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Reality check: Plan for Capitol Hill street food court on Broadway hits bumps

Lest CHS be accused of civic sensationalism, we try to follow up on some of the fantastic (and less so!) ideas that people float across Capitol Hill. With another for the civic fantasy file coming in this weekend — a year-round Capitol Hill Block Party in Pike/Pine? — we thought it might be good to check in with another recent urban planner fever dream: the city’s plan to invite street food entrepreneurs to set up shop on Broadway and create a Capitol Hill street food court.



Julia’s in Springtime

Originally uploaded by nanoflux

“We have to go through huge hoops with the city, health department and other agencies to get our licenses, and pay a lot of money to serve food in the city of Seattle,” said Karsten Betd, co-owner of Julia’s on Broadway. “Some of us have lost 10 to 20 percent of our business already, because of the economy and [light rail] construction. We’re still here, we’re stuck in our leases for five, 10 or 15 years. Put more competition in there, and what are we going to do?”

Another Broadway restaurant owner declined to be identified because, as the owner told us, their long-running restaurant needs all the business it can get and can’t afford any backlash sparked by opposition to the popular street food plan.

“I honestly feel, in this business climate at this particular point in time, the last thing we need is more competition from operations that haven’t put in near the amount of time and money that [Broadway restaurants] have invested,” said the restaurateur. “The time and money spent on equipment, lavatories, garbage pickup, water and many other things needed to run a business… the costs street vendors will pay pales in comparison to what brick and mortar businesses are paying.”

Michael Wells, president of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, said that the community’s overall opinion on the matter is so divided that the Chamber is not able or willing to take an official stance on the issue at this time. The Broadway Business Improvement Association, also headed by Wells, hasn’t chosen a side, either.

“Neither one has taken a stance, and I don’t know if either one will,” said Wells.

Brick and mortar businesses, said Wells, are concerned that moving food vendors with lower price points and lowered standards from the Health Department will run them out of business.

“Some of the folks working in the traditional realm feel nervous about a shifting dynamic in the way people think about the dining experience and pricing. That’s justified,” said Wells. “It’s a difficult time for all small businesses. If it feels like an unfair playing field and there are certain inequities in the way a business is run, I can respect and understand those concerns.”

While the Chamber does recognize the struggles that brick and mortar restaurants could face with an increased amount of competition, part of their mission is to evaluate what’s best for the neighborhood, which could mean increased foot traffic and vitality, a proven outcome in other cities like Portland that offer food truck service.

“It’s very interesting, the way that [street food vendors] could activate spaces and create new food experiences,” said Wells. “It’s a valid economic model and very sexy right now. People are excited about it.”

One compromise being discussed that could lessen the blow of increased competition is a full-blown street fair, where people could sell things like watches, t-shirts and other goods, much like New York City. This could bring more foot traffic to the area and give people from outside the city more of a reason to visit — and eat.

An issue that hasn’t been fully addressed by DPD regarding street food vendors is bathroom accessibility. The city famously tried — and failed — to offer sanitary public restrooms on Broadway once before, but now, outside of Cal Anderson, bathroom options are limited to paying customers in brick and mortar businesses. If food vendors are serving food outside, where will their employees use the restrooms and wash their hands? Where will their customers go? Some restaurants fear that those customers will roam Broadway, going into other businesses just to use their bathrooms. Business owners are also worried about increased trash in the streets and wonder who will pick it up.

“I’ve been to Portland and other places near fast food or quick service areas, and there’s trash everywhere, it’s rather unsightly,” said the anonymous restaurant owner. “It doesn’t smell good, there is water in the streets… it’s unsanitary, a huge health risk and a nuisance.”

One thing to keep in mind while debating the pros and cons of the issue, said Wells, is to “level the playing field and play fair.” That statement can be used on both sides of the argument.

“I think these are all real world concerns and needed to be respected as such,” said Wells. “These restaurant owners put their heart, soul and family savings into creating a business on Broadway.”

UPDATE:
We received this e-mail from the new owner of the Broadway Grill who read this post and wanted to add his voice to the conversation. If you have have more to say and want to let us know about it, you can reach us at [email protected]

As a brand new business owner of one of the largest restaurants on Broadway, I understand the concerns of my fellow Broadway restaurant owners.  I get that it is incredibly expensive to run an establishment on the hill.  When first taking over the grill, I was shocked by the amount of rent/taxes etc. that has to be paid monthly, but that is the price you pay for guaranteed foot traffic.  On the other hand, I sympathize with the community about wanting food cart vendors.  I too enjoy a greasy hot dog slathered with cream cheese upon leaving The Cuff after one too many vodka tonics.  Isn’t there a solution that would favor everyone?  Perhaps we could have a tax for the food vendors to pay for extra garbage clean-up and help “level the playing field” so to speak.  I think that if we do accept the food vendor idea, they should be responsible for supplying compostable utensils and food containers that would help with the amount of waste created.  I also am interested in the street fair concept.  I think that both are wonderful ideas to help increase the popularity of Capitol Hill.  After living in New York for five years and spending a lot of time in Portland, the street activities were some of my favorite things in both cities.  The street fair concept would help limit the amount of food carts allowed possibly helping to ease the amount of competition for Capitol Hill restaurants, also helping to fill the “dead zone” between John and SCCC until the light rail construction is finished.  To me, this is not a problem…this is an opportunity for growth.  Re-evaluating how we run our businesses could be the best thing that ever happened to us.  Why is everyone so afraid of change?

To close, I would like to caution others of the criticism towards Michael Wells and The Capitol Hill Chamber, they are working to find a solution that will benefit everyone.  If you have a comment or criticism, attend a meeting and let your voice be heard.

Matthew Walsh
Owner
The Broadway Grill

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pips
pips
13 years ago

I understand these business owners concerns, but really, honestly, food carts won’t hurt your business.

Portland did a comprehensive study on the effects of food carts on neighborhoods, business, and the economy. The results were overwhelmingly supportive all around for food carts. A huge majority of established restaurants – 69% – have a positive or very positive impression of surrounding food carts. A whopping 94% of non-restaurant businesses have positive or very positive views of surrounding food carts. Add in the busiess opportunities for food cart owners and employees, and food carts are good for business and the economy all around.

The only major negatives found in the study were lack of trash bins, lack of seating (even though over 80% of food cart patrons get food to-go), and non-recyclable food containers since food carts don’t have room to wash a lot of dishes – they follow the same health regulations as everyone else.

Those problems are relatively easy to solve: require food carts to have compostable utensils and maintain proper composting bins, and provide at least a few seats.

Portland 2007 food cart study (PDF): http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?a=200738&c=52798

zeebleoop
13 years ago

play fair? what’s unfair about competition? it’s one of the core principles our economic system is based on.

besides, there’s a big difference between someone wanting to get a hot dog or sandwich from a street cart and a person going to julia’s for a sit-down meal. if these other businesses want to compete, they should put a cart outside of their restaurants. they can serve “street food” while not taking away from their sit-down business. if their offerings are any good, the community will choose them; otherwise they’ll go out of business. and that’s just business.

so stop whining and think of creative solutions to survive. and michael wells – “president of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, said that the community’s overall opinion on the matter is so divided that the Chamber is not able or willing to take an official stance on the issue at this time” – pick a side and help move the issue along.

Anonymous
Anonymous
13 years ago

If someone is not willing to go on record, then they didn’t say it.

If that anonymous person trashes the whole concept of food carts with nothing in the piece from the other side of the argument, then it’s not journalism.

Anonymous
Anonymous
13 years ago

What’s the point of the chamber if they don’t take a stance?

Ella
Ella
13 years ago

I love the idea of food carts I agree with other CHS readers the other Broadway eateries should be excited about this as it will bring new people which is exposure. I find that going to some of the Broadway resteraunts the prices are too high for what you get (this includes service). The street vendors is going to far if you want to be like NY you may want to reconsider the idea. New York started the concept of street vendors which then became Canal Street famous for high crime, counterfeit items, and police raids. I’m not sure this is what they meant my saying street fair but it is what comes to mind. The last thing the hill needs is fake Louis Vuitton and Coach bags to go with a nice food court.

yancy
yancy
13 years ago

So there is actually a plan to make Broadway look like the sad end of a shopping mall? I guess that explains why all the soap stores and newsstands are closing while the food vendors keep coming…

I like to eat and drink, but a series of bars and restaurants is not a neighborhood.

maus
maus
13 years ago

Do you seriously not understand the difference between street food and a minimall food court?

maus
maus
13 years ago

“I honestly feel, in this business climate at this particular point in time, the last thing we need is more competition from operations that haven’t put in near the amount of time and money that [Broadway restaurants] have invested,” said the restaurateur. “The time and money spent on equipment, lavatories, garbage pickup, water and many other things needed to run a business… the costs street vendors will pay pales in comparison to what brick and mortar businesses are paying.”

While I sympathize with some restaurants, sometimes I don’t want to pay 11$ for a late-night snack. 3-4$? Yes.

CaptainChaos
13 years ago

perhaps I’m too much of a Democrat, but when exactly did the businesses on Broadway and the Chamber of Commerce gain the right to determine what does and does not take place in our neighborhood? As someone who’s lived off Broadway for several years now, I can tell you there’s only so many times one can sit down at the same restaurants. Further, the availability of cheap, tasty eats on the go is woefully lacking. After all, who really thinks anyone on their way to the Broadway Bar and Grill for a meal with friends would be waylaid by a taco truck? Give the community what we want, which is more choices. I for one reject the notion that Capitol Hill businesses have the right to tell us what can and cannot exist in our neighborhood.

tco
tco
13 years ago

If we have tons of street vendors we most certainly count on tons of trash. The PikePine area is already full of litter and a street-vendor food court will amplify that many times over.

josh
josh
13 years ago

yes, stifling competition and innovation is just what Broadway needs to maintain its trajectory as the Capitol Hill’s premier destination for abandoned storefronts.

For a neighborhood that often touts its “vibrancy”, these comments reflect a shocking degree of protectionism (for what?) and lack of imagination. I don’t know that a foodcart foodcourt is what it will take to bring some life back to Broadway, but it’s worth a shot and is by definition transitory enough for experimentation.

maus
maus
13 years ago

“If we have tons of street vendors we most certainly count on tons of trash.”

Specious reasoning, portland does it just fine.

SS
SS
13 years ago

uh ok – and you posted your comment anonymously. I guess you didn’t really say anything.

anonymous
anonymous
13 years ago

How does that make you a democrat? Democrats just forced a healthcare bill on us so forcing something should be easy for you.

maus
maus
13 years ago

“How does that make you a democrat?”

Wanting actual competition.

“Democrats just forced a healthcare bill on us so forcing something should be easy for you.”

Technically, blue dogs and the few republicans that dominated that bill aren’t what most people think of when people say “Democrats”. Most of the bill was forced on Dems as well.

Michael Wells
Michael Wells
13 years ago

When there is an actual ordinance in front of the Mayor and City Council then the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce will have a stated position to present w/ public comments. Until then we’re having conversations with business owners and the City to try and explore some very complex issues. We’d urge everyone else to do the same. Seattle’s public process is designed so that all citizens have an opportunity to speak directly to City officials. All business owners, residents and food minded folk should participate in that process around this issue.

Whenever a Mom & Pop business owner speaks to City Hall an angel gets its wings…

bunny
bunny
13 years ago

I really think food carts would help restore some of the vibrancy that’s been missing from Broadway. This could make Broadway a destination again and that would only be good for the brick and mortar business owners. I get where they’re coming from- people don’t understand how crazy expensive it is for small business in Seattle but, the street carts are really a different experience from a sit-down meal with full service.

njoy
13 years ago

If the food vendors create better food than Julia’s (which shouldn’t be hard) then I say it will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Julia’s creates barely edible, disgusting food in a noxious environment. Maybe Julia’s should quit whining about competition and step up their game so they can compete in the market.

bb
bb
13 years ago

I know three Portland restaurant owners and they would all strongly disagree that the food carts have only a limited impact on their businesses. If you think this is a fair system, to allow competitors to set up shop across the street from you and not pay any rent, then you’re clearly not a business owner. The amount of taxes and permits we have to pay are daunting and play no small part in keeping this city going. Want to see more “for lease” signs on Broadway? Great, let the food carts in and watch half the brick and mortars go out of business.
It’s not about anyone “stepping up their game”, it’s about a fair playing field. Allow someone to open up in a high rent area without paying rent and watch those businesses that support this community go under. Just because something is a popular idea doesn’t make it right. Look at how many Tim Eyeman proposals have passes – have those had a net positive effect on your city?!

njoy
njoy
13 years ago

“I honestly feel, in this business climate at this particular point in time, the last thing we need is more competition from operations that haven’t put in near the amount of time and money that [Broadway restaurants] have invested,” said the restaurateur. “The time and money spent on equipment, lavatories, garbage pickup, water and many other things needed to run a business… the costs street vendors will pay pales in comparison to what brick and mortar businesses are paying.”

I honestly feel that your restaurant must be total crap, like most of the restaurants on Broadway, and that this just may be what we need to get some decent food on the hill.

G
G
13 years ago

Agreed. I’ve found Julia’s to be a loud and obnoxious neighbour with food that rates somewhere well south of mediocre. Besides – I am sorry, but I believe that the needs and desires of residents will always trump this sort of argument from business. The fact that the community wants street food should be enough and establishments such as Julia’s that can’t adjust to the needs and desires of the neighbourhoods they operate in them should go ahead and pack it in.

emartin
emartin
13 years ago

I didn’t want to be the one that said it, but I agree. If you make a good product at a good price point. People will buy.
If you make crap at a good location, well… people will come. Only to never come back. Not to single Julias out, but they have a niche with drag performances and decently priced drinks. The location, sidewalk seating, and space is great. The food and the prices attached to it, aren’t. This is true to not only other places on Broadway, but all over the city.

josh
josh
13 years ago

If the admittedly expensive advantages of things like a roof, tables, chairs, a bar, a waitstaff, and full kitchen don’t allow a restaurant to compete with food slung from a trailer onto a dusty lot, then the problem might be more with the permanent business than with the hypothetical food truck.

bb
bb
13 years ago

The problem is it’s not going to be slung from some remote dusty lot. Noones got a problem with that. It’s going to be slung from an area where businesses are paying very high rents. And it’s most likely going to take away parking spaces that these businesses desperately need for customer parking.
Would it be OK for someone to open up a haircutting truck in front of a barber shop and charge half as much because they’re not paying rent, utilities, permits, etc? Would that be fair? Why is this any different?

njoy
13 years ago

Bottom line is if the community wants it, then the community should be allowed to have it. If restaurant owners in the neighborhood weren’t so gdamned lazy and created something actually worth eating then maybe the community wouldn’t be looking for other options. The entirety of the restaurants on Broadway are just plain awful. Seriously there is not a single one that i would even consider eating at. I might as well eat at Dick’s if I am going to eat along Broadway. At least then I would be paying the right price for the crappy food.

Mike with curls
Mike with curls
13 years ago

The two times I have gotten sick with low level food poisoning have been from street sold food.

Hey, how about them apples. I think it is lack of good commercial quality cooling storage.

Funny, talking about street food for 3-4 dollars, and quality food dining all in the same breath. Very amusing. For 40.00 there is tons of very fine dinner in Seattle. For 3-4 not so much, sorry.

bb
bb
13 years ago

njoy –

i don’t think the issue is quality, i think the issue is price. if you can’t find anything you want to eat on the whole of broadway then i doubt a food cart would provide you with what you’re looking for. the bottom line is, people would rather pay less for their food. well hell, who wouldn’t? i’d rather pay less for everything. but if the food carts hurt the brick-and-mortar restaurants that support this city, what happens then? who on earth would spend the money to open a new restaurant when a cart has free reign to come in and poach your customers?

Phil Mocek
13 years ago

The issue may not be price or quality but price-to-quality ratio.

Phil Mocek
13 years ago

BB wrote, “Would it be OK for someone to open up a haircutting truck in front of a barber shop and charge half as much because they’re not paying rent, utilities, permits, etc? Would that be fair? Why is this any different?”

Restaurants sell food, drink, table service, and hospitality. They sell a dining experience. Food carts just sell food.

Let’s tweak your analogy a bit. Pretend that barber shops were known primarily for selling hair care products and providing a place for people to use those products, though most customers received quite a bit of personal service in the process of buying those products. Now, say a cart opened up in front of a barber shop and sold a very limited array of hair care products without all that personal service. If the barber lost a significant amount of business to the street vendor, it would seem that the customers simply didn’t want to pay for all that personal service and extensive menu of products. Either they don’t want it at all, or it’s not worth the asking price to them.

You present food carts as restaurants without the burdens of “rent, utilities, etc.” Consider that they are food service establishments without the luxuries of roofs, seating, alcohol sales, large numbers of staff, large kitchens, and large amounts of storage. Of course a restaurant will have to pay for all that. The question is: What are they doing with it? If those luxuries are not cost effective, then we probably need fewer restaurants and more food carts.

Phil Mocek
13 years ago

I want very much for the businesses of Broadway to succeed. They’re my neighbors, so I’m somewhat protective of them, and I fear the alternatives that might replace them (and the effects of their space sitting empty, though I would expect rents to drop if demand for property dropped, attracting new businesses who wouldn’t pay the previously-inflated rents). But if a restaurant can’t compete with someone selling food out of a cart or a truck, I think that restaurant needs to take a serious look at its business model. Of all the things a restaurant sells, only two — food and food preparation — would be offered by food carts.

Restaurants of Broadway: You have many things that a food cart will never have. Please use them to your advantage. If a food cart’s food is better than yours, buy from its suppliers and/or hire its staff to prepare food as part of your business. I’d be sorry to see you go, but if you’re not offering what people want at the price they’re willing to pay, and someone else is, you’ve been very fortunate to last this long. Please don’t ask me to bar that other party from doing business in our neighborhood just to keep your apparently-flawed business model viable.

If the restaurants of Broadway cannot compete with food carts, the problem is probably not the arrival of food carts, but a surplus of restaurants.

PLF
PLF
13 years ago

money money money. the political powers are not going to push for a street fair, because unlike the “nightlife initiative” thing with nightclub owners, the would-be food vendors didn’t lobby and campaign finance the shit out of them.
probably both have the exact same popular support, and would have the exact same impact on the neighborhood other than who reaps the profits.

but as for the “community” getting what it wants, let’s see:
community businesses: don’t want the competition
community residents: don’t want the noise/inconvenience
community landlords (who probably live in the suburbs, but they own land there at least): don’t want the first two categories to pay less for rent
people that DONT live there, work there, or own there: want it! fun! yay! but probably wouldn’t want their own street closed off every night

bb
bb
13 years ago

well, that’s my whole point. of course people will pay less if given an opportunity to do so, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the right thing for a community when it harms businesses that support that community.

“… then we probably need fewer restaurants and more food carts.”

what a wonderful thing to say to someone who dropped a half million to open up a business BEFORE there was talk of food carts.

like i said, if this seems like a fair thing to do you’re probably not a business owner. you don’t need to lose ALL of your sales to have your business become insolvent – usually 20% will do the job nicely.

Phil Mocek
13 years ago

I suggested that if the luxuries restaurants have and food carts don’t have (e.g., roofs, seating, alcohol sales, large numbers of staff, large kitchens, and large amounts of storage) don’t make the restaurants more valuable than food carts, then we may need fewer restaurants and more food carts.

BB sarcastically responded, “what a wonderful thing to say to someone who dropped a half million to open up a business BEFORE there was talk of food carts.”

I didn’t say it to anyone in particular. BB, are you suggesting that there are people who might have started a business running a food cart if only there had been talk of such several years ago, but since there wasn’t, those people instead spent hundreds of thousands of additional dollars to start restaurants? If so, that’s really unfortunate, but do you really think we should continue to bar this other type of business (food carts) just because people invested lots of money in the infrastructure needed to provide services that many of the rest of us don’t really want (the things that restaurants have that food carts will never have)?

CaptainChaos
13 years ago

Since it isn’t obvious enough: the fact that I want the community to decide what does and does not go into our neighborhood, rather than allowing business to dictate that is your answer. And…what exactly does listening to the CapHill community about our desire for more food alternatives have to do with healthcare?

njoy
13 years ago

Your argument is weak. I have gotten food poisoning several times and every single time has been from a meal served in a sit down restaurant.

Mike perhaps you aren’t aware but there is some very fine food being slung out of trucks in Seattle and beyond. Food that I would eat any day over the crap served along Broadway. Seriously, the food is disgusting coming out of these long running Seattle establishments. They should be ashamed of the quality they serve. It’s pathetic. I hope we get these carts and I hope that these carts do put these assholes out of business because as far as I am concerned they are doing NOTHING for the community.

njoy
13 years ago

The issue is quality not price. I can afford to eat at any of these restaurants along Broadway. I choose not to eat in any of the establishments along Broadway because the quality is so poor. Honestly if the food court has carts such as Marination Mobile or Skillet I would eat there every day of the week happily. It is not the cheapest of street food but it is absolutely delicious. These restaurant owners should be ashamed of the food they put out. Up the ante people and create something actually worth eating and then maybe your business will succeed. Why should I have to settle for your crappy food when people are “slinging food from a dusty lot” that is infinitely better than the crap you serve.

njoy
13 years ago

And another thing bb-
I don’t know if you are one of the owners of the shoddy establishments or not, but if you are, you should know that since moving to Seattle from NYC, I have learned to cook the meals that my community can’t seem to get it together to serve. It’s not because I wanted to learn, it was out of necessity. I literally would get disgusted every time I went out. I am your target customer. I am a late 20-ish professional who owns in your neighborhood. If you can not get people like me to eat in your restaurant then there is something seriously wrong with what you are doing as a business owner.

mike begley
mike begley
13 years ago

I’m all for the food carts, but the economic reality about their potential to unfairly impact existing businesses is there.

Competition is unfair when one side has to play by stricter, more costly rules than another. In this case, the food carts at the moment are able to externalize a lot of their costs, such as waste management and rent, essentially by taking from the public (their spots take up a public parking spot or other public land, and a lot more waste just becomes litter which is then managed by the city). A more formal restaurant has to bear costs of rent and waste, while a food cart can pass those costs off to the public.

On the otherhand, a well-managed food cart environment can improve the playing field for everyone, simply by bringing in more traffic. I suspect that Fremont restaurants do much better due to their Sunday Market, just because of the number of people brought into the area, despite the presence of food carts, just because the event draws so many people into the neighborhood.

*
*
13 years ago

dude you are insane. these carts wouldn’t cause a peep on anyone’s radar if they were serving their food from a regular restaurant. but do something trendy like serve it from a cart and fools like you line up to drink the kool aid.

njoy
13 years ago

Ha. Yeah that’s it. I really like to eat at these carts because I really like to “follow trends”. I don’t come from a city that sells street food on every corner. Nope. This is an entirely new concept for me.
I will say it again and again. The restaurants on Broadway are disgusting places with food fit for dogs. A few of these mobile food stands are actually creating decent food at a decent price point and I support them wholly. If the Restaurants can’t compete they can close up shop and I will not blink an eye.

Anonymous
Anonymous
13 years ago

What does listening to the community have to do with you being a democrat?

calhoun
13 years ago

I agree that in general there aren’t many quality places along Broadway, but to state that all are terrible is just not accurate. Olivar and Poppy to the north are excellent restaurants, if kind of pricey. You can get very good pizza and salads at Pagliacci. The place formerly named El Greco (can’t remember its new name…? “411”) is fine, and further south Tidbit (in its new location) and Rosebud (just off B’Way on Pine) have great food at moderate prices.

That said, I agree that Julia’s food and service is terrible. Whenever I walk by there and see someone outside looking at the menu, trying to decide to go in or not, I always feel like yelling “No! No!”

njoy
13 years ago

calhoun-

You are right, Poppy is ok. Poppy is one of the ONLY restaurants though that is worth dining at for the money. That said Poppy was a huge disappointment for me. Maybe I went on an off night, but the food was not as good as I hoped it would be. And I enjoy Indian cuisine. I have had brunch several times at Olivar, each time being mediocre at best. But you are right these places are not too bad. They are of the few places I would eat in the neighborhood if I had to. But Ha. Pagliaccia? seriously? Pagliacci has the grossest pizza in the world. Julia’s, Deluxe, Broadway Grill, Charlies are all disgusting. Ugh Rom Mai Thai is bland, Hana has awful service and mediocre sushi, 419 is over priced and not very good. Where else? They are pretty much all shit. Seattle needs to get some standards!

maus
maus
13 years ago

“What does listening to the community have to do with you being a democrat?”

Well, not the corporatist versions, obviously.

maus
maus
13 years ago

“The two times I have gotten sick with low level food poisoning have been from street sold food.”

Good for you. I’ve eaten street food continuously from Miami, Seattle, and Portland whenever I can, I’ve never gotten food poisoning from any vendor.

To the other poster:

“dude you are insane. these carts wouldn’t cause a peep on anyone’s radar if they were serving their food from a regular restaurant. but do something trendy like serve it from a cart and fools like you line up to drink the kool aid.”

Regular restaurants don’t serve everything the street foods have at the price points the carts offer, and at the times the carts are around.

Don’t be such a dullard. I’m sure hot dogs are a “fad” and the need for cheap drunk food is going to go away ANY DAY NOW.

maus
maus
13 years ago

“If the restaurants of Broadway cannot compete with food carts, the problem is probably not the arrival of food carts, but a surplus of restaurants.”

The problem is not even so much a surplus of restaurants, but a surplus of bland restaurants. I like Julias for its shows, but honestly the menu has never wowed me. Charlies? Ungh, do they make anything from scratch, or does the Sysco truck just deliver everything frozen and in pouches?

I guess if these places had chain prices, I wouldn’t be as disappointed.

lookingforlogic
13 years ago

I am a landscaper and my industry has had tremendous change and cheap competition. It is not easy but I adapt. I had a terrible time 3 years ago when my employees jumped ship to the restaurant industry because they could make $200 plus a night at a restaurant versus heavy hot manual labor working construction & gardening.

Adapt or die. Declare bankruptcy and start a food truck.