The food-truck phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down. Food trucks, as opposed to food carts, are equipped with facilities to store and cook fresh food to order. They may be stand-alone operations or part of a fleet and often serve within a 50-75-mile radius of their home base. On any given day, especially this
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POPULAR STOP: A food-truck event in Lincoln this summer featuring several local trucks, including Championship Melt and Gotta Q, has attracted hundreds of weekly visitors.
/ COURTESY PVD FOOD TRUCK EVENTS/FOODTRUCKSIN.COM[/caption]
“Families came out each Friday night with their kids and pets. It became the place to go and the place for food,” Weiner said.
Similar attendance figures have been reported at one-off events such as the Newport Naval Station’s “Salute to Summer,” which signed up more than 10 trucks this year, twice as many as last year, with entries from as far away as Cape Cod. Weiner’s organization produces food-truck events in several municipalities throughout the state, including Warwick, Scituate, Lincoln, Warren, Burrillville and Pawtucket.
The trucks attract followers in a similar way to restaurants. People enjoy food from their favorite truck and spread the word. They follow the trucks on social media to see where they will be serving next. It is very appealing to attend a summer event or outdoor concert and find a truck serving high-quality, creative cuisine.
This has also created a roadblock in some communities, which seek to regulate the trucks. While the state in July extended a significant helping hand toward the food-truck industry by streamlining the permitting process, there are 39 city and town licensing boards who still hold the keys. Even with the reduced regulations, the state yields to each municipality the authority to regulate the number of trucks, where they may set up, for how long they may sell, and the levying of any applicable fees. At some city and town halls, those in charge of regulation are looking at the trucks as more than just rolling restaurants, attempting to tie issues such as affordability and diversity to the local permitting process.
There is an ongoing debate in Newport about how food trucks operating there should be regulated. Trucks are allowed to vend at events within the city limits, for the most part on private property. And just about everywhere else, they are popular, with sellout crowds a virtual guarantee every time. There is increased demand to allow food trucks on an ongoing basis in neighborhoods, parks and downtown. The City Council has had the issue on its agenda at each meeting since June. The council also held a workshop on how it might craft a new ordinance that would answer the needs and objections of residents, restaurateurs and food-truck operators. However, there still is no resolution in sight. n
Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” radio talk show is heard Saturdays at 11 a.m. on 1540 AM WADK, on radio throughout New England, through various mobile applications and his podcast. Email Bruce at Bruce@brucenewbury.com.