. Their owners include highly trained chefs and well-known restaurateurs.

Joshua Henderson, 36, trained as a chef at the Culinary Institute of America and cooked at the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills. Today, he owns two lunch trucks that drive the streets of Seattle. Each truck serves about 200 lunches every day, and Mr. Henderson says he grossed about $400,000 last year, his first year in business, with only one truck in operation. The only problem: “We go up against the stigma. We’re trying to prove we’re on a different level than a lunch truck,” he says.

Lunch trucks once represented the nadir of culinary achievement, conjuring up images of withered hot dogs and hygienically-challenged kebabs. Today, even some chefs from Michelin-starred eateries are migrating into a sector of the food business that seems particularly well suited for a financial downturn. For would-be restaurateurs, launching a culinary truck requires far less start-up capital than a brick-and-mortar restaurant. At a time when consumers are cutting back on restaurant spending, a food truck serving inexpensive lunches and snacks can be an easier sell to diners.

The new breed of lunch truck is aggressively gourmet, tech-savvy and politically correct. The Green Truck, which sells “sustainably harvested” fish tacos, roams the streets of Los Angeles in vehicles fueled by vegetable oil. The Dessert Truck in New York is owned by a former Le Cirque pastry sous chef who donates proceeds from desserts such as a pavlova with red fruit gelée to charity. In the San Francisco Bay area, the RoliRoti rotisserie truck serves free-range chicken, heritage pork and local lamb, prepared by owner Thomas Odermatt, a Swiss former organic farming student whose business card reads “Rotisseur.”

Though most of these trucks charge more than typical hot dog or taco trucks, their meals generally cost less than comparable sit-down restaurant fare. At New York’s Rickshaw Dumpling Truckâ€"whose dumpling recipes were created by Anita Lo, chef at the Michelin-starred Manhattan restaurant Annisaâ€"an order of six duck dumplings with dipping sauce costs $6.50. In San Francisco, a skewer of escargot in puffed pastry costs $2 at the Spencer on the Go truck, operated by chef Laurent Katgely, who also owns Chez Spencer, an upscale French restaurant.

Fancier food on lunch trucks doesn’t necessarily mean better food, and old-fashioned taco and kebab trucks often have delicious fare and loyal fans. In Los Angeles, an organization called “Save Our Taco Trucks” launched in March last year to support Mexican-food street vendors who were battling new regulations that made operating in some parts of the city more difficult.

Some newcomers says this passion for street food attracted them to the business. Jesse Vendley, a 40-year-old originally from Calexico, Calif., a city bordering Mexico, used to work as an advertising copywriter in New York. His friends often raved about the hometown dishes he cooked, particularly his carne asada, made with skirt steak marinated in lime juice, garlic, spices and onions, then cooked on a hot grill. In early 2006, Mr. Vendley attempted to raise money to open a restaurant, but found little success.

Then he attended the Vendy Awards, a competition for street vendors. The quality of food, and energy of the fans, “inspired me,” says Mr. Vendley, who soon after launched a lunch cart in Soho. Today, Calexico Carne Asada has two carts, which he owns with his two brothers and Peter Oleyer, formerly a cook at Manhattan’s Cru restaurant. Later this month, the team plans to open its first restaurant, in Brooklyn.

The new trucks are rolling in as many restaurants report steep declines in their lunchtime traffic. Businesses from fast-food chains to upscale steak houses have rolled out cheaper lunch menus to try to persuade consumers to spend money during the work day.

Since last summer, restaurateur Danny Meyer has posted a lunch cart outside his restaurant Tabla, located in Manhattan’s Credit Suisse building, serving less expensive versions of the restaurant’s upscale Indian food. The timing has been fortuitous: “Bankers aren’t spending that much on lunch these days,” says Michelle Lehmann, a spokeswoman for Mr. Meyer’s company, Union Square Hospitality Group.

Jeff Blank, chef and owner of Hudson’s on the Bend, in Austin, Texas, where the average check is $75, rolled out a lunch truck in March. The truck, called the Mighty Cone, specializes in fried chicken, shrimp and avocado coated with a mixture of almonds, sesame seeds, cornflakes and chili flakes; average checks are under $10. At Hudson’s, revenue is off by 20% to 25% compared with two years ago, Mr. Blank says, but revenues from the truck have made up for those losses and even allowed him to hire extra staff.

In spite of the softening of commercial real-estate prices , the costs of opening a sit-down restaurant are still too daunting for many would-be restaurateurs. Kenny Lao says that last summer, when he was looking for a midtown Manhattan location for a second branch of his Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, in which Ms. Lo is a partner, he was discouraged after encountering prices of $200 to $300 per square foot. That led him to launch the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, which cost $150,000 to become fully operational.

For many chefs, the biggest barrier to entering the street-vending business is pride. Mr. Odermatt, originally from Switzerland, says that before starting his business in 2002, he was astonished to learn that Americans considered lunch trucks “roach coaches” and were often afraid of catching microbes from the food. In response, he created trucks that consumers could peer into and he sanitizes the trucks twice daily, Mr. Odermatt says.

One fan of Mr. Odermatt’s truck is chef Charles Phan, of San Francisco’s Slated Door fame, who likes the truck’s “really yummy” porchetta sandwich of roasted pork loin rolled into pork belly and sliced onto a French roll. He says the truck’s open design reminds him of street food in his home country, Vietnam. Mr. Phan says he is also in the early phases of planning his own lunch truck business, which would also allow consumers to observe the food.

Another major hazard of the business, newcomers say, is hostilityâ€"and even threatsâ€"from the competition. Mr. Lao says his entry into the industry was marked by threats and sabotage by other vendors, who parked their carts right in front of his sales window.

Permitting and parking also make the job tough: Each municipality has its own rules about where lunch trucks can park. In Seattle, street food vendors are only allowed to park on private property, whereas operators in other cities, including New York, can get a permit that allows them to park in most public parking spots. RoliRoti operates in seven counties around the Bay Area, and must pay for permits and follow different regulations in each one. Like restaurants, lunch trucks are inspected by city health departments. In New York, trucks are inspected once a year, and investigated if a complaint is lodged against them, says the New York City Department of Health.

New technology has been a game changer, allowing trucks to pick and move to where the customers are on short notice. Kogi BBQ, a truck serving Korean-barbecued meat inside Mexican-style tacos in Los Angeles, became a media sensation earlier this year in part for its use of Twitter, on which it currently has 28,000 followers. Following Kogi’s example, more truck operators have begun using Twitter to post messages on followers’ cell phones, alert customers of their whereabouts and even ask for tips on parking spaces.

In spite of the economic climateâ€"or perhaps because of itâ€"some new mobile lunch businesses are growing fast. On the Fly, in Washington D.C., sells organic, vegetarian or local ingredient-based versions of classic lunch-truck tacos and burgers. Michel Heitstuman, On the Fly’s chief executive officer, started the company in late 2007 with one café and one cart. Today, On the Fly operates eight carts, five cafes and a catering company, and is working on a franchising agreement to expand to other cities. Mr. Heitstuman says he recently ordered eight more of Chrysler’s electric GEM vehicles to keep up with demand.

That’s when the economic climate caught up with him: Chrysler filed for bankruptcy April 30 and the independent agent helping to broker a deal for the new vehicles called to say that On the Fly would need to pay in cash to complete the deal. Jay Wik, a spokesman for Global Electric Motorcars, a division of Chrysler, said that GEM has made no change in its payment policy since the bankruptcy filing and does not require cash payments for vehicles. On the Fly and the agent are currently negotiating.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

The only place that I know of this here is Sweet Pete (no relation to the one in Springfield).  He's been out front of Sq1 for about 2-3 years?  I don't know how many of you go there, but he has quite the menu for hungry club-goers.  Tenderloin, lobster, shrimp, risotto, mac&chz, he had those delicious little lamb lollipops....  I don't go to the club, but I pass by it coming home from poker - it's good stuff. 

[BridgeTroll]

Not much of a benefit here in Jax but...

http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2011/03/how_to_track_gourmet_food_truc.html

Road Stoves This app lists the closest gourmet food trucks via your smart phone's GPS, plus via the trucks' Twitter feeds. ($0.99; iTunes, Android)

L.A. Street Food Interactive GPS maps guide you through the streets of L.A., with the help of intuitive categories of listings, in-depth reviews, hundreds of photos, and Twitter links. ($1.99; iTunes)

Food Truck New York This app pinpoints by GPS the 25 highest-rated food trucks according to New York magazine. (free, Android)

Mobile Cravings Use this site to track food trucks in your choice of 16 cities. mobilecravings.com

Mobi Munch Similar to Mobile Cravings, only with coverage of much smaller cities. mobimunch.com

UPDATE Mar. 3: I forgot this one:
Roaming Hunger aims to be the most comprehensive resource for tracking trucks in major cities. It even displays a map showing the truck locations in "real time." Reads like a hobbyist magazine on the delicious topic of food trucks. roaminghunger.com

[BridgeTroll]

There is even a festival...

http://www.valencia.com/food_truck_festival/index.php

[BridgeTroll]

A MUST READ... The Dark Side of food trucks...

http://gothamist.com/2010/08/20/gourmet_food_truck_turf_war_ruins_p.php

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

If they were ice cream men, they would have settled this with a street brawl by now.

Zing.

[tufsu1]

Philly is another city known for these carts....we literally had about 100 on the Temple University campus (in about a 5 block by 5 block area).....I frequented them at least once a day.

Five Star Catering has several trucks that roam Jax....one has been setting up near the new courthouse during lunmch hours for about a year...sure beats the simple hot dog carts!

[urbaknight]

Be careful mentioning the word "culture". The city hates the concept and will not allow it to thrive.

[dougskiles]

These would be great on Monroe Street east of the New County Courthouse between the Ed Ball Building and the Federal Courthouse - assuming we can keep that portion closed too.  My understanding of the transient vendor bill is that it will not apply to downtown.  Although, I am 100% against the bill.

[thelakelander]

The concept is getting pretty popular in Downtown Orlando.

Rock bands aren't the only things that draw crowds at Firestone Live.

Korean tacos can do it, too.

Hundreds gathered outside the downtown concert venue Wednesday night for a food-truck roundup that featured six of Orlando's best-known mobile vendors. Dubbed a Food Pod, the event allows diners a chance to sample the offerings of several food trucks without cruising around the city.

Starting at 6 p.m., the trucks began slinging everything from bacon-filled hush puppies to frosted cupcakes.

Tony Adams, owner of Big Wheel Provisions, had a constant line outside his food truck. A longtime chef, Adams and his crew opened the truck less than a month ago.

"We realized there was an ever-growing demand for food trucks in Orlando," Adams said.

Other trucks parked at Firestone Live included the Korean BBQ Taco Box, Red Eye BBQ, the Yum Yum Cupcake Truck, The Crooked Spoon and the Treehouse Truck.

Organizers plan to make the food-truck roundup at Firestone Live a weekly event.

Although food trucks have been popular across the country for several years, the craze has just recently struck Orlando. Last week, hundreds showed up for the Orlando Food Truck Bazaar, presented by TheDailyCity.com, a popular Orlando blog.

Shaun O' Brien, 30, and Erica DuPont, 28, both of Clermont, heard about the Food Pod online.

Less than 30 minutes after arriving, the couple had tried a pulled pork sandwich and a couple of fish tacos. They were "making the rounds," O'Brien explained.

"We love trying new food and new places in Orlando," O'Brien said.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/restaurants/os-food-truck-roundup-firestone-20110406,0,226395.story

[Noone]

Variety and Choice in our Downtown   (Mobile Food Trucks)
                            in our City            (Mobile Food Trucks)

I love it-Make it happen.

2010-856 a one mile ban for a transient vendor.

2010-604 Shipyards/Landmar-Public Trust just crushed.

Imagine the Mobile Food Trucks driving on the Promised 680' Downtown Public Pier pier and open for business.

Boat show next weekend.

After they leave.

Retrofitted containers.

Paul Anderson-Where are you?
Daniel OByrne-Where are you?
Tera Meeks-Where are you?
To the Honorable Don Redman, District 4 Jacksonville city council representative-Do something. Please.

Suddath-Store and Move

                                  S                             A                                 M
                              Spaghetti                    And                            Meatballs

PODS-Portable On Demand Storage

                                 P                     O                     D                S
                              Pickles              Onions              Dogs           Slaw       

Use the River. Allow people to participate.