The Louisville Street Food Scene

Do we have one beyond some downtown hot dog carts or is it non existent?

Do you think some gourmet street food could work around here now with some increase in downtown traffic because of new venues?

It seems to work in New York, Chicago, California, etc. Why wouldn't it work around here?

Ideas? Criticism? Rants?

I think another major drawback in Louisville would be the weather. A food cart definitely couldn't operate year round and it would be iffy even for a food truck. That would make it very hard for the proprietor to survive financially unless he had another source of income.

i disagree mark. the weather in new york city is a lot colder than it is here, and the food vendors brave the cold temps. and the snow.
there is no weather discrimination in new york city. lol

Looking at that temperature charts the temperature average is almost the same in NYC as it is here. The biggest difference is that from experience the people in New York spend more time outside than people do in Louisville. I think a large portion of this is due to necessity because of how they commute. Thus they don't mind going outside to eat. Also according to the charts we get more days with precipitation than NYC which also keeps people inside.

Well the Kogi operation in San Francisco is using Facebook and Twitter to alert people of their location and it got him from renting one truck to owning four trucks. So that would take care of letting people know where you are.

I saw 2 guys across the street from each other out on the street in front of the Yum Center getting a boatload of foot traffic. We have been debating following Kogi's lead and using social networking to alert people to our location. I think for lunch it might possibly draw a corporate customer base willing to accept another option for lunch downtown.

The weather isn't a big deal for me, I love the cold weather but im not sure there are very many things that draw a crowd in freezing temps. Another way to offset income would be concessions at the local festivals. Harvest Homecoming, Derby Festivals, etc. There are other options as well like private catering, parties etc.

Also Hosea Rosenberg from Top Chef just started a street food trailer which is an old Air Stream and its called Streat Chefs and they are using Facebook and Twitter to broadcast their locations every day and it appears to be doing well for him from the blogs I have been reading. He has been doing it in Colorado's metropolitan areas. It might be something that could catch on around here.

The Louisville street food scene is about as healthy as the Louisville surfing scene.....non-existant. I guess you can drive to the gordita trailer or the Cuban guy out by Oxmoor. Never heard of driving to "street food" before.

Matt, I'm with you all the way! let's talk... PM Me.

I'd love to see food carts here! My sisters live in Portland, OR...and there are over 400 food carts! All kinds of amazing food choices. But...the way people commute there is VERY different than here. Same as NYC. Not a lot of foot traffic in Louisville (sadly).

The Louisville street food scene is about as healthy as the Louisville surfing scene.....non-existant. I guess you can drive to the gordita trailer or the Cuban guy out by Oxmoor. Never heard of driving to "street food" before.

Hey! I have been surfing for 24 years lol!

The humidity?

I am astounded that no one has parked a trailer downtown at the medical center complex (U of L/Jewish/Nortons/Kosairs). Talk about a missed opportunity. You have an immense captive bunch of hungry med students/nurses/doctors/admins that usually don't venture far for lunch (once you get a parking spot you don't leave) and the options down there are sandwiches (Calistoga, a couple delis) or hospital cafeterias or McDonalds in Kosairs. There are a couple lonely hot dog vendors, but a taco truck would make a freaking killing down there.

The trickiest part of a gourmet street food site would be your price point. People here in Louisville (simply because they aren't accustomed to gourmet street fare) are bound to ask themselves, "Do I really want to pay $X for a lunch from a street cart?"
Not saying it wouldn't be worth it to me or others but would enough people buy into the concept for you to make a living off of it? Don't know.

The pedestrian and cyclist vs motorist ratio in NY and other cities are much higher than in Louisville. In other cities, most street food patrons actually walk or cycle to the cart/trailer/truck. Much of the vendors' customers are probably regular due to the simple fact that the vendor is on their walking or cycling route to work or near their workplace for lunch.

With the exception of the hot dog carts downtown and at the medical center, people drive to what little there is of Louisville's street food scene.

I am willing to bet that our penchant for being motorists pretty much squelches any idea of a successful street food scene in Louisville. This is probably a good thing. Not only is driving to eat street food almost an oxymoron, it wouldn't improve our ranking as the 7th fattest state!

All that said, I love driving out to Las Gorditas. I just don't think that Louisville is a street food scene type of city.

The Louisville street food scene is about as healthy as the Louisville surfing scene.....non-existant. I guess you can drive to the gordita trailer or the Cuban guy out by Oxmoor. Never heard of driving to "street food" before.

Just saw your post......shorter and sweeter.

Oh brother...... ***throws hands up****