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Santa Monica's Food Truck Lot a Rousing Success on Day One, but Shut Down by City on Day Two [Updated]
Quick Report: Santa Monica's Food Truck Lot
Kogi BBQ Goes Brick & Mortar
The Santa Monica Food Truck Lot (so far) has only issued one Tweet: "Get ready for a new place to eat in Santa Monica," they declared on the last day of 2009. And then over the weekend, Barbie's Q revealed that this endeavor was due to launch on Monday, and that they and about a half-dozen food trucks were slated to be part of it. So what is the SM Food Truck Lot?
Situated at the corner of 14th and Santa Monica Boulevard [map], the lot is just that: An empty parking lot on the property that last belonged to Infiniti of Santa Monica. Renting the lot out for temporary use seems to be the property's best and most recent calling, since the space just served a stint as a Christmas Tree lot.
The lot is "following" close to 20 food trucks via their Twitter page, including a few of the mobile eateries in their pre-launch stages like Derb's Gourmet, and some whose schedules indicate they won't be serving on Monday, like The Grilled Cheese Truck and Fressers, so besides Barbie's Q it's not clear who will be participating tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the lot described as a "mobile food court."
After the recent troubles many trucks encountered while serving lunch parked on Wilshire Boulevard in the Mid-City area, it will be interesting to see if this Lot can not only sustain the speculated ebbing popularity of the mobile food trend but also not ruffle the feathers of restaurant operators near the lot in Santa Monica.
Follow the new lot Twitter: @SMFoodtrucklot; Keep up with all the Food Trucks via LAist [web] [Twitter List]
*UPDATE: An LAist reader sent along a copy of a flyer listing the participating trucks, under the umbrella of "SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association." Image after the jump.
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Seeing how the only eateries right nearby are an Italian place on 15th that's never lacked for business and two gas stations, I can't see how this will be a bust. Bring it on, Food Truck Lot!
It's across the street from the OverUnder and 14 Below, which are both closed. I think being adjacent to the two gas stations should drive them some business, but other than the hospital it doesn't seem like it has the local working population to support it.
Apparently Santa Monica repealed their No Fun Ban. I'll bite. (GET IT?)
That will be a beautiful looking corner with 12 Food trucks, how nice......
Maybe Steve Taub and the SMFVA can work on giving The Park's Finest BBQ a food truck or retail outlet soon?
The place is #1 in the "Best of Yelp L.A." restaurant category despite having no restaurant.
Food Court on many wheels!
Reminds me of what they have in Portland - a parking lot with 8-10 food trucks side by side. Bring on the steady location! I, for one, am getting tired of having to "hunt" my food trucks down via twitter.
That spot will likely get a decent amount of traffic from people who see it from the various buslines down Santa Monica Blvd.
If the trucks have the savvy to swing by SMC, fuggedaboutit!
Drove by this afternoon around 2pm: 4 food trucks, 3 dozen people, an abc7 tv crew and a few photographers. Eerie feeling seeing the trucks being "corraled" into a parking lot but a real nice atmosphere with people sitting on the ground or makeshift stools.
In Papeete, Tahiti, they have a great mobile food court. Every evening dozens of carts, vans, wagons, etc. decorated to reflect the food they serve, pull into the parking lot used by the cruise ships. No I'm not a fan of cruise ships or food courts, but this is a totally other thing and it rocks. Great food - you go with friends wander around, pick what you want & meet back up to eat at communal tables.
Dessert can be from an entirely different truck. Everything from crepes to sushi, all outdoors and really good food. Give the Santa Monica Lot a chance, support a small business and enjoy taking a few minutes to eat outside.