Are Food Trucks Good for Downtown and/or Brick & Mortar Restaurants? Thoughts?

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Are Food Trucks Good for Downtown and/or Brick & Mortar Restaurants? Thoughts?

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Started 4 months ago by FoodFort
Latest reply from ZHC

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FoodFort

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swansonguy said:
I just heard Paul Liu talk about a project he worked on in Asia. Transforming a storefront overnight and business concept in weeks not months. It can easily take a year to open a restaurant in Columbus. Hopefully we can streamline this process and not pass along the current cumbersome system to the trucks and carts. BTW- downtown MoJoe Lounge can’t wait for another food truck rally at the Columbus Commons!

I second that. A few small tweaks in legislation and policies would make our city much more small business friendly. Add a pinch of proactive customer service from few city departments and some elbow grease then our downtown (and elsewhere) can take off.

Posted 3 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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mikesorboro said:
Same population, what gives?!

Warmer year-round weather? ;)

Seriously though, I agree. The more new businesses the better!

Posted 3 months ago #
drew

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mikesorboro said:
I agree, the more the better! Liz said in an interview for FoodCast recently, "if you build it, they will come." (Thanks for the LNS praise, by the way!) and she's right.

Absolutely. And, in Kenny Kim's (Fresh Street) interview on the same FoodCast, he basically said the same thing. There was no reason to assume that takoyaki and Japanese crepes would inherently appeal to Columbus, but they went for it, did a great job of it, and the customers came.

Food-wise, I think that way too many people underestimate what Columbus is willing to accept, and it bothers me to no end that excessive city regulation is essentially playing a part in keeping people with good ideas from connecting with the community.

Posted 3 months ago #
cheap
Westgate
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rustbelt said:
i guess you two won't be inviting me over for supper.

Probably not. You'd bitch about the food & not even bring a bottle of wine.

maybe,but i would bring my own ashtray,instead of using your floor

Posted 3 months ago #
ZHC
101 East Main Street, Downtown
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I love food trucks, I like the excitement they have brought downtown and to other neighborhoods around town. I actually think they bring more net foot traffic to downtown and help to further establish it as a vibrant dining destination full of choice. I'm not in the restaurant business so I can't say if some businesses have seen their sales negatively impacted by their arrival or not, but I haven't heard of anything so far. If anything I've heard that they've been great for business. More reasons to come downtown, are always welcome.

I think a common sense adjustment to the on-street parking policy seems perfectly reasonable. As a city we should be open to new ideas and change where it makes sense.

However I should note, lost in this discussion is the fact that restaurants aren't the only storefront businesses in downtown, nor the only intended users of said meter parkings spaces. I actually think my industry (retail) might potentially suffer more than restaurants would in an overcrowding/blocking the storefront scenario (which we are obviously nowhere near). There are a couple spots outside our storefront that are very popular with our customers, and if we were to have food trucks use them during our peak hours I'm absolutely sure our business would suffer. But there are also plenty of other spots were it would actually be pretty benefical to us.

Given that there are still a lot of vacant storefronts downtown and hours when storefronts are vacant I think we have plenty of options to work with everybody.

To me the question isn't whether Foodtrucks are good or bad, but rather how do we accomodate their needs and our needs in a mutually benefical way. I think it's very doable.

Bring 'em on I say.

Posted 3 months ago #