Food Trucks are all the craze these days. Gourmet food truck fever is sweeping the urban foodie scene in full force and now it is making its way to our very own Oceanside, California. Here are a few of our Favorite Food Trucks that frequent the Oceanside Area. (If you have a favorite food truck that isn’t up here tell us about it!)

Mad Mantis Food Truck

Eclectic, delicious and surprisingly healthy food from a mobile kitchen. Follow Mad Mantis Food Truck on twitter or facebook, find them and come try some delicious food! Note that they are also available for catering services.

“Not your ordinary food truck! Great and delicious combinations of some of the greatest entrees. I got the mahi-mahi fish tacos, not your ordinary since it has delicious cranberry sauce, avo, and all the reg rest! Can’t wait to try something else next! Added bonus: The take credit cards!” Yelp Review: Tiffany G.

The Sushi Bus

Entrepreneurial sushi chefs selling take-out bento boxes out of the back of an old ice cream truck might not ring your bell. However, The Sushi Bus is offering up fresh California cuisine at local breweries, private parties, or business events. Track them down by following The Sushi Bus on facebook or twitter.

“You would have a hard time finding better sushi in a brick & mortar restaurant, especially at their price points!  The flavor of their sauces and quality of the fish are top notch.” Yelp Review: Michael S.

 

Red Oven Pizza

Red Oven Pizza is a la vera pizza Napoletana mobile pizzeria where every ingredient is prepared in the wood oven. Ask them about lunch service, catering, weddings, school fundraisers, or other public events. Then, don’t forget to follow them on facebook and twittertoo!

“A recent find, but I’m already head over heels. These guys haul around a real brick oven on the back of their truck. They set up this thing every time they touch down in an office park or brewery. That’s real love for pizza, guys. Real love.” Yelp Review: Lindsay L.

http://www.visitoceanside.org/blog/oceanside-street-food-food-trucks/

OCEANSIDE — The much anticipated food truck festival set for Nov. 11 was cancelled after event organizer and food truck co-owner Sara Stella could not secure a permit for the event.

It seems there were unresolved issues with adjacent businesses at 1527 Mission Avenue where the festival was planned to be held.

“There were issues with the venue,” Stella said. “The festival is postponed until next year.”

Stella and her husband Paul Stella co-own the K’Paza Food Truck and Azafran Cuban Cuisine restaurant in Oceanside.

The K’Paza Food Truck makes regular stops at the Encinitas farmers market and Vista and San Marcos breweries. Presently there are no scheduled stops in Oceanside.

Sara Stella said the festival was planned to introduce people to her food truck and fellow food truck vendors.

Oceanside city codes allow food trucks to park on streets with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour for up to one hour, as long as the trucks are 500 feet away from restaurants, schools, parks, concession stands, restaurants and special events. Food trucks can also be invited to sell to a group on private property.

Stella said she hopes the food truck festival can be organized next year. She added that a different location might prove a better fit.

http://thecoastnews.com/2012/11/food-truck-festival-cancelled-in-oceanside/

image courtesy SDFoodTrucks.com

If gourmet food trucks know what’s hot, they would roll right past Oceanside’s downtown businesses. They’re not welcome here.

Redevelopment Manager Kathy Baker brought up putting restrictions on the trucks at Wednesday night’s Redevelopment Advisory Committee meeting, as first reported on by our media partner, the North County Times.

The trucks, relatively unregulated, are growing in popularity among young urban professional-types.

Baker said that she likes the idea of gourmet food trucks for urban areas like downtown San Diego, but Oceanside isn’t urban – yet. And it can’t be unless the local restaurants get solid footing.

“Our downtown restaurants are struggling at best,” she said. “If there were a gourmet food truck by city hall downtown for instance, a lot of employees would buy from them instead of patronizing the downtown restaurants.”

Since gourmet food trucks don’t have to pay for a lease or many employees, they typically can keep their prices lower than traditional restaurants.

Baker said that one Advisory Committee member, Rick Wright, is also worried about the gourmet food trucks. His concern was that the trucks would put a monopoly on the Mom-and-Pop restaurants that give Oceanside its character.

Although the committee hasn’t researched exactly what kind of regulations it would put in place, the food truck threat is on their radar – especially as the agency is set to expire in 2018. Baker said regulating food trucks is one way they can strengthen and stabilize downtown Oceanside before they expire.

“There are a lot of little things we’re trying to accomplish in our final years,” Baker said. “We’re laying the groundwork now so that we can grow later.”

There are currently no food trucks downtown. Any regulations would serve to prevent compromising business practices in the area. Committee members suggested limiting the hours and locations that food trucks could operate.

Baker said she’s not entirely opposed to gourmet food trucks in Oceanside, as long as they continue to stay out of downtown.

“A lot of beachgoers don’t want to walk all the way to downtown to get a hot dog,” she said, “so there’s definitely a service to be provided.”