By John Lauritsen | CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Eighties heavy metal band Twisted Sister is known for their big hair, flashy makeup, catchy lyrics and stage antics. But to Cody Allen and Wesley Kaake, they are now a threat to their business.

“I cried. I really did. I was just in shock,” said Kaake, owner of the Twisted Sister House of Hunger food truck.

The House of Hunger is known for their deep-fried hot dogs and Philly sandwiches. In July, Kaake received a cease and desist letter from the band’s guitarist and manager, J.J. French, and his attorney.

“It is the opinion of our client, with which we concur, that your use of the name Twisted Sister will cause dilution of our client’s famous mark and will cause confusion among consumers,” the letter read.

“They want us to pull all existence of ourselves from the Internet, all advertising,” Kaake said. “It’s a big list of demands.”

But Kaake says they aren’t alone. At least six other businesses that he knows of, including Twisted Sisters Cupcakes in Virginia Beach, have also been served cease and desist notices.

“After talking with five other companies across the country as well as one in Serbia who have received a letter from them, we may not be so eager to back down and take it,” said Kaake.

That’s the irony in all of this. The band once released an album called Stay Hungry and is most famous for a hit song “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” That song has now become the theme song for a couple of Minneapolis guys determined to keep their name.

“That song definitely has a message that still rings true today,” said Allen.

Kaake said he has hired an attorney to fight this. He said if it goes too far, may just rename the truck after his mom Kathy, who died a couple weeks before he bought it last spring.

A message left for the band’s attorney has not been returned. Kaake said the lead singer Dee Snider did tweet that he is sorry, he’s only the lead singer, he’s not a part of management, and has nothing to do with this.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/10/25/food-truck-to-twisted-sister-were-not-gonna-take-it/

By Carter Coyle | MyFOX8.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Just a few weeks into Greensboro’s pilot program for Food Trucks downtown, a marketing company says they will be recommending them as a permanent fixture to the city.

The Sales Factory is surveying customers and gathering information about the food trucks the city is allowing on Commerce Place downtown for the month of October.

On November 7th, Greensboro City Council will consider changes to downtown ordinances that would allow for more food trucks in more places.

“More people are coming from outside the downtown zip code than even from inside the downtown area,” said Jordan Bressler, Managing Director of Communications Strategy at The Sales Factory.

“Our research shows as many as 300 people every day patronizing the four food trucks,” Bressler added.

“I think it’s a great experiment,” said Kelly Yates, who works downtown near the food trucks. “I’m glad Greensboro is letting them do this- just to try something new and different.”

Yates tried crepes a few weeks ago and on Friday he enjoyed an order of beer-battered fish tacos.

He also met his son’s kindergarten class for their food field trip. Lead Teacher Meredith Sawyer says they are using the food trucks near their school to reinforce this month’s lessons about food groups and healthy choices.

“It’s great because there’s a variety of foods they normally wouldn’t try. And there are healthy options, too. It’s not just a bunch of fried food,” said Sawyer. “It was a pretty cool experience that [the kids] get to come outside and have a picnic right in the middle of downtown.”

She added, “At least five people I work with come here every day to get something to eat from the food trucks!”

Food truck owners say they are cooking overtime to keep up with demand.
Captain Ponchos, The Great Escape, My Dream Cakes, Baguettaboutit, Marty’s BBQ 2, and The Sandwhich Shop are just a few of the food trucks interested in continuing to meet Greensboro’s appetite in the coming months.

“No one expected this kind of success,” said Bressler.

http://myfox8.com/2012/10/26/food-trucks-cooking-up-success-downtown-greensboro/

“She’s the chef. I’m the cook,” said Alberto Palmer, owner of the Stick It food truck.

Take a truck, build a chef’s kitchen, add Palmer’s talent and Ruth Lipsky’s imagination and you get one carefully grilled dream that started with a date years ago in a bar with a game of pool.

“He let me win so that he had to buy me a drink and we’ve been together ever since. Yeah, I’m pretty slick. Yeah, you’re pretty slick,” said Lipskey, Palmer’s partner and co-owner.

Palmer is also familiar with cooking, working every job in Houston restaurants except one: owner. It’s why he and Ruth bought their truck.

“We had looked at some real estate around the city and, I mean, it was quite expensive from what we had saved up and the food truck idea came up early on as an option,” said Lipsky.

“I don’t want to get stuck in the rut of no matter what your sales are, you have to make this payment. Or having an investor breathing down your neck,” said Palmer.

There’s still competition and it’s hard to stand out among Houston’s growing flock of food trucks. In the old days, food trucks relied on word of mouth. Today, Twitter and Facebook are helping them find customers more easily.

Some have reward cards and photo booths. All have opposition.

“I share some of my colleagues’ concerns, deep concerns,” said Houston City Councilman Mike Laster.

Mobile Food Houston is pushing council for new rules allowing food trucks to have tables, chairs and serve downtown while traditional restaurant owners who don’t want the competition are pushing back.

Lipsky sees no choice but sticking with it. Her place setting tattoos are a reminder.

“So I won’t forget! How embarrassing would it be to put the spoons on the wrong side,” she said.

They also remind her why she put herself through culinary school, why she and Palmer work 12-hour days.

“What we’d like to do is open up an ice house and then use the truck as our kitchen and then do some nice American food out of that,” she said.

It’s their dream and if all goes right, they’ll have it in a year. Until then, they’re enjoying this ride one meal at a time.

“I’m happy. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else,” said Lipsky.

By Melissa Nann Burke | The News Journal

The wind picks up the aroma of smoldering hickory chips from Clint Johnson’s portable smoker and carries it far beyond his weekend roadside stand in Middletown.

It only has to travel seven blocks to reach Keith Young at his restaurant in Ashley Plaza, and that has Young smoldering.

“When he was on the outskirts of town, it bothered me but I didn’t say anything. Where he’s at now, it’s just too close,” said Young, who opened Young’s BBQ on East Main Street in 2007. “We need limitations. We need zones. We need boundaries.”

Young wants Middletown to ban mobile food vendors along Main and Broad streets because of the threat they pose to brick-and-mortar restaurants. He says the vendors have an unfair advantage because they don’t have the same overhead costs or pay taxes in town.

Tonight, the chefs are expected to sound off on a proposal to require formal permits for mobile food vendors, in addition to other restrictions that would make it easier to shut down food trucks or carts. A hearing on the proposed ordinance starts at 6 p.m. in town hall.

Local governments across the country have struggled with how to regulate mobile food sales without stifling competition, as food trucks surged in popularity in recent years.

Some places inspect the units for food safety only. Major cities, excluding Los Angeles, have rules keeping food trucks away from popular commercial districts where customers want and expect them to be. Food truck advocacy groups say the rules attempt to insulate restaurants from street competition, rather than promote health and safety.

“He sees my line outside here, and it drives him absolutely mad,” Johnson said of Young. “He’s done everything to derail me. It’s like Barbecue Wars.”

Middletown is not among the cities with fish-taco carts blocking sidewalks or cupcake trucks squatting in parking spots. Town staff counted three vendors besides Johnson in recent years – a hot dog vendor, a Mexican food truck and a weekend-only cart at a local church.

Johnson owns a restaurant and catering business in Smyrna, Oh’ Phoebe’s BBQ and Down Home Deli. Framed on the wall there is praise for Johnson’s chicken barbecue published by a New York Times critic in 2010. This is his fourth year trailering his portable smoker to Middletown for weekend sales.

“The amount of people I bring to the city on a monthly basis is something to reckon with,” Johnson said. “They come for the barbecue. They stay to shop or to fill up on gas or to head to the football game.”

His roadside sales overlap with Young’s restaurant for only three hours a week, he said. Young doesn’t open until 11 a.m. on Saturdays. Johnson starts earlier and sells out by 2 p.m. Johnson is also out there on Sundays, and Young’s is closed Sundays, except during the restaurant’s busier summer season.

Young blames Johnson for business being down 20 percent. New regulations would ensure an “equal playing field,” he said.

Town code doesn’t address mobile food vendors directly. Middletown has required them to obtain a business license and appear before council to place any conditions for approval on the record.

Johnson did so last December after relocating from the parking lot of a tractor-supply store to Farrell Roofing Co. at 225 W. Main St. He also presented a letter of permission from the property owner.

Mobile operations are subject to stringent health and safety requirements under Delaware law. They must carry a state business license and certification by the state Department of Public Health, which involves several steps to prove compliance with rules regarding on-board refrigeration, sanitation and structural stability, among others.

Mobile vendors also submit to inspections by the state once a year, at minimum, said department spokeswoman Jill Fredel.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20121015/NEWS02/310150040/Barbeque-battle-heats-up-food-cart-regulation-debate-Middletown?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home&nclick_check=1

By Christopher Ortiz | DigitalHippos.com

This won’t take much of your time, unlike a few of my reviews, since The Cheese Truck is less than a half-hour long. But it’s worth the half-hour you’ll spend since you’ll learn about a small gem in “the biggest little city in the world” known as Reno, Nevada. The film follows Haley and Jessie, two optimistic women who run a small business catering grilled cheese and other popular dishes from a mobile kitchen which they call “Bessie” but who we call “Gourmelt.” Over the course of a breezy half-hour, we get an in-depth and interesting look into how they run their business, a.k.a. what it’s like for anyone who makes their living running a mobile kitchen: does it pay enough? What are the necessary investments? Is it satisfying, especially during difficult economic times?

You’ll get those answers and some change in The Cheese Truck. It was really nice to follow two likeable young ladies who made a slightly-impulsive but heart-driven decision to run a mobile kitchen. They give you plenty of insight on their satisfaction and gripes with the job, such as driving and cooking in the heat, credit card scanners dying at bad times, and fryers slowing down when customers are waiting. But as the narrator, Jason, pointed out: spending time in the kitchen will only make you hungry, and there are more pros than cons in running a mobile kitchen, as it turns out.

Technically, the film is well-made and narrated. The background music helps keep you engaged, keeping the pacing smooth and the entertainment level high. The narration is determined to prove that a city famous for gambling, quick divorces and legalized prostitution right outside the city limits is really just a city full of people contributing their own little stories, and The Cheese Truckis one of the good ones about a couple of caterers who provide an increasingly-popular food service. Search Facebook and you’ll see.

There isn’t much to say without spoiling material and the film is only 26 minutes long, so to sum up, The Cheese Truck is an insightful and well-narrated short documentary about a small gem in Reno, Nevada, sharing what it’s like to run a mobile truck and the satisfaction it can give to the owners. Now I can have a conversation with the next guy that sells me a cheeseburger by my Home Depot. Sweet!

http://digitalhippos.com/film-review/documentary/review-the-cheese-truck

By Elizabeth Donatelli | MyNews3.com

Mike Booth and Sarah Payne, with their 8-month-old daughter, Aubrey Payne, order food at Tasty Bunz food truck during Vegas Streats in downtown Las Vegas. photo: Leila Navidi

After months of meetings and discussions about where food trucks can park the Las Vegas City Council finally took a vote. In fact they took three. Several reps from restaurants were there and spoke with news 3’s Elizabeth Donatelli on the issue.

LAS VEGAS (Las Vegas Sun) — Only 150 feet separated Las Vegas City Council members Wednesday afternoon, but the distance was enough to kill a proposal to create a distance requirement for mobile food trucks from stationary restaurants.

After three votes failed – one to change nothing in the city code, one to create a distance of 150 feet, and another to create a distance of 300 feet – the matter was tabled and will likely return to the council at a future meeting.

After more than two hours of debate, council members could not agree on a distance requirement, a proposal developed after months of meetings between city staff, mobile truck vendors and restaurant owners.

Existing law has no distance requirement but does not allow food trucks to park in public rights of way.

Before the vote, the owner of a Roberto’s restaurant at Nellis Boulevard and Eastern Avenue said three food trucks flanked his restaurant, selling tacos and burritos at cut rates. An employee wept, saying her hours had been cut from 40 to 20 per week because of the lost business.

Arguing against any change, Councilman Steve Ross said restaurants and food trucks attract different types of customers so he saw no conflict.

“In my mind, they’re two different customers,” he said. “I can’t imagine one of these putting a Roberto’s out of business.”

The city, he added, needs “to protect the food vendors. The markets rely on being free to grow and expand … it is hard for me to interfere with that free market and free enterprise.”

However, downtown Councilman Bob Coffin didn’t see eye to eye with Ross, saying the city proposal was not “an infringement on personal liberty or an antitrust action.”

“I strongly disagree this is against a new burgeoning business,” he said. “(Food trucks) are just going in there and taking the cream of the crop, not in every instance but enough.”

Councilman Ricki Barlow, whose district includes the redeveloping East Fremont Street corridor, said it would be unfair for the city to have lured brick-and-mortar businesses into that area, then allow food trucks to move in without regulation.

“We attracted the brick and mortar to invest their life savings,” he said.

Lois Tarkanian, whose ward is west of downtown, said she knew of a food truck vendor who was “paying nothing and is hooking into somebody else’s facility” for utilities.

“And I don’t think that’s fair to people who have invested more in the community,” she added.

Councilman Bob Beers abstained from all three votes because he is an investor in Mundos, a downtown restaurant in the World Market Center. Mayor Carolyn Goodman voted but disclosed that her husband, Oscar, for whom a downtown steakhouse is named, has an interest in the restaurant. City Attorney Brad Jerbic said Goodman could vote as the restaurant, situated in The Plaza casino, was not in a place that would be affected by food trucks no matter what distance was voted upon.

The three votes were as follows; The first vote was to adopt a distance of 150 feet, which failed 4-2, with Goodman and Councilman Stavros Anthony voting yes. A second vote was to do nothing, which failed 4-2 with Anthony and Ross voting yes. The last vote was for a 300-foot distance, which resulted in a tie. Coffin, Barlow and Tarkanian voted yes.

http://www.mynews3.com/content/news/story/Council-can-t-decide-on-changes-to-regulate-Vegas/vFdsY6w4e0mPN_xrV9UECQ.cspx

Brace yourselves, Minnesota: Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern is opening a food truck called AZ Canteen, and he’s doing it in the apex of all things Minnesotan, the Minnesota State Fair. Come August 25, the Canteen will open serving food inspired by Zimmern’s global travels. And before you start getting nervous about eating crickets or whatever, it’s not actually all that out there: the menu has dishes like cabrito butter burgers (with a new custom goat blend by Pat LaFrieda), crispy pork belly with green papaya salad, and griddled veal tongue sliders. It will also serve ice cream sandwiches from Izzy’s in St. Paul.

Zimmern is also in the process of opening two sandwich shops, one at the Minneapolis airport and one at LaGuardia in New York City. AZ Canteen will be stationed at the Fair through its end September 3, after which it will roam around the Twin Cities. Also, you can rent it for events — Bizarre Foods birthday party, anyone? Above in the slideshow, the menu and the truck art. Below, the press release.

Update From Zimmern’s PR: The event at the State Fair is a preview event. Between 12:00PM and 5:00PM on August 25 (and only August 25), the truck will hand out goat sausage samples. After that, the truck will stick around and “additional activities” will happen, but they’ll no longer be handing out samples. (Advice? Get there early.) The official launch of AZ Canteen will happen sometime after the 25 — check out their Twitter for details — and the truck will be located in the Twin Cities.

AZ Canteen Menu

· Andouille, Oyster and Crab Gumbo
· Crispy Pork Belly With Green Papaya Salad, Chiles, Lime With Fried Egg
· Cabrito Butter Burger With Roasted Tomatoes, Charred Onion, Pickles
· Cabrito Sausage Grinder With Cabbage Slaw
· Griddled Veal Tongue on Butter Toasted Bun With Lemon, Capers, Arugula and Tonnato Sauce
· Izzy’s Handcrafter Ice Cream Sandwiches
· Nicaraguan Dulce de Leche Shaved Ice With Pound Cake “Loly’s Style”
· Jamaican Hibiscus Punch, a Selection of Natural Homemade and Artisanal Sodas, Juice of the Day, Bottled Water
· Sides Available: Potato Salad or Chips

ANDREW ZIMMERN TO UNVEIL NEW FOOD TRUCK AT 2012 MINNESOTA STATE FAIR

AZ Canteen to Showcase Menu Items from Around the Globe,
Inspired by the Acclaimed TV Host’s Culinary Adventures

St. Paul, MN (August 16, 2012) – Andrew Zimmern, the two-time James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, food writer and teacher is rolling into new culinary territory on Saturday, August 25th with the launch of AZ Canteen, an Andrew Zimmern Food Truck. Widely recognized for hosting Travel Channel’s popular Bizarre Foods series, Andrew will unveil his latest culinary venture at the Minnesota State Fair, one of the largest food events in the world.

The model for AZ Canteen naturally evolved from Andrew’s experiences visiting hundreds of food trucks and street stalls around the world, as well as creating several airport restaurant concepts. Designing a mobile restaurant affords Andrew the luxury of traveling alongside AZ Canteen for events and appearances around the country.

“The menu will be differentiated and delicious. I have been lucky enough to travel and eat my way through over 100 countries tasting everything I can along the way,” Zimmern said. “I want to expand the protein choices of Americans with the overarching goal of restoring health and wellness to our food system one plate at a time. Take goat for example. I love it and we’re featuring it first and foremost. I partnered with Pat LaFrieda to create a goat burger blend and a goat sausage that is indescribably superb.”

From savory options like Cabrito (goat) Sausage, Crispy Pork Belly and Griddled Veal Tongue Sliders, to sweet selections that define truck dining, including Ice Cream Sandwiches from Andrew’s favorite scoop shop, Izzy’s Ice Cream in St. Paul, MN, AZ Canteen is paving the way as a flavor and ingredient thought leader in the industry.

The graphics for AZ Canteen were inspired by the foundation of what the food truck represents: flavorful food and a unique experience. The icons embody the perfect intersection of food and travel, reflecting the ingredients used in the menu items, with a nod to vintage travel stickers and suitcases.

During AZ Canteen’s inauguration, fans can expect to see Andrew behind the truck’s grill serving up delectable dishes, then throughout the year for select days and events. Regardless, diners can anticipate great food and an even better culinary experience.

With future plans to expand the AZ Canteen roster beyond a single truck, Andrew hopes to capitalize on his extensive international “Bizarre Foods” fan base, launching food trucks in several countries.

For updates on locations, hours and menu items, AZ Canteen devotees can defer to the company’s Twitter (@AZCanteen), Facebook (www.facebook.com/AZCanteen) or website www.AZCanteen.com.

http://eater.com/archives/2012/08/16/az-cantina-andrew-zimmerns-twin-cities-food-truck.php