Staff Photo— Jerry Larson
Anthony Tristan purchases two hot dogs from George Gaylord’s hot dog cart on Austin Avenue and South Seventh Street on the tile of the former Cox department store.

The sight of a food cart in downtown Waco stopped the woman in her tracks.

“I love this!” she said, studying a portable sign that lists a simple menu of hot dogs, chili dogs, chips and soda.

Behind the cart, under a blue-and-white umbrella, owner George Gaylord took notice.

“How you doing?” he asked.

The woman hesitated, then replied: “I think I want a hot dog.”

Her reaction — surprise, delight, sudden beef craving — is typical of what Gaylord has seen since opening the cart Monday on the blue-tiled grounds of the former Cox department store on Austin Avenue.

“I’ve always thought about doing this down here because I’ve never seen one,” Gaylord, a Connecticut native and 10-year Waco resident, says during a break between customers one recent afternoon. “Connecticut and New York, these (food carts) are on every street corner. So I told my wife, ‘You know, a hot dog cart would be good down here.’”

The result, G&K Hot Dogs Inc., is Gaylord’s first food-service venture after working in manufacturing and running a sports netting business. It could serve as a test case for whether food carts can thrive downtown, where the number of apartments and traditional restaurants has grown in recent years.

The city’s Imagine Waco plan envisions food carts sprouting from parking lots to serve lunchtime customers and boost foot traffic downtown. It sees the carts as a “placeholder” until property values and population density reach a critical mass to attract redevelopment.

“Those types of things create opportunities for people to exist out in the public realm,” said Chris McGowan, urban development director for the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. “It provides vibrancy. It’s also a pretty low barrier to entry for someone to start their own business. Rather than buy a whole building, a cart or a truck is a much easier way to get involved.”

Still, opening one isn’t easy. When a customer said Friday she wants to see more street vendors on Austin, Gaylord replied: “Well, if you knew the trouble it took to do this …”

Food cart and truck operators have to follow detailed state and local health codes to get a mobile vendor permit. For Gaylord, that meant buying the right equipment and submitting a complete site plan for city approval.

He also had to find an open location to lease and make a deal with a commissary, a licensed kitchen where he can prepare food and store supplies. By code, mobile food vendors can’t prepare food at home.

Many businesses offer commissary services in cities with vibrant food truck scenes, including Austin and Portland, Ore., but finding one in Waco wasn’t easy for Gaylord. Eventually, he found a nonprofit agency that let him use its licensed kitchen in exchange for feeding low-income kids each week.

Those hurdles keep some would-be operators out of the industry. Waco has 60 permitted mobile food vendors, a category that includes snow-cone stands, food trucks and catering vehicles, said David Litke of the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District.

Asked how many vendors regularly set up downtown besides Gaylord, Litke said: “Probably none.”

It took a year for Gaylord to clear the business and permitting hurdles, and it could have taken longer without a neighbor’s help.

Jake Black, who owns Jake’s Texas Tea House at 613 Austin Ave., agreed to let Gaylord set up at the former department store lot, even though he could have viewed him as competition. Gaylord needed Black’s permission by code because his cart is within 100 feet of the permanent restaurant.

“He was really great about everything,” Gaylord said. “I mean, without him I wouldn’t be able to be here.”

To Black, more foot traffic means more potential customers for all downtown merchants.

“Maybe every block or two, if there were some guy selling something, I think it would be great for downtown,” he said.

Black doesn’t see Gaylord as a direct competitor, since food carts and sit-down restaurants serve different customer needs.

“My wife and I have already bought hot dogs from them,” Black said. “He’s not our competition; he’s just someone trying to make it.”

Gaylord’s usual business hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. He serves only Nathan’s Famous all-beef franks, which originated in New York’s Coney Island and passed his friends’ rigorous taste tests.

During a recent visit, Gaylord smiled when a passer-by said he’s bringing a touch of New York to Waco.

“The looks and the talk I get from everybody who walks by, just like that guy, ‘Yeah, New York in Waco!’” Gaylord said with a laugh. “So it’s been kind of funny to see it.”

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/hot-dog-cart-brings-touch-of-new-york-to-waco/article_7a40b43b-6d0f-53f6-b759-bfacdf88ced1.html

With the temporary absence of the Common Grounds taco truck comes another mobile food distributor.

La Lola Loca is a food truck of Latin cuisine that will be opening on the Baylor Campus today.

The thing that sets this food truck apart from others in the past is that it will be in different places each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“It will be open Monday through Friday, and it will be traveling around campus during different time periods,” said Jessica Gallippo, Marketing Manager for Baylor Dining Services. “So breakfast, lunch and dinner it will be in different spots around campus. In order to find out where it’s going to be, you need to ‘like’ us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter because every day we’ll post where we’re going to be next.”

However, some find that to be a chore.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea,” said El Paso senior Ashleigh Duff. “It’s not so bad, especially for students on the run that don’t have time for dining halls, but that constantly moving is going to get frustrating for some students.”

According to the beginning schedule on the official website for the food trucks, they will be visiting key locations on campus such as North Village, Carroll Library, the Student Life Center and the McLean Tennis Courts.

To determine an appropriate schedule for their route, Baylor Dining Services would observe traffic at the locations in an effort to determine which would be the best, most populated stops.

The truck itself, vibrant and brightly colored, sports a memorable slogan which can be read from a good distance away: “Don’t look at us like we’re Loco, you are too,” a slogan that may pave the way to success for the beginning franchise.

Examples of menu items include empanada dippers, taquitos, tacos, quesadillas, taco’dillas, pulled pork Cubano sandwiches and much more.

The truck will host its grand opening tonight on 5th Street at the bonfire.

“We’re really excited about it,” Gallipo said. “We’re a pilot program here. It’s one of ten trucks in the entire nation that’s doing this pilot program for these brand new food trucks. We’re excited here at Baylor to be apart of that program, and we look forward to seeing the student excitement and engagement when we open [tonight].”

For more information on La Lola Loca, visit www.lalolaloca.com or search for ‘LaLolaLocaBaylor’ on Facebookand ‘Lolaloca_Baylor’ on Twitter.

http://baylorlariat.com/2012/11/02/la-lola-loca-truck-to-open-on-baylor-campus/

Tania Ortega | KCENTV.com

You may have noticed a new addition to street corners and parking lots. Food trucks are taking over the fast food scene and they’re coming to a neighborhood near you.

Papa Jack’s has been open for 3 months. They sell out before the dinner crowd can make it out. Something that’s bringing owner, Gerald Hicks, closer to his ultimate dream. “It’s like one of my dreams to have a small BBQ place and I couldn’t really afford to have a big restaurant so I’m just basically trying to crawl before I can walk. “

Gerald is not alone. The Ramirez’s started off their business with a food truck. Taqueria Zacatecas is now an establishment. “It took a while but its really worth it because they worked really hard for it and I’m really glad to see how much the work is paying off,” says Jennifer Ramirez.

Food trucks are everywhere, but not all of them comply with regulations. “Was the food prepared safely and if not then is that going to lead to a food borne illness and that’s what our concern is for permitting,” says David Litke, of the Waco Health Division. And with the summer starting, we will be seeing a lot more trucking along.

“Now we have a bunch of Baylor students coming and a whole bunch of people from all over the place,” says Ramirez. Word of mouth is proving to be very useful for their business.

Health inspectors say before eating at any food truck look for an open air vendors permit. It tells you that they’re actually playing by the rules.

Anybody interested in opening up a food truck can go to their local health department and pick up a packet explaining the requirements.

Reporter: Tania Ortega email: tortega@kcentv.com

Photographer: Joshua Skurnick

http://www.kcentv.com/story/14748370/food-trucks-in-a-neighborhood-near-you

http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2011/05/waco-tx-food-trucks-in-a-neighborhood-near-you/