By : Subuk Hasnain
Mon, 09/16/2013 - 2:03pm
After much debate over how mobile cuisine in Chicago would affect brick-and-mortar restaurants, food trucks are rolling down the city streets and are determined to stay.
The Chicago City Council enacted an ordinance last year that permitted the food truck industry to expand. A total of 120 food trucks now have licenses to serve food on the city’s streets, and 17 have received licenses to cook on board.
City officials have designated 30 locations where food trucks can park and serve food. Each location has two parking spots. Trucks that choose to serve food in other locations must stay 200 feet away from brick-and-mortar restaurants and cannot remain in one spot for longer than two hours.
Dan Salls has been operating the Salsa Truck since February, and in June he opened up a brick-and-mortar version of the truck, called The Garage. For Salls, the city’s regulations on food trucks create restrictions that can make it difficult for him to operate his business, but he does not see a way around it.
“The important thing to realize is that those laws aren't changing anytime soon,” said Salls. “So we are forced to use strategies that help alleviate some of the pressure those restrictions place on us. Private events and catering help immensely to alleviate those pressures.”
Salls is not the only food truck operator who has expanded his business into a permanent location. Operators of the Bridgeport Pasty and 5411 Empanadas trucks have also managed to expand from food trucks to brick-and-mortar restaurants.
Salls says that it is important for food trucks to try their best to adapt to the city’s regulations and survive.
“If you make great food and you know even just a little on how to market yourself, you should do just fine,” he said. To help other truck owners find success, Salls hosted the Best of Chicago’s Food Truck Rally in August at The Garage, giving food trucks a chance to promote their food. Seven food trucks lined up and a crowd of three hundred people came to check out Chicago’s food truck scene.
For Joe Schrogg at the Roost Truck, it is all about understanding the regulations and knowing how to work with the city. The Roost has plans to open a second truck, depending on how their business goes this year.
According to Beyond Borders food truck operator Mike Heler, food truck business has doubled in the past year in Chicago, and he expects food truck business will continue to grow.
While many food trucks have found success over the last year, the new industry’s popularity may be taking a toll on Chicago’s quick service restaurants.
According to the NPD Group, a global market research company, consumers are likely to replace trips to quick service restaurants with fast, cheaper meals from a food trucks. NPD conducted a survey of Chicago food truck customers, asking them where they would have obtained their meal if not from the food truck. About half of the respondents said they would have ordered from a fast food restaurant. Another 20 percent of respondents said they would have skipped the meal altogether, implying their visit to the food truck was spontaneous or unplanned.
Aaron Joseph from Snarf’s Sub Shop, located at 600 W. Chicago Ave., believes food truck expansion is hurting his business. Snarf’s is located near a food truck hot spot, where Joseph said multiple trucks sometimes park for longer than two hours at a time. Joseph said he supports small businesses since he is part of one, but that the 200 foot rule for foods trucks is not enough.
“It affects businesses like ours,” Joseph said. “How would you feel if a business came out in front of your business and, one, protested – which happens all the time – or two, came and started serving the same food that you do? Our sales have dropped dramatically.”
According to Joseph, neighboring high-end restaurants like the Motel Bar and Japonais do not have to compete with food truck menus. Snarf’s quick service and convenience is exactly what food trucks offer, and they attract the same crowd.
Salls called Joseph’s argument “erroneous.” He explained, “If my taco truck puts your restaurant out of business, you weren't making good enough food. There are millions of mouths to feed in Chicago, and restaurants pose just as much threat to one another [as] my truck does.”
Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection is helping food trucks grow as part of its efforts to promote small businesses development in the city.
In an article published in Crain’s Chicago Business, Jennifer Lipford, the department’s director of public information, revealed that they have specialized business consultants now who deal with food truck owners. Trucks can also get consultation from health and fire safety inspectors.
“You can actually bring your truck before you’ve made modifications, before you invest to install another sink or do something like that,” Lipford said. “You can come in and let fire and health tell you, ‘OK, this is what you need to do here.'”
Salls, Heler and Schrogg agree that it will be a long time before the city grants them more freedom.
“If the majority of us make it, the truck scene will continue to explode,” Salls said. “Only then will we be able to put serious pressure on the regulations and open things up.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has hinted that future reforms of the city’s food truck law could be made, saying after the City Council last July approved an ordinance that allowed city food truck operators to begin cooking food on board their trucks, that "This is not the end."
For now, operators seem to be finding ways to succeed despite what many of them argue are overly restrictive city regulations.
This article was originally published on the Daily Whale website in 2013.