In June, Sunset magazine declared Seattle to be the best food city in the Northwest, barely edging out the only other contender, Portland. A dramatic contest, indeed. The cities were rated using categories such as “smu
g factor” and “variety/diversity.”
Portland won the “new ideas” category, being credited with starting the food-truck craze. It also beat Seattle in the “crowd control” category, which is difficult to define, but it says Portland’s 600 or so food trucks represent true dining democracy.
Before anyone could accuse the Emerald City of offering a less-democratic dining experience, the Seattle City Council voted Monday for new rules that allow food trucks to operate on public streets, but with strict regulations about where they can park. Councilmembers said the change might make it easier for entrepreneurs to open a small business rather than in a traditional brick-and-mortar setting.
Understandably, many in opposition are people who run brick-and-mortar restaurants, and feel it’s unfair to have their business possibly undercut by people who don’t have to pay rent or property taxes, or provide restrooms.
Those in favor of looser restrictions for food trucks say it allows neighborhoods in on some of the authentic food action, and they offer a true urban dining experience. The variety, freshness and price make it worth waiting for, the long lines attest. The lines for food also foster community and mingling, as opposed to fast-food drive-throughs.
Those in opposition also cite possible traffic problems, pollution from running trucks, health and noise concerns.
Regardless, the popular trucks are here to stay, a New York Times article suggests.
“The growth of the mobile restaurant unit is a long-term trend,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association. “If you think about growth in the restaurant industry over the past decade, it’s basically a question of points of access.”
Yum! The “mobile restaurant unit” is outside!
Uh, oh. Once a taco truck becomes a “mobile restaurant unit” you know corporate America is nibbling away at the cache of authenticity that attracted people in the first place. Just a chomp or two away from ruining the whole idea.
This isn’t preciousness or paranoia, just the raw facts:
Witnessing the success and popularity of the food trucks, the New York Times reported, most fast food restaurants are looking into the “marketing potential” of a truck. Taco Bell and Jack in the Box have them and Tasti D-Lite plans to roll out almost a dozen by next year, the newspaper reported.
Fleets of fast Mcfood trucks just might inspire a rediscovery of … the sit-down restaurant.
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