Street meat

[hilldweller]

Was glad to see Hot Dog Guy back on the street of my food-barren town today. After a two week absense I was worried the Board of Health shut him down over a permit or something, or that he just decided on a better location with fewer drug addicts. His steamed natural casing dogs are excellent, and he's got the requisite condiments: regular and spicy mustard, ketchup, raw and sauteed onions, sauerkraut, relish and hot relish (a relevation!), even chili and cheese sauce. I've always been a big fan of street meats, for the same reason I like campfire cooking: for whatever reason, food cooked and consumed outside seems to just taste better, even something as simple as hot dogs and a can of beans. For now Hot Dog Guy will have to do, but I'm hoping for a vendor with grilling capabilities for steak hoagies, burgers, tacos, gyros- anything like that. I just don't know if that kind of operation would be kosher with the powers that be, plus the local restauranteurs would probably cry foul. What say you of street meats and mobile food trucks in general? And if you want to go all Serious Planner, AICP feel free to discuss the impact of mobile food vendors on community character and all that crap...

[otterpop]

I enjoy a good street vendor hot dog sometimes. I especially like when the vending cart resembles a hot dog. The local hot dog establishment dowtown went toes-up last year, so their cart will be absent this summer. The summer weekly street festival starts soon, so the food trucks will make their appearances. Some are good and some not so. The Farmer's Market is downtown again starting this week, which means I can once again have the pork on a stick, which is very nice - a couple of thick hunks of grilled pork on a skewer. MMMM.

[kjel]

I love street food!

My favorite near my office is Tony's Hotdog truck right next to Branchbrook Park (Olmstead ). $2 will get you a fully loaded kosher dog, I like mine spicy thank you very much with Dr. Brown's Cream Soda to wash it down. A few blocks away there is a truck that does fresh squeezed tropical juices for $2-3 and is delicious as well. In the evening there is a truck that sells pinchos which are more or less grilled skewers of marinated meat that hail from Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic. There is a pretty decent kabob/gyro cart right next to Newark City Hall too. Let us not forget Rutgers has the infamous Grease Trucks that sell "Fat" sandwiches for $5.

Lawrence, MA has a huge Dominican population and the food truck is all about the "chimichurri", no it's not the Argentinian sauce, it's the Dominican version of the hamburger and it's super delicious! NYC has a crazy amount of food trucks and street vendors, hands down my favorite is the Wafel & Dinges truck. It wanders around so you have to check the website, FB, or Twitter which is half the fun.

Some of the best meals I've had have been on the roadside throughout South Asia, often for less than 50 cents.

[imaplanner]

if you want to go all Serious Planner, AICP feel free to discuss the impact of mobile food vendors on community character and all that crap...

Does the hot dog vendor provide parking? Does he conform to the design standards that are typical for development in the area? Where do the employees of the hot dog cart go to the bathroom? Are they allowed on the sidewalk? Do they impede pedestrian traffic and ADA traffic? Is the cart subject to the same signage standards that traditional commercial businesses are subject to? does the cart stay in one location overnight? Where does the cart go during its off hours? Is it parked in a residential area thereby making a residential property into a commercial property? Most importantly are the hot dogs delicious?

[Richmond Jake]

They are a nuisance and present an unfair advantage over brick and mortar businesses.

[Planit]

http://sustainablecitiescollective.c...ons-city-parks
Food Trucks Bring New Patrons to City Parks

The second season of the Prospect Park Food Truck Rally launched this Sunday in balmy spring weather. On the third Sunday of each month from April through October, sixteen gourmet food trucks will greet crowds of eager New Yorkers at Grand Army Plaza, a paved area at the Park’s main entrance. Though the Food Truck Rally was initially designed to be a one-time event last May, it has become a monthly fixture in the park in response to its overwhelming success.

Across the nation, food trucks are increasingly popular in city parks. A new type of vendor is energizing park patrons, offering new options over and above the typical hot dog/pretzel fare, including everything from locally sourced Vietnamese cuisine (at Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway) to lobster rolls (at the Prospect Park Food Truck Rally).

Concession amenities of all kinds can support parks’ success by attracting attendance and extending the length of stay, creating concentrated hubs of activity. A high quality and diverse food selection can increase these benefits, and food trucks can provide opportunities to enhance both. With their inherent portability and commercial-grade kitchen equipment, food trucks can combine the flexibility of temporary concessions with the food quality of more permanent venues. A rotating core of vendors can expand the variety of concession offerings in a given location, and while vehicles of any kind can feel aesthetically out-of-place in park environments, food trucks can be positioned in highly trafficked hardscapes adjacent to or within parks . . .

[imaplanner]

So every time I see this thread title I keep thinking that street meat is some type of reference to something else.

[kjel]

So every time I see this thread title I keep thinking that street meat is some type of reference to something else.

That was my first inclination given the communities I work in

[Zoning Goddess]

I have some deficient gene, I guess, that makes me overly-research anyplace I'm going. Last week, on the National Mall, I was hungry for lunch, RJ wasn't, I was looking for all the street vendors that should have been there. I'd have been happy for a hot dog and a coke. Nope. Guess it was the unusually cold, windy, wet weather. Not a one was open. He ended up sitting with me while I ate an overpriced (not ala-carte) lunch from Mcdonalds in the National Air and Space Museum. Where the hell were all the food trucks???

[hilldweller]

So every time I see this thread title I keep thinking that street meat is some type of reference to something else.

What are you trying to say?

In truth, my brother-in-law refers to the sausage vendors outside Fenway Park as "street meat" and it cracks me up, so I thought I'd use it as a thread title. Trust me, there's no double entendre implied.... ok maybe it's a little deliberately sketchy.

[ofos]

Don't want to out anyone but there is a picture of one of our own at a food truck in the APA website conference pics.

[Whose Yur Planner]

Don't want to out anyone but there is a picture of one of our own at a food truck in the APA website conference pics.

Dang it, you got me curious and I had to go look at the pix. Now you're not going to tell us who it is.

[Richmond Jake]

Dang it, you got me curious and I had to go look at the pix. Now you're not going to tell us who it is.

Go back and read the captions...I think it will become obvious.

[ofos]

Dang it, you got me curious and I had to go look at the pix. Now you're not going to tell us who it is.

Go back and read the captions...I think it will become obvious.

Listen to RJ, he didn't become a PD for nothing. He can read too.

[short timer]

I've always referred to hot dogs purchased from a cart as a "rat dog" but "street meat" encompasses the whole range of meat based street food. When in NYC I'll always pause for a Sabrette (sp?) hot dog from a cart.

[kjel]

Listen to RJ, he didn't become a PD for nothing. He can read too.

Spotted