We need more food trucks
 

This I would support. 😁

Psst Madelaine Amee over here!
 

...as we were saying, about food trucks in general in the other thread about lobster rolls:

Food trucks typically kick commercial parking fees and permit fees to the communities in which they are given permission to park and serve their customers.

The ones that are usually exempt are the traditional "canteens" that show up in the parking lots of corporate office buildings, that provide hotdogs, sandwiches, soda, cigarettes, the morning newspaper, etc. But that's because those trucks don't typically park on a public street and the service they provide is exclusive to those at the building where they park, before moving on to the next building in their daily rounds.

Part of the problem with a regular rotation of food trucks AT the town square is the noise. They have to have generators, if they don't have access to the public electric system. Generators are noisy, and the cables connecting to the public electric systems can be dangerous to maneuver around, as a customer.

If you're in the middle of the square (as a pedestrian) and there's one truck on one side of one street, it's not going to be a big deal. But if you're trying to enjoy dinner at the restaurant directly behind where the truck is parked, you're going to want to eat inside.

If there are a dozen food trucks all parked around the square, the generators needed to run them would produce a lot of noise. In a carnival atmosphere it's not a big deal, it's expected.

If you had a "food truck night" once every other week, at each square, that might work great. You could even coordinate it to run the same time as vendor days, so the square is closed to traffic anyway. You could move the vendors that have only tables, tarps, and chairs for equipment, onto the squares themselves. And that would leave plenty of room for trucks on the curbside of the inner square - which would also mean no food trucks parked directly in front of any restaurant.

You could invite popular trucks to come as part of a regular schedule, and have "featured trucks" rotate in and out of the schedule. This gives everyone a chance to try new things each time, while still being able to enjoy the "same old" that they know and love.

I’m betting all the restaurants on the squares would love to have food trucks parked at their curbs.
:confused:

:bigbow::bigbow::bigbow:

Doesn't Mt. Dora have a food truck night, maybe weekly?

You know, I don’t think it would be a problem, Bogie. There are some people who wouldn’t think of dining at a food truck and the restaurants will always be busy. Some generator noise would need to be taken into consideration when planning.

I agree with Bogie. Restaurant owners are not looking for additional competition.

I disagree, competition is good and there are plenty of people who won’t eat at a food truck.

On the other hand, the restaurants may not want to deal with the food truck snobs either.:shocked:

Could always put food trucks out in the parking lots. There is a lot of room at LSL for a couple, or three even :icon_wink:.

I always thought a couple of hot dog vendors selling Sabrett's or Nathans at each of the Squares would be awesome. I think they would do quite well.
Steve

I totally agree. This has been an issue around the country for many years. Restaurant owners do not want a food truck parked anywhere near their restaurant.

:) You've never seen a hot dog vendor on a Square? :ohdear:

:ohdear:
Squares are NOT closed on Vendor Nights!
:ohdear: Almost ever vendor uses a generator on the Squares on Vendor Nights!


:confused: Where do you people live? :popcorn:

Truthfully no. Not on a regular basis, and not at Spanish Springs
Steve

:) Not on a regular basis but I have at S.S. and L.S.L. :ho:

Never have I seen one of these at SS.

If we don’t want to inconvenience the restaurants, why not let the food trucks set up at some rec center parking lots such as Colony.

When I spend money to eat out I want to set at a table and be served. Food trucks for the most part don't provide tables and chairs and definitely don't bring it to your table. I've ate from food trucks and have not found it to be any better than full service restaurants and in some cases it was inferior.

That’s exactly why they would probably be fine on the Squares. It’s like ice cream, some people love it and some don’t.

Because that would DEFINITELY take business away from the restaurants that day.

If the food trucks are all away from the restaurants, then people who want to enjoy food truck food will go ONLY to the location of the food truck. That means no ice cream or lattes in the square after supper. That means - the square is losing business, just by taking some of their customer base away from the location.

That's just how the phenomenon of food trucks works.

Contrary to the contrarians, actual fact shows that food trucks BRING business to commercial areas, which PROMOTES existing restaurants and complements them.

This might be the only way we can get new business in Brownwood !!

"Cons of Owning a Mobile Food Business vs a Brick and Mortar Restaurant
Down and dirty food fights are cropping up around the nation between mobile food businesses and restaurants who claim food trucks are stealing their business. Cities are being pressured to add new rules and regulations prohibiting the operation of food trucks within certain distances of established restaurants."

Mobile Food Trucks vs Brick and Mortar Restaurants

Restaurants say food trucks are eating up their profits - CBS News

Food Trucks Battle Restaurants Over Street Space - WSJ

Steve

So you’are stating they would be a plus to standing restaurants? There is free enterprise and I really don’t think one eatery can stop another from operating.

I believe in free enterprise. But, I can also understand that restaurants have a major investment in property development and real estate taxes, and they are committed to the local area much more so than food trucks. So, I think they have a legitimate complaint about how the local Government regulates food trucks and food stands that operate close to their restaurants.

Food trucks pay a fee for the privilege of being there. In some places they pay a seasonal fee, in others they pay per-event. But food trucks NEVER just show up and set up shop. That would be illegal.

They also have to answer to the local health department, are subject to more random inspections than restaurants, for the very reason that they are mobile and could easily just skip town after serving tainted food.

Food truck food tends to be more expensive as well, because they can only bring very limited quantities and have limited storage space, limited refrigerator power, limited cooking space. They can't buy massive bulk quantities of anything, because they don't have any place to put it. So they lack the buying power of restaurants. Further, they have to go out and get all their supplies, wheras a standing restaurant gets theirs delivered to them. So that's an added expense as well.

They are no competition at all to most restaurants and in fact, there are even some restaurants that have their own food trucks. Up in Connecticut this is a very popular trend. In the Yale University area, there are half a dozen local restaurants that have food trucks and food carts that show up just for the lunch and supper rush near the Hospital. Their customers are usually doctors, nurses, and other employees of the hospital who don't have time to sit down at a nearby restaurant, but want to enjoy the same foods. They pay a premium for their taco or gyro or kebab or pizza or hummus platter, but they get their food and can eat it and be back to work within a half hour.

The restaurants don't profit much - definitely somewhat. But mostly they provide a service to the hospital. And they pay through the nose for the right to occupy a space in the circle. There is always a waiting list every year for trucks that want a spot, and only some of them make the cut.