It should come as no surprise that more DC residents support DC food trucks than voted for Obama in the last election. 🙂  (94.22% versus 90.91%)

The Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington combed through the public comments and published this press release (pdf).

Today is the grand opening of SOL Mexican Grill‘s brick and mortar shop! It is located on H Street NE at 1251 H st NE (the old Danny’s Carry-out spot).  District Cuisine has some photos of the new digs. SOL Mexican Grill joins the ranks of several other DC food trucks that graduated to open brick and mortar stores.  Other food trucks that have gone on to open brick & mortar locations include: El Floridano (Mothership), Pleasant Pops, PORC (Kangaroo Boxing Club), DC Empanadas, Curbside Cupcakes and District Taco.

Once again, this is proof that food trucks are restaurant incubators and that any city wishing to restrict food trucks are damaging the future of their retail prosperity.

It’s that time of the year again!  Mark you calendars because April 19th is DC’s first Truckeroo of 2013.  From 11am – 11pm, Truckeroo will feature over 20 of DC’s best food trucks along with ample covered and uncovered seating and free admission.  The party is located next to the Navy Yard/Ballpark metro entrance at 1299 Half Street Southeast, Washington, DC 20003.

The truck line-up for April 19 includes:

Citing a scheduling conflict, the Committee on Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs chaired by Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large) postponed a public hearing set for April 30 which would go over the proposed food truck regulations and community feedback. That in of itself isn’t a big deal, but no alternate date was immediately announced, leaving some to wonder if it will ever be rescheduled.

Meanwhile, Arlington is planning on loosening up food truck restrictions by allowing them to park and serve for 2 hours instead of the current 1 hour time limit.

Thanks to Jason for the Arlington story!

Goodies Frozen Custard & Treats returned to regular service this week just in time for the 80 degree weather! Not only did they find a new driver :), but they are also serving red velvet donuts this week out of their vintage van. Shakes and frozen custard round out the menu.

Arlington food trucks fans: don’t despair! You can grab some red velvet donuts from Mamas Donut Bites today, too.

Would you like to see #FarragutFriday reduced to just 3 food trucks?  Do you think that the DC government can do a better job allocating food trucks around the city than trucks are doing on their own right now?

The proposed DC food truck regulations were meant to elevate DC’s gourmet food trucks from being governed like old school ice cream trucks.  The biggest complaint was having police force food trucks to pack up and move because they didn’t have a line of customers 100% of the time.

By the 4th revision of the proposed regulations, we’ve ended up with limited zones, unreasonable sidewalk restrictions, and an income generating lottery for the city.  Many mainstream media editorials put it best by saying, Why exactly do we have a need to regulate food trucks again?

Public comments are due by 5pm today (4/8) and can be sent to: Mr. Helder Gil, Legislative Affairs Specialist, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, at  DCVendingRegs@dc.gov.

Talking points (direct link to proposed regulations @ DCRA – look for the Related Documents section at the bottom)

• Don’t restrict food trucks in the most popular locations – eliminate the lottery system
• Don’t ban food trucks from serving from within 500 feet of lottery-assigned spaces
• Reduce the 10 foot unobstructed sidewalk rule, especially in areas where there are not street level retail, and not food options
• DO update the rules to remove the requirement that a food truck must have a line of customers
• DO require appropriate health permits and permitting checks to ensure public health and safety

 The Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington updated two websites yesterday:

www.DMVFTA.org – sign up for the association’s email list.

www.SaveDCFoodTrucks.org – seeking $5 donations to help fight the Mayor’s regulations by buying basic materials like posters, fliers and stickers.

If you’re not already signed up for the email list, an email went out this morning from Doug Povich, co-owner of the Red Hook Lobster Pound food truck.  His email can be summed up by this: Today, my food truck is being pushed towards extinction. Mayor Gray’s proposed regulations would base my business’ success and failure on the luck of winning a lottery rather than on the quality of our food.

The full text of the email is here (after the more link):

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Two new trucks are coming this spring/summer to Montgomery County: LA Taco Truck and Tempo Di Pasta! LA Taco is being run by restaurant veterans looking to get back to serving their favorite Southwestern American cuisine (menu is here).  Details for Tempo Di Pasta are coming soon.