Food Truck Setback: What Can Be Done?

The other issue is of course competition...If I own a brick and mortar establishment, I'm gonna have a case of the white hot ass if someone with a food truck rolls into the strip plaza I'm located in and starts cutting in to my business.

Therefore I'm not seeing much love or support from the local restaurant community when it comes to easing and/or clarifying this myriad of rules and regulations.

Las Gorditas has been operating for 3 yrs in the same location, I'm not sure how. I've spoke with Pat the owner previously and he indicated he wasn't given problems from Metro. May want to contact him.

Re: Gordita in a trailer on Bardstown Road and Waterson Trail
by Pat Costas » Mon May 19, 2008 1:17 pm

Hi folks, Let me take a moment to introduce ourselves. My name is Pat Costas, and my wife is Esperanza. She is a great cook by the way which is how we ended up doing what we do now. We started very small, (hot dog cart style). Within a year the demand for more hispanic food promted us to get a trailer which would allow us to prepare more different versions of Mexican foods. We never really expected to become as busy as we have become thanks to you our customers.

From the posts I have read on here I would like to address the concerns which have been posted. I myself would much rather eat at a place which is clean. Thus the reason for needing a health department license. In order to have a mobile food service license we do have to meet certain criteria very similar to a restaurant. We are required to be fully self contained, which we are. In other words we need to be able to cook, clean and sanitize everything in the trailer itself. We have all the equipment to do so. The last thing in the world we want is for someone to become sick because of our food. We do everything we can to ensure that will not happen.

Also, when are we there? We are open Fridays by 6:00 PM, Saturdays by 5:00 PM, Sundays By 3:00 PM and now Mondays by 6:00 PM. Closing time is 11:00 PM or when customers stop coming, whichever is later. We have been known to be there until 1 in the morning. Hey if people are still hungry may as well feed them right?

Also in regards to Gorditas and no lettuce or tomatoe. A gordita typically is served with beans, meat and cheese. However, if a customer wants lettuce, tomato, cilantro or pico de gallo on their gordita, we are happy to oblige. Just let us know. We are here to accomodate. I know when I eat somewhere I may have special preferences and undertand other people do too.

The last thing I would like to say for now is in regards to us not being there sometimes. That does not happen very often, however it can happen. The only reason we may not be there is weather. We do have to travel 20 miles or so pulling the trailer. In bad weather that can be a bit dangerous. We are not willing to chance it in high winds, severe thunderstorms, or very frigid temperatures. Other than that we are always there. Please feel free to call to see if we are open at 502-492-0112.

Steve I couldnt agree more. We are not malicious people, we are not out to ruin anyone. We are just trying to pay the mortgage in an economy that took both of our jobs in a year. We have been in jeapordy of losing our home twice now. My truck is build to FDA food code standards and I have seen restaurants with "A" ratings from the health department that were way worse off than my truck.

I dont want to pull into a strip mall that has restaurants in it, Gary Heine offered me one of his Heine Brothers locations to sit at but because of the proximity to other restaurants for most of them I unfortunately had to say no. Gary loves street food, he travels to South America a lot and always frequents the street food there. Why would I say no to sitting at a coffee shop that does the business that Heine Brothers does? Because I am not going to park next to a restaurant and ruin someone elses business. I am not going to run out and "dine and dash" and get pegged as a troublemaker. I am trying to earn a spot in the culinary community here as a legitimate business owner.

Also I agree with Steve about the harsh regulations, we should have the same rigid standards as any other restaurant. The only thing that differs my operation from a permanent fixture is my overhead is lower and my restaurant moves. I want to go sit in office parks that have requested us to come there but I cannot because it clearly states that anything dubbed an office park in the Land Development Code is off limits. Many of those office and industrial parks have thousands of employees and they only get 30 minutes for lunch. So your choices are, raid the vending machines, drive like a bat out of hell to McDonalds and scarf it down on the drive back or bring your own lunch every day. I am simply talking about offering my services once every other week to a rotation of places that would enjoy our product.

ALSO…. I heard it stated once and I have said it many times. If I could ruin your restaurant with my truck from 5 or 10 miles away then you have more problems than me and my truck. Your concept & menu needs review, your staff needs performance evaluations and you need to get some critical feedback from your customers. There are too many places out there complaining about a “food truck problem” and they are serving the cheapest possible product that Sysco has to offer. If people are bored with your bar food for lunch and come to my truck… well I am not going to apologize that I have a better idea. Qdoba isn’t apologizing to Taco Bell. But upper class places like Seviche, The Blind Pig and the like… we aren’t doing anything on the planet to hurt their business at all. We aren’t sitting around those places and we aren’t trying to give anyone a run for their money. People that want to go out to a destination, sit down, partake of the ambience and have a nice evening aren’t actively out seeking my truck.

People that go to Abbey Road on the River will eat our food. People that go to Ear X Tacy or Headliners for a concert will eat our food and people that are drunk at 3am and don’t want the usual suspects (La Bamba, White Castle or Denny’s) might like to know that my truck is within walking distance from the bar they were at. If it keeps them out of a car then my concept pays for itself 10 fold. Most of the business we would like to do is no where near any operating restaurant. They all close down at 10pm, they aren’t in office parks and they aren’t posted up on Waterfront Park for festivals like Forecastle and Abbey Road.

Brian I took that advice and called Pat from Las Gorditas and spoke with him for the better part of 45 minutes. He was extremely receptive and nice and was happy to share his information with me. Some of which I knew and some of which I didnt.

His concept works because he jumped through all the hoops to get it done for the one location that he sits at. He doesnt move. He has permission from the property owners and also now has a lease there. He was operating and was given a ticket by the ABC, allowed to keep operating and was told what was required to get a permit. He went down there and got the list of everything he needed to have, parking lot drawings and all, and eventually was given a permit. $200 for the permit and $50 for each employee. So $300 for each location.

So basically I could have 2 of those as our regular go-to locations for Louisville and perhaps run around on temp event permits at $25 per shot... That seems like a relatively effective way to operate

That is what I will attempt.

Hmm, Mark me down as someone who questions whether Louisville needs a "street food scene" at least in the downtown area. I can understand the points made above about people working in far-flung office complexes. They could definitely use an alternative to hopping in the car and driving to McX. But downtown? Does Louisville really feel like it needs to follow the latest über-hipsterish trend, just so it can be more New Yorky? New York has a heritage of street food. Louisville, not so much. I even ate at the Schnitzel-mobile in Manhattan last year which I suppose was über-cool. Except at some point I asked myself how stupid is it to try to eat schnitzel on a plastic plate while sitting on the curb?

To me, Louisville's ambiance is that of a relaxed, slower pace, southern city. I fail to see any Southern charm in a converted panel van selling tacos or whatever.; not compared to exposed brick and wrought iron anyway. Also, you'd like to see Louisville as a more walkable/bikeable place. But less people are going to make that walk/bike down Main or Market to the brick and mortar places if there's a different flavor van in front of the Humana building every day. They won't have to move their arse thirty feet from the elevator.

From the city's perspective, truck vendors aren't making the same investment in the community as brick and mortar establishments. They create fewer jobs, don't pay property taxes, and if the owner gets a whim to move on, the Falafel Bus can be plying its trade in Nashville tomorrow. I can see why the city doesn't want to spend time and money policing transient vendors who aren't necessarily married to the city (not saying they all fit this mold).

Just my $0.02

Glad to hear that.

Brian I took that advice and called Pat from Las Gorditas and spoke with him for the better part of 45 minutes. He was extremely receptive and nice and was happy to share his information with me. Some of which I knew and some of which I didnt.

His concept works because he jumped through all the hoops to get it done for the one location that he sits at. He doesnt move. He has permission from the property owners and also now has a lease there. He was operating and was given a ticket by the ABC, allowed to keep operating and was told what was required to get a permit. He went down there and got the list of everything he needed to have, parking lot drawings and all, and eventually was given a permit. $200 for the permit and $50 for each employee. So $300 for each location.

So basically I could have 2 of those as our regular go-to locations for Louisville and perhaps run around on temp event permits at $25 per shot... That seems like a relatively effective way to operate

That is what I will attempt.

Although the effort would have to take into consideration the brick and mortar joints. Lobby for events and after hours stuff only maybe because the brick and mortar joints will definitely say hell no to making it easier for them to lose business.

And the internet makes it easier for Barnes & Nobles to lose business.

Boo-*******-hoo.

If someone would rather eat from a cart/truck while standing on a sidewalk, then maybe the restaurants need to seriously reconsider what they are doing. The ones I see being hurt are the downtown places that people run thru and grab something quick at lunchtime. The ones that are nothing more than permanent food carts anyway.

I hear ya but I want to be fair. And I feel that by being fair to the B & M places I will be more able to run my operation. The legal aspect of this would be more likely to be re-written so as everyone can play if a fair proposal was conducted. Just my opinion..

It's all good. I like to see our culture experimenting with this trend. However I also know that Louisville is NOT New York and does not have the population to sustain an overload of options. Therefore, special events, private promotions/caterings/late night weekend options seem, to me, to be the best fit.

Plus, I too am glad we have semi-strict regulation. If not we could have people cooking roadkill on a pile of burning tires. Uh, no. I am on the side of regulation. Just my thoughts. I look forward to hearing more on how this progresses for everyone involved. Cheers!

I dont have much to add here other than I was in Austin a couple weeks ago and the street food scene there is huge. One of the things I noticed was they have "trailer parks", lots set up around town that were filled with various food trucks. When I was there these lots were packed with customers, granted we were there during SXSW, but the locals we were with said these "parks" were always hopping.

[Robin Garr]

I dont have much to add here other than I was in Austin a couple weeks ago and the street food scene there is huge. One of the things I noticed was they have "trailer parks", lots set up around town that were filled with various food trucks. When I was there these lots were packed with customers, granted we were there during SXSW, but the locals we were with said these "parks" were always hopping.

Portland does something similar.

Portland and Austin are two towns that Louisville could legitimately hold up as a model. In this scene, we'd be smart to do that. It doesn't have a damn thing to do with New York.

I've never been a grilled cheese person, but when I saw the OP's menu, I was instantly converted. I'd love to try some of your creations!

Hmm, Mark me down as someone who questions whether Louisville needs a "street food scene" at least in the downtown area. I can understand the points made above about people working in far-flung office complexes. They could definitely use an alternative to hopping in the car and driving to McX. But downtown? Does Louisville really feel like it needs to follow the latest über-hipsterish trend, just so it can be more New Yorky? New York has a heritage of street food. Louisville, not so much. I even ate at the Schnitzel-mobile in Manhattan last year which I suppose was über-cool. Except at some point I asked myself how stupid is it to try to eat schnitzel on a plastic plate while sitting on the curb?

To me, Louisville's ambiance is that of a relaxed, slower pace, southern city. I fail to see any Southern charm in a converted panel van selling tacos or whatever.; not compared to exposed brick and wrought iron anyway. Also, you'd like to see Louisville as a more walkable/bikeable place. But less people are going to make that walk/bike down Main or Market to the brick and mortar places if there's a different flavor van in front of the Humana building every day. They won't have to move their arse thirty feet from the elevator.

From the city's perspective, truck vendors aren't making the same investment in the community as brick and mortar establishments. They create fewer jobs, don't pay property taxes, and if the owner gets a whim to move on, the Falafel Bus can be plying its trade in Nashville tomorrow. I can see why the city doesn't want to spend time and money policing transient vendors who aren't necessarily married to the city (not saying they all fit this mold).

Just my $0.02

I realize that you don’t know me and I dont know you so I will assume your limited interaction with food trucks has been in parking lots at Grateful Dead concerts. (p.s. Best veggie burrito I ever got was in the parking lot at Deer Creek) I never said anything about downtown. I specifically mentioned bar crowds, concert crowds, office and industrial parks. I am not delusional in thinking I have a REAL culinary concept. I have a gimmick truck but it’s a gimmick truck that in the last 4 days has acquired 500 facebook and twitter followers, over 100 offers to come and sit on private property locations all over Louisville, invites to Abbey Road on the River and 4 other festivals that do 10k attendance x 3 days, have numerous charitable events booked with a large portion of all proceeds going to said charity and have half a dozen private events already booked. That’s how my inaugural week went down. Phone ringing off the hook, slammed with emails and more word of mouth than I can shake a stick at. That isn’t too bad for a “converted panel van”.

I would also like to add that I was born here, have lived my whole life here, signed up for the Army here, did my basic training here, own a home and a small business here, have a family here and I will die here. I know you werent directly attacking me but its important that you understand that brief history so you don’t think I am some “transient vendor not necessarily married to the city”.

Again I realize not everyone has moral fiber. I realize not everyone will operate as ethically as they should. There are at least 4 on going food truck shows right now. They have used food trucks on Top Chef, Hells Kitchen and a myriad of other shows. They are a culinary trend like bruleeing every damn thing. Reputable chefs are now operating out of these types of vehicles and doing really well on it. Hell Jamie Olivers dumb ass just food trucked an 18 wheeler. I had an idea and its blown up in a week. I want to move around not sit somewhere and bring shit down. People don’t mind a little variety. I am sure the Arbys and Taco Bell will survive the hit.

I dont have much to add here other than I was in Austin a couple weeks ago and the street food scene there is huge. One of the things I noticed was they have "trailer parks", lots set up around town that were filled with various food trucks. When I was there these lots were packed with customers, granted we were there during SXSW, but the locals we were with said these "parks" were always hopping.

Portland does something similar.

Portland and Austin are two towns that Louisville could legitimately hold up as a model. In this scene, we'd be smart to do that. It doesn't have a damn thing to do with New York.

They certainly were weird before Louisville too.

They certainly were weird before Louisville too.

I think the growing interest in food trucks vs. Jefferson County ordinances/permit environment would be an excellent topic for a LEO article or some other local news outlet. Sometimes the best way to shake things up is to shine a little light on the subject.

Robin - your thoughts?

[Robin Garr]

Robin - your thoughts?

Well, Marsha got the ball rolling in January ...
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/my-lo ... ustry-wish

But of course it wouldn't hurt to beat the publicity drum still more.

My instinct right now is that if we can pull together a small, competent group and get Mayor Fischer to sit down and talk over the situation, the scene in places like Portland and Austin, and enlisted on the side of justice and right, that might be the quickest and most effective way to push through to a happy conclusion.

But if the governmental route doesn't work, then the media route would certainly be worth trying.