30 replies to this topic

[BlueMound]

Just noticed that a new food cart park is coming soon to N. Main Street
(north of the railroad tracks yet south of northside drive)

[JBB]

Cowtown Chow Down opened last weekend and I was pretty disappointed on my first visit. Only 4 trucks left on Sunday night and 2 of those were the same genre of food (street tacos). The ambiance is pretty terrible compared to the park on Weisenberger: asphalt parking lot with no landscaping, very little shade from the late day sun, and it sits right next to a busy roadway. We packed up quickly and headed over the the park off of 7th. I wish them the best of luck, but I'll stick with the original.

In other news, the lot where another park on Rogers Road was in the works appears to have been paved, but it looks like it's being used for valet parking for Woodshed.

[mmiller2002]

haha, "ambiance" and food truck in the same thought...

Didn't they used to be called "roach coaches"?

[David Love]

haha, "ambiance" and food truck in the same thought...

Didn't they used to be called "roach coaches"?

The whole reason for it having wheels is so it can go to where the people are and it was affectionately called the roach coach when I drove one.

[mmiller2002]

I used to get breakfast from one when it stopped at the boat/bicycle(schwinn)/ski-doo shop i worked at in the mid-late 70's.

[JBB]

Are you totally ignorant of the current food truck trend or is this some kind of act?

[mmiller2002]

Sorry to offend or rile you. Of course i'm aware of the fad, individual food truck entrepeneurs and lots of brick and mortar places seem to have their own trucks since Taco Heads got so much press. It wasn't intended to be an act.

[mmiller2002]

The whole reason for it having wheels is so it can go to where the people are and it was affectionately called the roach coach when I drove one.

Although, currently it seems that people drive to them... ;-)

[youngalum]

Are you totally ignorant of the current food truck trend or is this some kind of act?

As a family that eats out 2-3 times a week for dinner, I will not patronize on of these places. First, I hate anything that you have to stand in line to order when I go out. Second, eating anything in my car is a no-go for me as well.

I predict that Fort Worth folks will grow tired of this trend quickly and most will peter out within a year. I wish them luck, but multiple truck spots isn't going to work in Fort Worth for the long haul.

[Doohickie]

Are you totally ignorant of the current food truck trend or is this some kind of act?

As a family that eats out 2-3 times a week for dinner, I will not patronize on of these places. First, I hate anything that you have to stand in line to order when I go out. Second, eating anything in my car is a no-go for me as well.

I predict that Fort Worth folks will grow tired of this trend quickly and most will peter out within a year. I wish them luck, but multiple truck spots isn't going to work in Fort Worth for the long haul.

Well aren't you stuck up?

[youngalum]

Are you totally ignorant of the current food truck trend or is this some kind of act?

As a family that eats out 2-3 times a week for dinner, I will not patronize on of these places. First, I hate anything that you have to stand in line to order when I go out. Second, eating anything in my car is a no-go for me as well.

I predict that Fort Worth folks will grow tired of this trend quickly and most will peter out within a year. I wish them luck, but multiple truck spots isn't going to work in Fort Worth for the long haul.

Well aren't you stuck up?

Stuck up because I don't like eating in my car or standing in line for food like a fast food joint? Sure, whatever you say it must be right.

[Doohickie]

I eat at a lot of restaurants where you stand in line to order your food. If I didn't, I'd be missing out on some of the best food Ft. Worth has to offer, especially BBQ and tacos. Just because they ordering format isn't one where a server takes your order doesn't mean the food is poor quality; the two are totally unrelated. I'd much rather wait in line at Fuzzy's Tacos than be waited on at Denny's.

Not sure about the new food park, but the one near Montgomery Plaza has pretty good seating. Sure, it's not Del Frisco's, but it can be a pleasant experience. One advantage over other venues is that there is a good variety of different foods all in one place, so everyone can get something they're in the mood for. If you haven't eaten out of this new generation of food trucks, you're missing out. They are not the roach coaches of yore; they are gourmet kitchens on wheels and some of the food is top shelf stuff.

I'm just saying, don't knock it till you've tried it.

[John T Roberts]

Youngalum, I don't think you are stuck up. I know a few people who refuse to go to a place where you stand in line. I also prefer to be waited on, but if the food is great, I don't mind standing in line. There are a lot of great restaurants that you are missing here in Fort Worth because of this. My friends are also missing out on these good places. I also try my best to not eat in the car. It's just too messy. However, I have done it, and if the circumstances arise, I will do it again.

[David Love]

I still see the mobile trucks that go from job site to job site catering to work crews or office buildings without cafes.

I'm guessing the ones we're speaking of here are of a different flavor, sounds like they make an outdoor area for them and only allow those with permits or licenses to serve there.

This concept is totally foreign to me, if that's how it works; I find it odd to drive to a mobile food truck that isn't mobile, to grab a bite.

Those things were such a pain to keep the food heated in the range to pass health inspections, you'd get a two hour window that everything was perfect within range then it would be not warm enough or burnt crispy.

[Doohickie]

Yes, roach coaches still exist. These new food trucks though are themed, such as Wienerman hot dogs, YES! Taco, Nammi Vietnamese, SsahmBBQ Korean Mexican fusion, etc.

[Dismuke]

I went with a friend to Taco Heads on West Seventh sometime last year. I do not have any problem with standing in line to order. And I have zero problem if a place is a hole in the wall or has decidedly unfashionable decor or non-decor if it is clean and the food is good. What I do have a problem with is standing in line for an excessive amount of time in order to place an order and then having to stand around for another lengthy period in order to pick it up. That was my only concern with Taco Heads on the night that I visited. There were perhaps four or five people in front of us placing orders - and, to be fair, some of those people were ordering for people in their party besides themselves. But it was a good 30 - 40 minutes from the time I got in line to the time I walked away with my order. We ate, by the way, on the rooftop deck of the bar next to the parking lot which I just assumed was ok to do. If figured if it wasn't the worst that could happen is we would be told to leave.

The food was decent enough. The tacos are very inexpensive - but had I known how small they were, I would have ordered more. But I sure as heck wasn't going to wait around again to do so. I think we ended up stopping some place afterwards were I could quickly get something additional to make it a meal's worth. We both basically concluded that we would have been better off going to Fuzzy's where we would have also gotten decent food much faster and have been able to sit while it was being prepared.

Perhaps the stand was short staffed that night and perhaps my experience is not the norm. Or maybe it is just that the way they have things set up they get bogged down if they have to handle more than one or two orders at a time. My attitude is, regardless as to whether it is "gourmet" or not, having to stand in line to place and order through a window as a sort of fast food type of experience and that it is too much to ask for people to wait a comparable amount of time that one does in a full service restaurant. I sure hope my experience was not typical of Taco Heads on a normal night or of food trucks in general.

Oh, and yes, I did drive to the food truck - and parked at Montgomery Plaza which, I understand, would now result in a tow truck being sent out. And I don't mind driving to something like that if the weather is nice and there is a pleasant place to sit nearby. But, unless the food is significantly less expensive or better than I can get at a more conventional restaurant, I don't see any particular advantage of doing so once the novelty of the thing wears off.

[mmiller2002]

I went with a friend to Taco Heads on West Seventh sometime last year. I do not have any problem with standing in line to order. And I have zero problem if a place is a hole in the wall or has decidedly unfashionable decor or non-decor if it is clean and the food is good. What I do have a problem with is standing in line for an excessive amount of time in order to place an order and then having to stand around for another lengthy period in order to pick it up. That was my only concern with Taco Heads on the night that I visited. There were perhaps four or five people in front of us placing orders - and, to be fair, some of those people were ordering for people in their party besides themselves. But it was a good 30 - 40 minutes from the time I got in line to the time I walked away with my order. We ate, by the way, on the rooftop deck of the bar next to the parking lot which I just assumed was ok to do. If figured if it wasn't the worst that could happen is we would be told to leave.

The food was decent enough. The tacos are very inexpensive - but had I known how small they were, I would have ordered more. But I sure as heck wasn't going to wait around again to do so. I think we ended up stopping some place afterwards were I could quickly get something additional to make it a meal's worth. We both basically concluded that we would have been better off going to Fuzzy's where we would have also gotten decent food much faster and have been able to sit while it was being prepared.

Perhaps the stand was short staffed that night and perhaps my experience is not the norm. Or maybe it is just that the way they have things set up they get bogged down if they have to handle more than one or two orders at a time. My attitude is, regardless as to whether it is "gourmet" or not, having to stand in line to place and order through a window as a sort of fast food type of experience and that it is too much to ask for people to wait a comparable amount of time that one does in a full service restaurant. I sure hope my experience was not typical of Taco Heads on a normal night or of food trucks in general.

I don't know about Taco Heads specifically, but hat has been my food truck experience the few times I have done it...It's cute, but I think that the fad will pass.

[mmmdan]

I've had the same experience at several of the food trucks, and I don't really care to eat at them anymore. If I'm eating at a food truck, I expect it to be relatively quick. I don't care how "gourmet" it is.

For example, I was at the FTW Music Fest and they had a couple of food trucks there. The lines were long, so I waited in line at the truck that was selling sausages, thinking it would go relatively quickly. I waited in line for probably 1/2 an hour, and then it took another 5-10 min. for the food.

It's very annoying when all I am getting is a sausage with peppers and onions. When there are 50+ people in line, you would think that they would start pre-cooking things and accept the fact that some things will go to waste, but they should more than make up for it in volume.

Another time we were heading out for the afternoon, and decided we would grab a quick bite at the food truck park near Montgomery Plaza, and it was a very similar situation. It took over an hour for the whole process.

I avoid the food trucks at events now, because I don't want to waste the time waiting for my food. For the amount of time it takes, I would rather go to a restaurant.

I was originally excited about the rise of the food truck, but have been disappointed in the execution.

[Dismuke]

I was originally excited about the rise of the food truck, but have been disappointed in the execution.

I am guessing that part of the problem might be that such trucks tend to be mom and pop affairs. We take it for granted when we go into a busy fast food restaurant that we will still get served quickly. But the major fast food companies have spent big time money coming up with and implementing the systems that make it possible to handle a large volume of orders quickly. Everything, from the specific equipment they use to the floor plan of how it is set up, is integrated to that purpose. At a casual glance, it all looks very obvious and easy. But, in fact, a great deal of planning and expertise has to go into it. And, while of course, there are plenty of people who have experience working in fast food restaurants, I am not sure that merely working in one or evening managing one would necessarily give one the expertise of being able to come up with something similar from scratch with an entirely different product line and with the logistical limitations of a food truck. So that could be part of it.

Another possibility is that they may be taking the "gourmet" notion a bit too far. Quality often comes at the expense of speed and vice versa. Which is more important largely depends on context. If one is in a nice restaurant and relaxing with friends and enjoying drinks and/or appetizers, speed is not as much of an issue. But I think it is a BIG issue when one is having to stand in line outdoors, especially if there are other things going on. There has to be a happy medium. Perhaps some items are not well suited for the constraints of a food truck. Perhaps instead of taco trucks they would do better with tamale trucks where the product can be prepared slowly and to high standards off site well ahead of time.

But, I agree, unless they find a way to solve the issue of service, most are going to be little more than a fad. There are plenty of people who are like I was - more than willing to try it once because it sounded kinda cool and was different. But to be more than a fad, there has to be a compelling reason for people to come back again and again once the novelty of the first try has worn off.

[renamerusk]

The food truck craze is detrimental to the businesses who have invested in brick and mortar and employees.....I would and generally discourage patronage of food trucks for this reason.

 

I have yet to see any proof at all that the "food truck craze" is detrimental in any meaningful way to brick & mortar businesses. 

 

 

I avoid the food trucks at events now, because I don't want to waste the time waiting for my food. For the amount of time it takes, I would rather go to a restaurant....

 

It may seem that food trucks do no harm, but cities across the nation are rethinking how they impact negatively upon food districts like the CBD or neighborhood food districts.

 

http://abclocal.go.c...tory?id=8910105

http://blogs.metropu...-to-food-t.html

[JBB]

Neither of those articles indicates any kind of trend toward cities rethinking the impact of food trucks.  Both are editorials indicating that *gasp* restaurant owners don't want more competition.  Sure, the SF article has a couple of quotes from city officials, but that hardly indicates any kind of widespread backlash.

 

If any restaurants near the 2 large parks in Fort Worth are real upset about their existence, they've been pretty quiet.  

[renamerusk]

I have yet to see any proof at all that the "food truck craze" is detrimental in any meaningful way to brick & mortar businesses. 

It may seem that food trucks do no harm, but cities across the nation are rethinking how they impact negatively upon food districts like the CBD or neighborhood food districts.

 

Neither of those articles indicates any kind of trend toward cities rethinking the impact of food trucks.  Both are editorials indicating that *gasp* restaurant owners don't want more competition.  Sure, the SF article has a couple of quotes from city officials, but that hardly indicates any kind of widespread backlash......If any restaurants near the 2 large parks in Fort Worth are real upset about their existence, they've been pretty quiet.  

 

The two articles posted (#20) seem more to me to be in the realm of  investigative journalism rather than editorial journalism: Just my guess, but "editorial journalism" would not have a dateline or actual quotes; and would clearly express an opinion.

Nonetheless, the idea whether or not food trucks have an adverse effect on brick and mortar businesses was the consideration. 

 

My thoughts are that food truck are universally beneficial is a fallacy.   Researching this premise to prove this fallacy was not difficult to do; as there are numerous news stories that are readily found in printed and digital media of brick and mortar stores stating that there sells are being adversely impacted by food trucks; and even that employment is at risk.  This is not opinion if they are to be believed; this is actually happening.

As to the premise that food trucks make for better walk-able areas, then the food truck fad, as it is now, is not as beneficial to walk-ability as it may appear. Instead, news stories are being written about food trucks and their propensity of creating considerable disruption to the immediate surroundings when they cluster. Downtown Fort Worth is thought to be a model of walk-able space, yet it did not need food trucks to achieve this image.  There is no need to undermine continuously the success or the potential success of stores in downtown with food trucks; though I would not object to them being placed on lake side or river side.

What makes an area like Magnolia more walkable is that the area be anchored linearly with a  variety of brick and mortar stores that creates its own synenergy or a number of other variables; but a gaudy food truck park or trucks lined along the street is far down the list, if on it at all when it comes to enhancing walk-able areas.

 

Keep Fort Worth folksy
 

[Fort Worthology]

 

What makes an area like Magnolia more walkable is that the area be anchored linearly with a  variety of brick and mortar stores that creates its own synenergy or a number of other variables; but a gaudy food truck park or trucks lined along the street is far down the list, if on it at all when it comes to enhancing walk-able areas.

 

 

 

 

 

What makes an area like Magnolia walkable (and realize this is an oversimplification) is its design - buildings and activated spaces right up on wide, inviting sidewalks, on small streets arrayed in a walkable grid, in tight, dense proximity.

 

Wherever that network of structures and activated spaces is interrupted by a bad sidewalk or a dead parking lot or a blank wall, it suffers.  And one tool in the urbanism kit of parts to fix that sort of thing is a non-permanent/less-permanent "pop-up" activity or business, like a food truck.  They can bring extra life and energy to the street, which benefits *all* businesses nearby.

 

And, they're almost always run by creative local entrepreneurs who might not otherwise have been able to get their business on their feet were it not for the (comparative) affordability of a food truck vs. a brick & mortar store, which helps offset the rising rents of increasingly popular districts and leads to greater diversity in the local scene.  How is allowing creative new voices to enter the market anything but a good thing?  If it ever got to the point where the only people who could afford to run restaurants in Fort Worth's urban neighborhoods were chains and the old guard of big local names, that would be one boring place to be (that's sort of how Sundance Square feels at times, come to think of it...)  And often, their success leads to a new brick & mortar offshoot - in Portland, I enjoyed an outstanding Mexican restaurant that had started as a food truck in a Magnolia-like area.  If not for that, this business might not have existed!

 

Fort Worth so far hasn't been very good at food trucks, but in plenty of other places, the increased popularity of food trucks hasn't caused some terrible die-off of brick & mortar restaurants.  As in many ways in the giant interwoven organism that is an urban place, the extra foot traffic driven by them can benefit everybody.

[johnfwd]

In no way is the following musing intended to diminish the import of the above arguments...my disclaimer.  Recall, if you will, that old episode of The Andy Griffith Show (that great teaching tool!).  The timid struggling salesman  Bert Miller (played by Sterling Holloway) runs around Mayberry with a suitcase full of knick-knacks for sale.  He’s so timid, Aunt Bea has to force him to sell her something.  So Sheriff Andy decides to single-handedly set Bert Miller up with a temporary roof-over-head kiosk right next to Weaver’s Department Store in order to irritate that old crusty codger Ben Weaver.   Salesman Bert Miller successfully draws business away from Ben Weaver by selling goods cheap and giving freebies to the kids.  Of course Weaver is furious and retaliates by doing his own price slashing.  How does this tale end?  Sheriff Andy talks Ben Weaver into hiring Bert Miller as a store sales employee.    My verdict on this timid salesman may be that he doesn’t last very long in a permanent establishment because you can’t change the stripes on a zebra.   Maybe there’s some food for thought here about food truckers.  Then, again, maybe not.

[renamerusk]

And, they're almost always run by creative local entrepreneurs who might not otherwise have been able to get their business on their feet were it not for the (comparative) affordability of a food truck vs. a brick & mortar store, which helps offset the rising rents of increasingly popular districts and leads to greater diversity in the local scene.  How is allowing creative new voices to enter the market anything but a good thing?....  And often, their success leads to a new brick & mortar offshoot - ...

 

I suggest that what you are advocating for can be accomplished by what is being done in Dallas, though I doubt if the concept is a Dallas original idea; it makes sense.  I refer to Trinity Groves, an food service industry incubator.

 

Fort Worth could and should have its own incubator; and do less or nothing more to promote the food truck fad.  I believe that a restaurant incubator would attract an enormous amount of talent and customers; and ultimately create new brick and mortar stores across the city.

 

http://www.trinitygroves.com/

[renamerusk]

Rumor is that the City Council is considering a temporary ban of food trucks in Sundance Square during the week that ESPN will broadcast from Fort Worth its national coverage of the NCAA National Basketball Tournament from AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

 

If true, I think it is the right thing to do.  I have blogged in the past that it is unfair to the brick and mortar food businesses who are invested in downtown.   The food trucks should have a chance at some of the business that the event will generate; but should have that chance at the food truck parks.

[JBB]

Okay, maybe I'm just in the dark or I've been hiding under a rock. Are there any food trucks to actually ban from Sundance? Or better put, has anyone ever seen a food truck in the new plaza?

[Dylan]

If anything, ESPN's arrival should be a rare exception where food trucks be allowed downtown, since regular restaurants will probably be overwhelmed by excessive traffic. But under normal non-event circumstances, I agree food trucks should stay away from urban areas.

 

EDIT TO ADD: I've never seen a food truck downtown either, but I've never been downtown for big events except for the plaza's opening.

[Volare]

Back to this topic, the Food Truck Park of the topic is a goner. Has been for a while. Don't think that was every discussed.

[JBB]

I don't think it even lasted until the end of the summer it opened.

[renamerusk]

Back to this topic, the Food Truck Park of the topic is a goner. Has been for a while. Don't think that was every discussed.

 

 

I don't think it even lasted until the end of the summer it opened.

 

More of an effort on my part to reduce the number of threads by reviving a thread of a similar subject matter.