“We’ve never even tried to go downtown”: food truck folk tell us what they think about the new bylaws
“We’ve never even tried to go downtown”: food truck folk tell us what they think about the new bylaws
Toronto’s city council loosened its grip on food trucks last month, but truck owners are still locked in a turf war with traditional restaurateurs. Even though the recent bylaw changes increased the number of serving hours from three to five and decreased the mandatory buffer between a truck and a licensed eating establishment (which can include some gas stations, by the way) to 30 metres, some mobile restaurant owners believe that, while the change is good, there needs to be more. Here’s what 10 of them had to say.
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Matt Lindzon, 30 and Zach Fiksel, 35<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> Chimney Stax<br /> <strong>On the street since:</strong> 2014<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> Spadina and Bloor<br /> <br /> Matt: "We find that if there are two trucks parked beside each other, it'll bring in more of a crowd and crowds are good. So we're happy to see that two trucks are now allowed per block."<br /> <br /> Zach: "Although the law went from 50 metres to 30, we’d like to see it get to 15 so we could at least be on the same block as an open restaurant. We still haven’t seen anyone on their way to lunch all of the sudden decide to stop and stand outside of a food truck instead."<br /> <br />
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Thomas Januszewski, 29<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> The Egg Man<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2015<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> Yonge and Elm<br /> <br /> "The changes to the bylaws are great. Two months ago we saw the bills that were being proposed and that’s when we decided to give opening a truck the final go ahead."
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Simon Burns, 25<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> Urban Smoke<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2012<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> Bloor and Church<br /> <br /> "We’ve tried to park at Yorkdale to avoid the headache, but parking in the downtown core is so much better because people here are looking for lunch. We wouldn’t be able to park in this spot if the bylaws hadn’t changed."
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Nate Turnbull, 37; Dave McIntyre, 30; and Lindsay Klein (back left), 29<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> The Food Dudes<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2012<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> Bloor and Queens Park<br /> <br /> Lindsay: "We’re pulling for the bylaws to change because all trucks are friends—we all want good things for each other. But because our truck does mainly private events or festivals, the changes don’t really affect us."
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Sevil Rahnama, Ramon Nunez and Olivia Nunez<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> Blazin' Cajun<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2015<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> Bloor and Church<br /> <br /> Ramon: "I don’t think there should be rules about how close I can park to a restaurant. If I can open a restaurant beside another restaurant, why can’t I open my food truck?"<br /> <br /> Sevil: "The food truck bylaws improved a lot and I believe they'll continue to improve. But my hope is that the food trucks will form a union and help each other even more."
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Hooman Bazdar, 32<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> Mustache Burger<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2015<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> King and John<br /> <br /> "The food truck laws in Toronto are the toughest. For example, in Los Angeles they don’t charge trucks for a license. Even New York only charges $400."<br />
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Abbas Kahan, 40 <br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> Localista<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2012 <br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> 121 St. Patrick St.<br /> <br /> "The bylaw changes show that the city wants food trucks to succeed. We feel the city's behind us, so we keep pushing for change. Otherwise a lot of us would give up—and a lot of trucks do quit after the first year. The licensing fee should go down, too. I think it’s way too expensive for a food truck to even try to operate with that kind of cost. I mean you have propane, gas, plumbing problems, electrical problems—you name it and it could break."
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Andrew Motta, 29<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> Bacon Nation<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2014<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> 34 Hanna Ave.<br /> <br /> "It’s hard to find a parking spot even with a regular car. So trying to find two wide-open spots that fit that criteria in the area that you want to be in is a nightmare—you’ll never find it. We’ve never even tried to go downtown."
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Brian Macaskill, 52<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> Chelsea Food Truck<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2015<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> Yonge and Gerrard <br /> <br /> "We’re a little bit different since the truck is immobile and we’re on private property. The food truck bylaws don’t really affect us. We’re more governed by the rules of the hotel and restaurants inside—it definitely makes things easier for us."<br />
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- <strong>Name:</strong> Ruben Navaratnam, 32<br /> <strong>Truck:</strong> Born 2 Eat<br /> <strong>On the road since:</strong> 2015<br /> <strong>Parked at:</strong> King and John<br /> <br /> "Even with the changes, I really, really, really have trouble finding a spot. I like to park around King and John and you have to get here early, otherwise you can’t find a place. Twice I had to go back home because I couldn’t find a place to park."<br /> <br />
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![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/toronto-food-trucks-streeters-bylaw-changes-the-food-dudes/&title=“We’ve never even tried to go downtown”: food truck folk tell us what they think about the new bylaws&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/the-dish-food-truck-streeters.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_318517" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Images: Kayla Rocca)[/caption]
Toronto’s city council loosened its grip on food trucks last month, but truck owners are still locked in a turf war with traditional restaurateurs. Even though the recent bylaw changes increased the number of serving hours from three to five and decreased the mandatory buffer between a truck and a licensed eating establishment (which can include some gas stations, by the way) to 30 metres, some mobile restaurant owners believe that, while the change is good, there needs to be more. Here's what 10 of them had to say.
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