Hey girl, this is tank top regulation

The Dallas City Council’s Quality of Life Committee met this morning (and is probably still meeting) about potentially lowering the costs of streetscape licensing and street vending permits in downtown Dallas. Generally, I think this is good news for the city. Lowering the costs = potentially more restaurants with outdoor seating/more food trucks in Dallas = more pedestrians enjoying downtown =  everyone is happy. In George Lewis’ words, “Fees can be onerous, simply because food trucks are mobile, which means multiple cities.  Multiply $300 – $600 for all of the cities: Dallas, University Park, Highland Park, Arlington, Denton, FW, Carrollton, Garland, etc. and you rack up a chunk of government money.”

I snuck out of the meeting after the streetscape licensing part because I had to get back to the office, but the vending permits Powerpoint is on the committee briefings page, anyway.

The proposal is to cut vending licenses by half to $600 annually. Right now, food trucks are allowed to operate between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily, but the proposed update would extend those hours to 10 p.m. (Mon-Thursday, Sunday) and midnight (Friday and Saturday). There’s also a suggestion to require photo ID badges for all vendors, prohibit smoking by vendors while operating in the vending locations, and to establish a dress code. All these are unregulated right now and sound pretty fair, except… what’s up with this dress code? Take a look for yourself:

Appendix B: Proposed Dress Code

• Proposed minimum dress requirements for vendors include the following
• Clothing must be neat, clean and sanitary at all times
• Walking shorts allowed, but no cut-offs ◦ No apparel with offensive or suggestive language,images, symbols
• No tank tops or halter tops
• No outer apparel made of fishnet or undergarment material

I don’t know about you, but I can imagine  it gets pretty hot in a food truck when the weather reaches over 100 degrees. No tank tops?? Perhaps people are afraid of tank tops for chest hair or other sanitary reasons (deodorant should do the trick), but George makes another good observation. “Funny thing about required clothing.  Pretty dumb… no tank tops or halter tops, yet Hooter’s, Twin Peaks?  Where’s the consistency?”

And those ladies even get to work indoors.

Overall, the city’s stance on food trucks seems to be heading in a fair direction. “In general, despite the occasional carping by the public about how behind Dallas is, I think that the city permitting and enforcement has done a pretty good job,” says George.

http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2013/05/13/food-truck-operators-might-not-be-able-to-wear-tank-tops-anymore/

Photo by T.S. Johnson
The Butcher’s Son’s Santa Fe Sunset sandwich.

Sandwiched between the Language Building and Curry Hall, sits The Butcher’s Son. While students looking for a little kid with a blood-stained apron may be disappointed, people in search of a food truck serving comfort food will be ecstatic.

The Butcher’s Son’s sleek black truck makes the voyage from Dallas every Monday and Thursday, usually arriving sometime in the afternoon and staying until 8 or 9 p.m.

Most of their food is stupidly scrumptious, such as the Santa Fe Sunset sandwich, $7.99, complete with chicken sausage, chipotle Monterey Jack cheese, black bean salsa, fried jalapenos, tomatoes, onion and avocado between a Brioche bun.

The food even has a nice appearance, especially the Southwestern Chicken Quesadilla, $6.99, which features the same ingredients as the Santa Fe Sunset sandwich, switching out the tomatoes and jalapenos for caramelized onions.

While the signature items above are as good as the titles, the food garnering the most attention is probably the sliders. Each $3 slider is a little three-bite mini-sandwich, which acts as a perfect snack during an afternoon stroll. The best of the sliders is the Southern Hospitality, featuring fried chicken tenderloin, mashed potatoes and gravy stuffed in a roll.

Though the food is tasty, the prices are a little much, as The Butcher’s Son asks college students to dish out a nice chunk of change for some of their dishes. They also don’t offer a real “combo” deal – The Butcher’s 3-Way – but one that equates to the same price as ordering three separate sliders.

Tater tots are also available in a wide variety from regular tots at $2.25, lime tots for $2.50, VooDoo tots with beef, onions and curry powder for $4.62 and Nutter Butter tots, smothered in peanut butter, chocolate sauce and marshmallows for $2.75.

Overall, if you’ve got the cash, check out this truck because the price is worth the unusual sliders, and only makes a stop on campus twice a week.

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2013/mar/30/food-truck-review-butchers-son-fits-college-kids-d/?refscroll=1359

David Minton/DRC
Food trucks are shown lined up on Hickory Street during 35 Denton on March 10. Many of the food truck owners were given temporary permits for the music festival because they didn’t meet the requirements for an annual permit.

Food truck owners are happy about the new ordinance that allows them to obtain an annual permit but say it could use some work.

Many food trucks gathered last weekend for 35 Denton. But despite the new ordinance, many of the locally owned food trucks, such as Shiitake Swerve and Happy Camper’s Shaved Ice, Lemonades and Floats, were using temporary permits for the music festival because they don’t meet all the requirements for an annual permit yet.

Previously, the only option was to get a temporary permit, which is good for 14 days and limited to three permits per year.

The Denton City Council voted in November on the new ordinance, allowing for the annual permits.

In order to get the permit, a food truck business needs to have proof of a Texas sales and use tax permit, an itinerary of its route, permission to use a bathroom at the property where the truck is parked, an agreement with a commissary kitchen, a Type I hood installed and inspected, current vehicle license and registration, adequate potable and wastewater capacities, water tank security, a wastewater tank clean-out valve, a hand-washing sink and a ware-washing sink.

The ordinance prohibits home preparation or home storage of the food as well as parking the truck at home. It has food temperature requirements — for cold food, 41 degrees or below; for hot food, 135 degrees or above.

Marcus Holcomb, who co-owns Shiitake Swerve with Melanie Fisher, said, “The city of Denton has been really great to deal with. I think they are trying to be objective and realistic.”

Shiitake Swerve serves gourmet mushrooms in the form of tacos and sandwiches.

Holcomb said when he came up with his menu, he wanted a vegetarian option that his father, a “hard-core steak eater,” would like.

But he has a few concerns about the new ordinance, such as not being able to park his truck at his house, having to drive to Corinth, at the closest, to dispose of his wastewater and not having a place designated for food trucks.

The reason he was given for not being able to park his truck at his house is that the city doesn’t have jurisdiction at people’s homes and the city doesn’t want food truck owners cooking in their trucks at home, he said.

“It’s a weird area,” Holcomb said. “I completely understand where they are coming from.”

There also isn’t a local place to dump wastewater or wash the truck, he said.

“We’re going to have to drive this beast miles,” to dump the wastewater, Holcomb said.

He said an RV park and a truck wash would fix that issue.

Holcomb would like to see the city offer a way to dump wastewater at the waste management facility.

“That would really be inviting to the food truck culture in Denton,” he said.

Holcomb said another area of concern is that there are not specific areas where food trucks can park. If he wants to park somewhere, he has to make out a plan and the city will decide whether to approve it, he said.

“You’re either in a zone that is usable or you’re not,” Holcomb said.

Council member Kevin Roden, who has supported the ordinance, said this is a good time to hear concerns from food truck owners because the council agreed, when it passed the ordinance in November, that it would revisit the topic in six months.

He’d like to see Denton have a food truck park like other cities, including Fort Worth.

But food truck parks — areas where a group of trucks can park to offer a variety of food — are set up by private property owners. They invite the food trucks to set up on their land, Roden said.

If someone started a food park, they could create a place where food trucks can dump grease or wastewater, he said.

“At this point, they can go to any private property that wants to have them,” Roden said.

A business or apartment complex could invite food trucks to set up in a parking lot to offer employees, customers and residents something different.

“It’s just a matter of people making the right connections,” Roden said.

Tyler Griffis, who co-owns Happy Camper’s with Kaydi Moreland, said his main concern is the commissary kitchen requirement.

“There are not many businesses willing to open up their kitchen and be liable to what you do,” he said.

Griffis decided to get into the food truck business when his job at Bahama Buck’s ended and his grandfather gave him a 1959 Shasta trailer.

He had been the manager at the Denton Bahama Buck’s, which sells shaved ice, and decided he would turn that experience into a business of his own when it shut down.

“It’s the commercial kitchen thing that’s getting us,” he said. “That’s the burden right now.”

But Happy Camper’s, which offers shaved ice, hand-squeezed lemonade and ice cream floats, has had success selling at the Denton Community Market and at Newton Rayzor Elementary School’s Harvest Festival.

At 35 Denton, the food truck started selling hot chocolate because of the cold weather during the festival.

Griffis said the food truck had a lot of success during 35 Denton.

“It makes us hungry to get this going,” he said. “A lot of people are excited about it.”

Holcomb said the commissary kitchen is a place for the food truck owner to store food and receive food; it provides a home base.

“[You] need to have a home base where you can store food,” he said.

Holcomb said another area of concern he’s heard from other food truck owners is the Type I hood that’s required. He already has one installed, so it wasn’t an issue for him.

“It’s being perceived as a barrier of entry,” he said. “People are wondering if it’s been put in place to limit people from coming into the business.”

Holcomb, a University of North Texas student, is working on getting an annual license.

“We’re glad everything they’re asking for is doable,” Holcomb said.

In the meantime, he plans to sell at the university.

UNT began contracting with food trucks last year. It wanted to provide students different food options.

The university doesn’t have the same regulations as the city. UNT’s health inspector checks the trucks.

UNT also takes a commission from the daily sales of the food trucks, which is on average about 10 percent.

Roden said it’s going to take time to build the food truck culture in Denton.

At this point, food trucks from Dallas and Fort Worth see coming to Denton as a risk unless they’re coming for a specific event, like 35 Denton, where they have guaranteed business.

“There is a market if we package something for them,” Roden said, mentioning Friday Night Bites, a food truck festival that drew crowds in October. The city planned the event to celebrate the return and expansion of the A-train’s Friday night service.

“We’ve got so many events, festivals, things like that, we can help kick-start the culture by bringing them in like that,” Roden said.

http://www.dentonrc.com/business-tech/denton-business-headlines/20130317-meals-on-wheels.ece

Baby Portobello sandwich from Pickled Carrot food truck (Special to DFW.com/DFW Food Truck Foodie)

College towns and food trucks just seem like the perfect pairing, so I was very excited when Denton made the decision to allow food trucks to operate in the city limits, outside of the UNT campus. Since late September, The Pickled Carrot has been rolling around Denton serving Vietnamese sandwiches. Yesterday, I ventured to Denton to try the banh mi.

The Pickled Carrot serves pork, chicken, tofu or baby portobello mushroom banh mis. All sandwiches are 8 inches long and come with pickled carrots, daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeno, sriracha sauce and homemade garlic mayo.

Pork banh mi sandwich from the Pickled Carrot food truck (Special to DFW.com/DFW Food Truck Foodie)

The pork banh mi has grilled pork was very good. The pork was tender, flavorful and well-cooked. The baguette is very soft on the inside and had a nice crusty outside, which held the sandwich together. The veggies were fresh and there were a lot of them. Having the sriracha sauce already on the banh mi gave it a lot of flavor, which I normally would not have added, but it wasn’t so hot as to be overwhelming.

The baby portobello mushroom sandwich was also very good. The mushrooms had a nice, rich flavor on their own but also took on the flavor of the garlic mayo and the sriracha, so each bite was a variety of flavors. The soft bread was still able to hold its own around the vegetables. There was about half of the sandwich left as I made my drive back to my office. At the end of the 20-minute drive, the bread was still holding, although it was starting to get soggy. Since most people won’t be driving 20 minutes after getting their sandwich, I’m comfortable saying you can order your banh mi, take it across Denton and not be worried that it will fall apart before you eat it.

Denton-based Pickled Carrot food truck (Special to DFW.com/DFW Food Truck Foodie)

The Pickled Carrot serves a cucumber lemonade that I loved. It was refreshing but not too strong in either lemon nor cucumber taste. As the weather warms up, I am going to want to drink this by the gallon.

The Pickled Carrot is also doing its part to help the community, donating all tips to Denton Community Food Center. They also have been taking their trailer to events around town. Most days you can find them at the EZ Check store, near Bernard and Eagle streets. Their Facebook page also provides a number where you can text your order. They also have a fun photo contest going on right now that could win you a free sandwich.

You can follow The Pickled Carrot on Facebook and Twitter. If you are near Denton, go visit them; you won’t be disappointed.

http://www.dfw.com/2013/01/14/739162/food-truck-review-pickled-carrot.html

phot courtest of Angry Friar

There’s an Angry Friar holed up in a green double-decker bus near the University of North Texas in Denton. The good news is reviews indicate that he has amazing fish and chips with curry sauce. The bad news is he is, in fact, an Angry Friar.

But what I can’t really get past is the fact native Englander, David Wilson, has been there for almost two years and I’m just now learning about it. I even go to Denton on occasion.

Pulling up the Angry Friar’s Facebook page, one of the first things I noticed is that Wilson reuses his cooking oil as fuel for his bus and generator. Alright. An environmentally aware fish and chips stand. Looking good.

But then, harkening to the “Angry” part of the Friar, he posted a comment which caught me a little off guard:

“The most amazing thing is on our Facebook page, it is a little word on the left side of our page and it says “Info”. It is a link – click on this link and you will see our location.”

A slightly older lady with a cute profile picture responded to the post with:

“I guess that comment was directed at me…”

Followed by another fan:

“The most unamazing thing about the iPhone facebook apps is the lack of this “Info”. Drove from Ft. Worth late (after 9pm) on Saturday to visit – perhaps a facebook post saying “sold out”? Or you could continue to be passive aggressive to your fans that post about how to find you.”

Maybe a tad abrasive for any other owner, but for an Angry Friar, it’s just an honest day’s work.

So, I clicked on the info page and saw what I consider to be one of the greatest fouls in written word: all caps.

******** THERE IS NO SEATING UPSTAIRS**********
******** THE COMBO DOES NOT COME WITH A DRINK***********

The asterisks are a bonus. Well played, hostile fish fryer. But, really, what’s the fun in having a double-decker bus if you can’t go upstairs? And, I’m on the team where a combo implies a drink. Otherwise it’s ****FISH WITH A SIDE OF CHIPS****

Then I noticed a website address and hoped that therein I would find more specifics to this scandously-under-radar food truck. Not so much. The website is completely dedicated to the dumbass things his customers say.

To boot, the title of the blog is “Am I Famous?”, implying that if you say something dumb while ordering, he’ll post it on the website, after which you can tell all your friends you’ve reached a new level of stardom from your officially posted stupidity.

But honestly, it doesn’t matter. Because if he has good fish and chips, Friar can sling his anger on the walls all day long. And according to every review I’ve read on the place, the food is *****GOD DAMN WORTH IT****. Not a single complaint. Most comments on the FB page and on Yelp! praise the curry sauce served with the chips.

Speaking of which: Appears the Friar gets a lot of questions about the curry because he has an extra paragraph on that “amazing” info page, and I’m sure there were many long, exhaustive sighs over the keyboard as he typed it:

“Curry sauce is like a brown gravy with a little spice – it is common in Fish and Chip shops in England – we put it on your chips but we can also put it on your fish. Chips are fries.

I have no idea what hushpuppies are, never heard of them until I came over here. No way to describe them, I suggest Wikipedia.”

I can’t wait for my first visit.

****** I WILL NOT SIT UPSTAIRS NOR WILL I GET A DRINK WITH MY COMBO MEAL*****

I absolutely will, however, order hushpuppies.

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2011/09/dentons_green_double_decker_fo.php