Courtesy of Facebook
A Cook County judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Beavers Coffee and Doughnuts against the City of Evanston. The doughnut truck company argued the city’s food truck ban is unconstitutional.

A judge has dismissed the suit between a Chicago-based food truck and the city of Evanston.

The five-month case between Beavers Coffee and Donuts and Evanston, however, might continue. The food truck has 60 days to file an amended complaint, an opportunity that co-owner Gabriel Wiesen said the company would definitely take.

Beavers filed a suit with the Cook County Circuit Court against the city in August to challenge Evanston’s mobile food vehicle vendors ordinance. The law requires all such vendors to apply for a license before operating within the city, and licenses can only be granted to vendors that have a physical restaurant within city limits.

Beavers Coffee and Donuts recently opened a permanent storefront in Chicago, although it has no affiliated restaurant in Evanston. Beaver’s argues the policy is unconstitutional because it is discriminatory toward certain businesses.

In an email to Evanston media, city attorney Grant Farrar announced Judge Mary Anne Mason had granted Evanston’s motion to dismiss the case Tuesday.

“Judge Mason immediately agreed with the City’s arguments that Plaintiffs’ lawsuit is not ripe for the Court’s review,” Farrar wrote.

The city argued in its dismissal motion that Beaver’s never submitted an application for an operating license, Wiesen said, adding that Beaver’s did not submit the application for a reason.

“We met with the health inspector with an application in hand, and he told us there was no point in applying,” he said.

Beavers will now apply for a license, Wiesen said, and then file an amended complaint if the city does not grant them the license.

Jacob Huebert, the attorney for Beavers with the Liberty Justice Center, said they are considering their next steps and maintain the city ordinance is discriminatory.

Evanston’s law department “will continue to aggressively defend the city” in the event that Beaver’s files an amended complaint, Farrar said in the email.

Beavers has operated at several Northwestern events in the past, including Dillo Day. The doughnut truck is scheduled to attend this Saturday’s Associated Student Government and Dance Marathon Food Truck Festival.

http://dailynorthwestern.com/2013/01/31/city/judge-sides-with-evanston-in-food-truck-dispute/

The fight between the city of Evanston and a food truck selling donuts and coffee continues to percolate this fall after Beavers Donuts sued the city in August, alleging that Evanston’s regulations on mobile food vendors are unconstitutional.

Lawyers for the city of Evanston recently filed a motion to dismiss the suit in Cook County Circuit Court’s chancery division.

At issue is the city’s requirement that food trucks must be operated by brick and mortar restaurants within city limits in order to obtain a mobile food vendor license. Evanston also limits food trucks from operating within a 100-foot radius of any local restaurant.

Beavers Donuts & Coffee owners Gabriel Wiesen and Jim Nuccio say they learned about the city’s regulations when they obtained a temporary permit to operate at Northwestern University’s Dillo Day this summer. Wanting to return to Evanston to sell their specialty donuts and beverages again, they found out they couldn’t obtain a year-long license without a local restaurant affiliation. Right now, Evanston’s Hummingbird Kitchen (operated in connection with Union Pizzeria) is the only food truck that currently holds such a license, according to a city spokesperson.

Filed by the Liberty Justice Center, the Beavers Donuts lawsuit argues that Evanston’s food truck regulations treat local restaurant owners and food truck vendors from outside the city differently, violating the Illinois Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.

“That restriction doesn’t serve any legitimate health or safety purpose – Beavers Donuts fulfills every other licensing requirement – but serves only to protect one group of established business owners from creative competition,” the website reads.

Lawyers for the city, however, point out that Beavers Donuts never actually attempted to obtain a mobile food vendor license.

The donut truck’s owners “cannot state that they were denied a license, as in fact they refused to even apply for one,” the lawsuit reads. “[Their] precipitous rush to the courthouse is premature.”

The city also argues that, as a home rule municipality, the city of Evanston has broad powers to enact local legislation “for the protection of the public health, safety, morals and welfare,” according to the Illinois Constitution.

Furthermore, the city argues that under Illinois Municipal Code, regulation of food trucks is within the city’s power to “regulate or prohibit the use of its streets for private gain” and “can be related to legitimate public safety concerns.”

“[Beavers Donuts’] purported right to drive their donut truck and sell coffee is not a fundamental right,” the city continues.

Wiesen told Patch Thursday that he and Nuccio intend to keep fighting the case. In the meantime, they’re selling their gourmet donuts around the city of Chicago, hitting the Loop, River North, Jefferson Park, Albany Park and Hyde Park.

“Some of our best customers happen to be on college campuses around Lincoln Park and DePaul area and at the University of Chicago,” Wiesen says.

Grant Farrar, corporation counsel for the city of Evanston, said he expected the court to hold a hearing date on the motion to dismiss in December.

http://evanston.patch.com/articles/city-to-food-truck-selling-donuts-on-wheels-not-a-fundamental-right#photo-11701126

James Nuccio and Gabriel Wiesen want to sell gourmet doughnuts and coffee from their colorful food truck on the streets of Evanston. But a 2010 ordinance only allows businesses that have “bricks and mortar” restaurants in Evanston to venture onto city streets with a food truck.

Nuccio and Wiesen, the owners of Chicago-based Beavers Coffee & Donuts, announced Tuesday that they have filed a lawsuit they hope will force the city to allow them to roll into Evanston. A city official said the law was crafted so that existing restaurants would not be harmed by mobile vendors swooping in to gobble up customers.

The Liberty Justice Center filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court, asking the court to strike down the ordinance as anti-competitive and unconstitutional, according to Jacob Huebert, associate counsel with the Chicago-based organization.

“I believe we’re on the side of what’s right and what’s just,” Wiesen said during a news conference Tuesday morning beside his food truck, parked in the 600 block of Davis Street in downtown Evanston. “We have a tremendous amount of people that want us to come, particularly around (Northwestern) University.”

“We were dismayed to find that Evanston won’t give us the chance to serve the people here who want our products just because we don’t own a restaurant,” Wiesen said.

Huebert said the truck meets or exceeds all state and county health and safety standards, and the only thing keeping the truck off the streets of Evanston is the ordinance.

“They have fans in Evanston who would love to buy their coffee and doughnuts if only they were allowed do to so,” Huebert said. “Jim and Gabriel have everything they need to succeed in Evanston except government permission.”

Evanston City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz said the city had not seen the lawsuit. But he called the ordinance fair.

“We were trying to craft a balance between those who have the food trucks and those that have existing restaurants,” he said. “Here in the city of Evanston we want to make sure we regulate them on our own terms.

“It’s a careful balance, supporting local businesses but also not endangering their livelihood,” Bobkiewicz added. “Food trucks are an important part of the culinary scene in lots of communities, and I think we’ve seen the beginnings of that in Evanston. We think as time goes on food trucks will continue to be a part of the dining scene here in Evanston.”

The city will aggressively defend the ordinance in court, according to Grant Farrar, Evanston’s city attorney.

“In their race to the courthouse steps, the Plaintiffs refuse to acknowledge the City of Evanston’s Home Rule authority, nor are they acquainted with the legislative history on this matter,” Farrar said in a statement.

Food trucks often are equipped with stoves, refrigerators, ovens and many of the other appliances found in the kitchens of traditional restaurants — but their overhead and operating costs are typically much lower than stationary dining places.

Chicago last month controversially expanded its food truck ordinance to allow cooking aboard the vehicles, longer hours of operation and special stands for the trucks in busy neighborhoods.

Wiesen, 26, said Beavers Coffee & Donuts started operating in Chicago in December.

“In today’s economy, young people just out of college can’t count on someone else to give them a job anymore,” he said. “They need to create opportunities for themselves. Jim and I decided to do that by starting Beavers Coffee & Donuts.”

“Saying that only someone who owns a restaurant can run a food truck has nothing to do with the public’s health, safety or welfare,” Huebert said. “It just has to do with protecting restaurants from competition.”

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-08/news/ct-met-food-truck-lawsuit-20120808_1_gabriel-wiesen-food-truck-beavers-coffee-donuts

DailyNorthwestern.com

As Hummingbird Kitchen, Flirty Cupcakes and 5411 Empanadas served up meals, musical and dance acts also entertained the audience, such as Zumba group Hip Circle Studio and roots band Bill Reedy and the Smokin’ Cattails.

Evanston Parks Coalition member Belén Ayestaran said she organized the event to bring more people to Grey Park.

Evanston allocated money to improve the park’s quality and content under the city’s capital improvement plan. Ayestaran organized the festival to raise an additional $26,000 to fund a design workshop and consulting process from Project for Public Spaces.

“The grounds are beautiful, but it lacks features,” Ayestaran said. “The pathways are completely awkward. (There) are not enough places to sit.”

Other Evanston residents agreed the park could be improved to attract a bigger audience. Colleen Cochran, a mother of four, said she wishes it had a playground. She also runs into smokers there who tend to talk aggressively to her and each other, she said.

Some of these smokers are the occupants of Albany Care, a residential treatment facility for adults with mental disorders. According to Jonathan Eastman, the clinical director of the facility, the fact that many of his occupants use the park can fuel the argument Grey Park does not need to be revitalized.

“If you’re gonna redo the park, redo it so it’s accommodating for everyone,” Eastman said.

Scott Wajda, a 42-year-old resident of Albany Care, went to the meetings at which Evanston planned the food truck festival. He also said the park needed a makeover, and some possible features could be a food/coffee kiosk, demonstrations or concerts in its amphitheater and a new coat of paint for the benches.

“People would want to come if there’s something worth coming for,” Wajda said.

According to Ayestaran, the large turnout for the event proved the park is moving forward.

“What we’re going to work on is bringing more programming to the park,” she said. “The idea is that a lot of different people can interact.”

http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/city/food-truck-festival-rolls-into-to-gray-park-1.2603282

5411 Empanadas @5411empanadas

One hurdle here, a relatively low hurdle: Empanadas traditionally are fried, brown and addicting, but these empanadas are baked, brown and addicting. That’s the hurdle. For this we are grateful, because we plan to eat the sweet corn empanada (chewy, creamy, a large pocket stuffed with fresh yellow nuggets) all summer. The price is right, the truck is fun, a sky blue ice-cream truck, with a big “5411″ graphic on the sides; and the variety (six different kinds; $1.99 each) is ripe for return visits. The owners are three Argentine friends, Chicago transplants by way of Buenos Aires: “54″ is the country code for Argentina, and “11″ is Buenos Aires. These guys know their stuff.

Best bet: The specialty is puff pastries with different fillings ($1.99 each); try the sweet corn as well as the ham-and-cheese combo, a rounded pie of sorts spotted with deep brown bake marks and offering nuggets of sliced ham and a modest bit of mozzarella. Additionally: The rich caramelized onion empanada has a touch of dessert.

Score: Four trucks
– Christopher Borrelli

Flirty Cupcakes @FlirtyCupcakes

(Steve Cavendish/Chicago Tribune)

Gaztro-Wagon @wherezthewagon

(Christopher Borrelli/Chicago Tribune)

Haute Sausage @hautesausage

Hummingbird Kitchen @hummingbirdtogo

MeatyBalls @FossFoodTrucks

(Steve Cavendish/Chicago Tribune)

More Mobile @themoremobile

The Southern Mac @thesouthernmac

(Steve Cavendish/Chicago Tribune)

Ste Martaen @stemartaen

Sweet Miss Giving’s @SMGFoodTruck

(Steve Cavendish/Chicago Tribune)

The frigid, winter air swirled off Lake Michigan onto Northwestern University’s campus in Evanston, Illinois — less than 12 hours earlier, snow had blanketed the area. Backpack-laden students trudged through snow banks as they crossed the central campus toward classroom buildings, a scattered but determined mass.

Parked a block away from the Kellogg School of Business just before noon is a massive, 28-foot custom Freightliner food truck, the mobile kitchen for the newly launched Hummingbird Kitchen. A couple of dozen shivering students, faculty members and Evanston locals wait patiently to sample its entrées du jour.

“This time of year, we’ll do maybe $600 or $650 over two hours,” said Steve Schwartz, co-owner of Hummingbird and the owner of two popular Evanston storefront restaurants. “But when the weather’s warmer…” he nodded suggestively, surveying the dedicated following that’s braving the cold today.

Redefining Foodservice
Hummingbird, like a growing number of mobile food businesses (see, for example, the November 2009 “Meals on Wheels” feature in NACS Magazine), is redefining traditional notions of street food in major metropolitan areas across the country, and customers are lining up to sample their offerings.

Today’s Hummingbird menu features warm Neuske’s ham sandwiches with caramelized onions and Gruyere on fresh pumpernickel bread, roasted Amish chicken quesadillas with homemade guacamole and salsa, and black bean soup with crème fraiche and aged cheddar. Not your typical “roach coach” fare. But then again, Hummingbird set out from the start to sell much more than wrapped sandwiches and chips.

“We do a full restaurant experience [with Hummingbird], whether it’s parked on campus or at a private party. We’re restaurateurs; we don’t have an interest in prepping sandwiches at a commissary and handing them out like the ice cream guy,” Schwartz said.

Indeed, Hummingbird is a true mobile restaurant, with two six-top burners, a deep fryer, a 36-inch flattop grill, refrigeration, three-compartment sink, a hand sink, a coffee urn, a steam table, a 7-foot ice chest and a 60-gallon water tank. It’s a customization that took several months to accomplish at a price tag of $120,000 — and that’s only because the truck was used (Schwartz says a new truck would have upped the price to nearly $200,000).

Addition to the Marketplace
As owner of two popular Evanston storefront restaurants, Campagnola and Union, Schwartz leveraged existing Twitter, Facebook and website mailing lists to promote Hummingbird when he launched it in October 2010 with two partners. But while he had the advantage of a built-in audience base, the road to success was far from plug-and-play.

Evanston — and the entire state of Illinois, for that matter — had banned mobile food preparation, so Schwartz set out to petition Evanston to change its ordinance.

Because of his established local presence with Campagnola and Union, his insights proved influential to Evanston alderman and other city powers-that-be, as he reassured them that mobile food preparation would enhance, not cut into, bricks and mortar restaurants.

“We’re very conscious of our intention to be an addition to the marketplace, not to destroy somebody,” Schwartz said. Additionally, he worked closely with local health and street and sanitation officials, demonstrating Hummingbird in action to assure them of its adherence to the highest sanitation standards.

As a result, Evanston passed a new ordinance last fall that permits mobile food trucks like Hummingbird, while restricting them to 100 feet or more from an existing restaurant, park or school, with every site subject to prior city approval. “And we’ve got the same health inspections as any bricks and mortar restaurant,” Schwartz said.

City Mandates
While the road for Schwartz — capital investment aside — was relatively smooth, just a few miles south in Chicago, mobile food preparation is far from a settled issue.

Matt Maroni operates Gaztro-Wagon, a mobile food truck that sells an ever-changing menu of naanwiches — upscale eats wrapped in Indian naan bread — in downtown Chicago. While Evanston lifted its ban on food truck meal preparation, the Windy City still prohibits onsite cooking, so Maroni prepares all of his fare offsite before he hits the street each day.

But this is not exactly what the former Bostonian had in mind when he moved to Chicago intending to open a freestanding restaurant. “I tried to open a bricks and mortar business and couldn’t get financing for it, so I went back to the drawing board and looked for a niche and landed on food trucks,” he said.

Maroni says Chicago’s law restricts true foodies by mandating pre-cooked, pre-wrapped foods, which doesn’t always translate to freshness. “The ability to tweak, to run specials, and to do things spontaneously on the truck would be huge,” Maroni said. “Think about it: If you’re selling tacos, you’re not exactly getting a crunchy bite if the taco has been prepared hours earlier.”

As a result, Maroni set out himself to change Chicago’s law, helping draft an ordinance that Alderman Scott Waguespack introduced in July. The proposal includes similar restrictions settled on in Evanston, but Maroni’s road is far murkier than Schwartz’s, as many notable Chicago restaurateurs oppose modifying the existing law — to the sympathetic ears of many aldermen.

“We spent almost $9 million on two restaurants. It’s unfair to people who invested so much to allow someone who has a minimal investment in a truck…to pull up 200 feet from our door,” said Glenn Keefer, managing partner of Keefer’s Restaurant, to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA) agrees, though it said if Chicago’s City Council legalizes mobile food preparation (the issue is unsettled and the matter was expected to receive a hearing in January), the trucks should be limited to food deserts, those neighborhoods with a shortage of restaurants.

“There are plenty of neighborhoods in the city that have a shortage of restaurants and grocery stores or late-night places to eat,” said the IRA’s president, Sheila O’Grady, in a Chicago Sun-Times interview.

In the meantime, a handful of trucks like Maroni’s roam the Chicago streets, selling prepackaged foods that are resonating with consumers. And while none can prepare food onsite, they’re still subject to local licensing and health laws. Maroni prepares his food at a counter service restaurant in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, whose facility is subject to health inspections. And after just six months of hitting local streets in his truck, he has developed a strong, local following.

“On our busiest day, we did 360 people for lunch in an hour,” Maroni said of the type of sales volume that has other more established foodservice companies looking to capitalize on the public’s enthusiasm for food trucks.

Extensions to C-Stores
The experiences from Hummingbird and Gaztro-Wagon highlight the key issues facing the food truck trend, whose increasing popularity offers significant opportunities for convenience stores, according to David Bishop, managing partner of Balvor, a sales and marketing firm that specializes in the convenience and grocery industries.

“Assuming that the political climate is aligned and the opportunity exists to get a license,” Bishop said, “a food truck program can assist convenience store retailers by expanding a store’s geographic reach, exposing consumers to a c-store’s offerings, and helping to strengthen a store’s connection with a community.

“But the investment is a large one, and you’d want to be in a market that has enough density to support the investment,” he cautioned.

Brand Extension
As to the future of the food truck trend, “10 percent of the top 200 chains will have trucks on the road within the next 24 months,” predicted Aaron Noveshen, a restaurant industry consultant in a Los Angeles Times interview last September. Indeed, Dairy Queen, Taco Bell, Arby’s, Johnny Rockets, Subway and Sizzler all have either rolled out or are planning to launch mobile food trucks, local politics permitting (several cities are debating the issue, much like Chicago).

The opportunities are vast, Schwartz says, especially for foodservice professionals who are looking to reinvigorate their base while gaining insights into a process that’s enhanced by social media technology.

“It’s another arm to our existing bricks and mortar business. It pulls us out of our day-to-day and gives us another way of looking at foodservice. And if you’re in an area with a [dense population] and you offer a quality product, you can make it work.”

While political and demographic considerations determine the viability of a neighborhood’s food truck program, Bishop said that, those elements aside (assuming there is a generous population density and obtaining a license is permissible), the opportunities that food trucks present for c-stores remain attractive.

“C-stores are in business to satisfy the on-the-go consumer…by making the shopping experience quick and easy, and food trucks go a step further by bringing the food to consumers,” Bishop said. “So the concept aligns well with the concept of convenience retailing and it could pay dividends beyond a bricks and mortar store.”

http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/Magazine/PastIssues/2011/February2011/Pages/Feature4.aspx