In our quest to keep our readers up to date with the latest stories relating to the food truck industry has compiled a list of the stories that hit the wire this weekend from Raynham, Sacramento, Pasadena, Houston, Fort Worth and Middletown.
October 12
As food truck craze rolls into south suburbs, some see need for new rules on health and safety – Raynham, MA – The food truck phenomenon sweeping cities across the nation has begun to roll into the south suburbs, and while happy patrons are eager to feast on the food specialties it brings, some communities are rethinking how they might regulate them.
These mobile restaurants must abide by state and federal hygiene codes, just like their stationary counterparts, and in addition must have a local hawker’s or peddler’s license. Some towns, like Raynham, don’t allow them at all. Others, including Westwood and Scituate, are either adding new policies or rewriting the old ones to impose more stringent oversight.
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Some food truck owners taking the next step, opening restaurants- Sacramento, CA – The happy-hour crowd on a recent Friday scarfs rosemary and garlic tater tots, grilled cheese sandwiches piled with pulled pork and other speciality items from the Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen food truck. The truck, however, stopped serving hours ago and is offsite getting washed.
These folks are instead being served at Republic Bar & Grill, a downtown sports bar that’s become the brick-and-mortar home for Drewski’s Hot Rod Kitchen.
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October 13
Solar power project funded for Chefs Center small-business incubator – Pasadena, CA – Using its last $170,000 in federal economic stimulus money, the city has funded a solar power project at the Chefs Center of California, a nonprofit small-business incubator that has launched dozens of entrepreneurs since its professional kitchen opened in 2009.
“We had around $600,000 left in Community Development Block Grants Recovery dollars, and the biggest chunk went over to rehab La Pintoresca Teen Center and turn it into an education center,” said William Huang, Pasadena’s housing director.
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Houston Police waging a food truck crackdown: Cops insist it’s not petty, but due to complaints – Houston, TX – A food truck battle appears to be underway in Rice Village, as the Houston Police Department continues its crackdown on mobile kitchens after fielding numerous recent complaints from area residents and restaurant owners.
“Over the last few months, we’ve received a lot of complaints about food vendors in the South Central district
Korean barbeque truck Oh My Gogi! has been caught in the crosshairs since early September, when it received the first of at least four violations from HPD officers patrolling the.
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October 14
New faces enter trendy food truck business in North Texas – Fort Worth, TX – It’s no secret that food trucks — not the factory gate variety but fanciful nouveau versions serving up everything from red velvet waffles to New York deli to sashimi — have gained a foothold in North Texas despite the obvious business risks.
The scene exploded after Dallas began allowing food trucks in July 2011, broadening the potential market. Those certified by the city of Fort Worth, not including shaved ice, catering and traditional barbecue and Tex Mex trucks, numbered fewer than 20 in October 2011.
Last month, there were more than 36.
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Barbeque battle heats up food cart regulation debate in Middletown – Middletown, DE – The wind picks up the aroma of smoldering hickory chips from Clint Johnson’s portable smoker and carries it far beyond his weekend roadside stand in Middletown.
It only has to travel seven blocks to reach Keith Young at his restaurant in Ashley Plaza, and that has Young smoldering.
“When he was on the outskirts of town, it bothered me but I didn’t say anything. Where he’s at now, it’s just too close,” said Young, who opened Young’s BBQ on East Main Street in 2007. “We need limitations. We need zones. We need boundaries.”
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