Photo by Wayne Djiubinski
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The feud between restaurants and food trucks may not end any time soon. The Minnesota Food Truck Association (MNFTA) hosted Mike Mulligan and Doug Sams of the Downtown Food Committee Tuesday night to discuss possible solutions.
The food truck association and the restaurant group have been at odds with each other after brick-and-mortar eatery closures. Restaurant owners blame food trucks for taking away business, and food trucks operators say customers know where they’re going to eat. The main hitch for Sams, DFC president and D’Brians Deli & Catering founder and president, is the number of trucks along Marquette, between Seventh and Ninth Streets. He said a solution would be designated parking zones for food trucks, where mobile vendors would have permanent parking spots scattered across the city.
“We are foodies, you’re foodies,” Sams said at the meeting. “We have a lot in common. Everybody loves food trucks; the problem is the concentration on Marquette Avenue.”
Food truck owners, like World Street Kitchen truck co-owner Sameh Wadi, didn’t think the zones would be a solution because there are so many food trucks, that there won’t be enough spaces. “The same challenge we have is the same challenge you have,” said Wadi who also co-owns two brick-and-mortar restaurants. “It’s the same broken record. There’s not enough parking spaces in Minneapolis. We’re thinking very short term right now.”
Find the entire article by Amanda Kludt at eater.com <here>
