Food Truck Ordinance Forces Businesses Out

Emeryville's Food Truck Crackdown Drives Out Business

Check out the back story in the August 30, 2010 edition of the Tattler here.
The fall out from the lobbying effort by by politically connected restaurant concerns in Emeryville is re-printed from the East Bay Express:

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2011

Primo's Parrilla Being Reborn as a Restaurant

NEWSJohn Birdsall —  Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 8:46 AM

Javier Sandes is arguably the most dynamic food vendor ever to smoke up an Emeryville street. In May 2010, Sandes launched Primo’s Parrilla, anasador — or grill — like the ones in his native Argentina. Over a mix of almond wood and mesquite, Sandes grilled chickens and tri-tip, served up with chimichurri sauce.

Then things got prickly for street-food vendors in Emeryville, as a handful of brick-and-mortar restaurant owners raised concerns with the chamber of commerce — and ultimately the city council — about what seemed like a poorly regulated explosion in mobile vending. Emeryville ended up revising its mobile-vending ordinance this year, expanding distance requirements between vendor and vendor and vendor and restaurant. Despite the changes, Sandes and Sere Peterson (his partner in business and otherwise) had already seen the writing on the wall.

• JAVI'S PARRILLA/FACEBOOK
• Javier Sandes, in an earlier al fresco incarnation.

Because it didn’t operate strictly out of a truck, Primo’s Parrilla had been a particular focus of concern by some restaurant owners — not only were there permit issues for cooking over an open flame, but they charged Sandes was essentially setting up a de facto restaurant on the street, not merely lifting a flap to sell Korean burritos or falafel sandwiches. It seemed like unfair competition.

In January, Sandes and Peterson killed Primo’s, deciding to focus on opening a brick-and-mortar of their own in Oakland. “We didn’t want to be in a war with someone,” Peterson told WTF in a recent phone interview.

Last week Sandes and Peterson sent Facebook friends of Primo’s Parrilla an update in the form of a website link, officially launching Javi’s Parrilla, name of the restaurant, eventually. “It was bittersweet to close Primo’s,” Sandes wrote on the Javi’s website, “but I felt it was good for me to work towards opening a brick and mortar restaurant — a restaurant that doesn’t require a parking spot (thanks all of you who moved your cars around to squeeze us in at the park!) and won’t require jumper cables! Kidding.”

Word of Sandes’ return roused existing fans. “Right away we picked up a hundred fans,” Peterson said. “We’re pretty excited.”

As for locations, Peterson said they’re still scouting. “We’ve got a few places in mind in Oakland,” she said. “We definitely want to be an Oakland-based business, even when we started Primo’s, but grilling on the street was going to be impossible here.” The couple have their eye on North Oakland, though they’re also considering Uptown — not a bad choice, since they’re hoping to be in a neighborhood that can support lunch, dinner, and late-night service on weekends. Finding a space is a bit trickier with that open grill and all, plus Sandes wants a place big enough to allow interacting with customers as he grills — just like he did on the street — instead of being walled off in some fluorescent-lit kitchen.

Plans call for expanding the menu from the Primo’s days, adding different cuts of beef and choripan (a traditional Argentinean sausage sandwich) to Sandes’ signature chicken and tri-tip. Peterson expects to open the doors in 2012, wherever Javi’s roofed asador ends up finding a home.

Meanwhile, until the restaurant opens, Sandes is continuing to cater private parties and public events like this year’s Eat Real Festival, September 23-25 in Jack London Square.

Get in touch at John.Birdsall@EastBayExpress.com, and follow me on Twitter @John_Birdsall.

Opinion

Food Trucks And Juice

Ruby's Cafe on Hollis Street serves several different kinds of juice. Ruby's owner, Albert Repola knows a lot about juice, and he's using it right now at City Hall, trying to oust food trucks that he sees as rapacious competitors. Mr. Repola has been very vocal in this view, repeatedly demanding action from City Hall. Officials, who seldom act in the benefit of small businesses, suddenly appear unusually responsive, vowing to add further regulations to the city's Food Vendor Ordinance.

At a time when the popularity of food trucks, especially those serving more upscale cuisine is growing exponentially in the Bay Area, Emeryville it seems, is destined to go the other way. And it's all because certain small business owners that, with justification, feel they have special access to City Hall and want to shut down the competition.

This is not hyperbole. Limiting competition is among the seven objectives of Emeryville's newest government entity: a 'Food Vendor Task Force" according to a story concerning the formulation of the body in last week's e-newsletter from City Hall. The story examines how the new 'food vendor task force' will investigate making the ordinance more rigorous. In addition to "limiting competition", the items being considered include:

• Limiting the geographic area that mobile food vendors may operate
• Limiting the number of mobile food vendors
• Raising permit fees
• Regulating mobile food vendors on private property
• Use of public right of way for cooking, seating and/or storage
• Developing remedies for non-compliance with the ordinance

This list clearly shows who's got the juice in this town. It's very telling that none of the bullet points from the city are in support of food trucks and it's very clear that residents that happen to like food trucks are not going to be listened to.

We are chagrined that the bullet point list makes it obvious that City Hall is LOADING THE DECK and not interested in presenting unbiased finding of fact for this task force. At the Tattler, we have to ask why? Could it possibly be political patronage at work? After all, Mr. Repola has been very generous in his support of the Council majority over the years.

Nevertheless, times are tough, and everyone is looking for a scapegoat. If Mr. Repola's business isn't quite as prosperous as it once was, perhaps it is the result of the unemployment or foreclosure rate, rather than from "competition" that cannot offer shelter from the weather or the amenities of a restaurant.

Unlike some restaurant owners, the food truck vendors have not paid money to the re-election campaigns of the Council majority. Maybe they think they'll get a fair shake at City Hall regardless. Obviously, these vendors are new to town; they may know about food but they're obviously selling the wrong kind of juice in Emeryville.