Sacto MoFo

An estimated gathering of 10,000 hungry people converged on Fremont Park in Sacramento last Saturday for the Sacramento Mobile Food Festival. 21 mobile food trucks participated, offering items such as escargot lollipops, lobster cappuccino, and tikka masala. For the less adventurous, there were chicken skewers, mini-burgers, and plenty of tacos with a variety of preparations to satisfy your hunger. What's not to like, right? How about waiting in lines up to 2 hours just to get your order in? Or how about learning that the truck you really wanted to try ran out of food in only 90 minutes? I appreciate the effort to bring food trucks back to the city, as well as shed some light on the ridiculous thought process of our own City Council, who voted unanimously to prohibit these meals-on-wheels from parking longer than 30 minutes just a short time ago. For this event, the city granted a one-day permit to allow the trucks to setup and prepare appropriately. I think it also shows that there is a lack of entertainment for the citizens of Sacramento, especially as it relates to food.

Major cosmopolitan cities such as Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have seen incredible interest in the cuisine that is offered from the trucks, spawning new trucks with interesting edibles seemingly overnight. Sacramento city officials on the other hand, have taken a different approach, much to the dismay of food enthusiasts and small business owners alike. Sure, not all food trucks are alike, and there are some of those wagons dubiously named "roach-coaches" that still offer sketchy deep-fried burritos, soggy mystery meat sandwiches, and greasy burgers. However I doubt that these types of vendors would be interested in setting up next to a truck that is peddling Chinese braised pork belly buns. Some cities have adopted a once-a-month event where the trucks can gather, while others have embraced the trucks so lovingly, they spawned a reality show.

At the front of the opposition to these kitchens with seatbelts, is none other than Randy Paragary. The owner of such local eateries as Esquire Grill, Cafe Bernardo, and Paragary's. He feels that the trucks will take away business from stationary restaurants, citing the depressed economy in an effort to gather empathy. He was quoted in the local newspaper saying "There's a construction site across from Cafe Bernardo, and I watch the mobile food trucks come every day to sell coffee, muffins, and sandwiches to the workers. We sell those same items, but I don't get to pull my truck up." Maybe therein lies a bigger issue - your restaurant's coffee, muffins and sandwiches don't compete with the mobile vendor? And I would think an accomplished restaurateur such as Paragary would invite the increased spotlight on Sacramento's food scene, as it would serve to bring in new customers and increased word-of-mouth notoriety.

I'm not completely sold on the visions of grandeur that are the mobile food scene. It is indeed a trendy and hence popular way to try some off-the-wall creations, but you won't see me in line for 2+ hours to get a mini-burger with tater-tots on top. I've been to the food truck scene in Portland, just a few weeks ago in fact. What I found was unique and creative culinary creations, but without the long lines, people staring blankly at menu items they don't understand, or overpriced, over-hyped fare. The stands were established, dynamic, and well supported by both their city and their customers. These food trucks do represent increased competition to local eateries, but without this type of competition, a city would quickly go stale in terms of culinary creativity and exploration. And in fact a number of "big" names in the mobile food scene are establishing brick-and-mortar locations, while some traditional restaurants are seeing the marketing potential of a food truck, and setting out to bring the food to the customer.

Hopefully the growling stomachs of the 10,000 people that showed up to SactoMoFo will be heard by members of Sacramento City Council and the restrictions revised in the near future. Until then you can always watch re-runs of The Next Great Food Truck Race and wish.