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Call for new street-food vendors out

June 20th, 2010 · 33 Comments

Ever wanted to run a shrimp-dumpling, bahn mi, or fish-taco cart? Here’s your chance. The city of Vancouver is issuing a call for street-food vendors with “diverse and healthy” offerings as part of its effort to help Vancouver break out of the hog-dog gulag it’s been in for the last several decades.

Info on how to apply is here. There will be 17 vendors selected through a lottery system. But beware: you still must “nutritional options as part of your menu; have a plan to reduce the environmental impact of your operation (i.e. waste management and / or diversion); and comply with Vancouver Coastal Health requirments.” I would suggest something involving the eggs of backyard chickens myself.

The new vendors will have access to these 17 new locations which, from the look of them, have mainly been chosen for the absence of retail activity nearby. Hmmm.

Now what I’d like to lobby for is those coffee huts that you see everywhere in Washington and Oregon, often located in gas-station or mini-mall parking lots. Now that would be excellent. Why can’t we have those? Because, you know, there aren’t enough coffee places in Vancouver. I am often forced to go as far away as four blocks for a coffee, which I think is a terrible hardship.

Categories: Uncategorized

  • Betapug

    So 500 food carts in 600k Portland residents and we are holding a lottery for 17?
    But then they have a dozen or so bridges to our 5, with one lane north and one lane south out of town half the time. So un-Progressive!
    No street coffee because we do not yet
    have enough bean counter/certifiers.
    “You vill begin eating..wait for it…….”

  • Coffee Nazi

    “Now what I’d like to lobby for is those coffee huts that you see everywhere in Washington and Oregon”

    Interesting. I find them vulgar and an insult to civilized coffee drinkers. Anyone who doesn’t have the time to sit and enjoy a well made cup of coffee should end their little miserable lives. The coffee-to-go tribe what a pathetic lot!. … have you seen any of coffee on the go in Bologna? No!
    Signed
    Coffee Nazi.

  • jesse

    Healthy? Well I guess my Korean-inspired hot dog stand scheme is out then.

  • Frances Bula

    @Coffee Nazi. I am a sinner. I would end my miserable little life, but I have no time to buy the necessary implements as I run all over the place with my coffee to go.

  • Bill Lee

    Careful, those 500 Portland carts are 500 permits with only about 250 active, on the street at any one time because of location, time etc.

    I’m disappointed by the locations (all downtown except for a few along Main (why the Train station?) and 49th and Cambie.
    And the notation several times No Coffee. How about a chicory coffee substitute to get off the nerves.

    And the desolate photos taken of the locations in the city page (pages 3-6) http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/streets/retailUse/pdf/newLocations.pdf
    show that there is little or no street traffic, or are they all Sunday pictures?

    Why not promote the stuff that was at the various street festivals in the past weeks?

    What about the bikini coffee huts that Seattle had for a while? Or is Vancouver too blase?

    Besides, aren’t there enough quik-E-food places in this city?

  • Chris

    I’m not sure why the city can’t throw these locations on a map, but here they are:
    http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106139523504867679880.00048983fc916cd35f63d&z=13

    One food cart I’d like to see get a permit is La Bohmeme Creperie. They’re often at the farmer’s markets and have the best crepes.

  • The Modern

    Well – it’s a start but still far less than what is needed to bring street culture up to what it should be.

    And skytrain stations….?

    While traveling one sees exciting things being made at metro stops: pancakes being thrown around, kebabs, baked goods, crepes, fajitas, sandwiches…whereas in Vancouver every Canada Line station seems to be monopolized by a sterile and cold “Jugo Juice”. I don’t even know what that is. How painfully boooring.

  • Sharon

    I would like to see the vendors selected by a judging panel rather than lottery. If they are not any good or they don’t ensure their area is neat and tidy – they are gone. No grandfather’d locations. If there are only 17 spots, they should be earned. I watched a food network show last night that had a well known chef preparing gourmet items out of a portable vending kitchen. It is amazing what can be prepared in that environment and we should take this opportunity to give those locations to the best offerings we can find to jump start the program.

    In addition – have a look at the downtown Calgary program – how come we are giving away permits so cheap? We could use the fees to pay for a few more bylaw officers.

    http://www.downtowncalgary.com/saw/vendors-artists.html#food

  • spartikus

    You could probably get the Food Network to make a series about it (and pony up some $$$):

    “Who will be the next Japadog!”

  • Joe Just Joe

    Have to disagree about those crepes, the best crepes in the city in my opinion are from the place inside Sinclair Centre whose name escapes me right now.
    I think the above idea is a great suggestion, there should be no grandfathering, they permits should be able to be revoked and issued to a more deserving party if a situation arises. Same with taxi licenses while we’re at it.
    I look forward to seeing some more streetfood but a small part of me will miss the old regulations that have brought us the japadog/tikadog etc.

  • Dan Cooper

    “Now what I’d like to lobby for is those coffee huts that you see everywhere in Washington and Oregon, often located in gas-station or mini-mall parking lots.”

    When people in the future look back to this era, it will be called the Espressoist Era. Just as the Baroque Era was exemplified artistically and culturally by glorious cathedrals, and the Renaissance Era by beautiful palaces, the highest example and characterization of Espressoism will be found in the mouldering remains of those little, drive-through coffee huts. (Tweets are also very Espressoist!)

    Remember, you heard it here first!

  • mrrr

    It should be noted that in Portland, monthly permits cost between $300-500. Ours will cost, at the lowest, $1500.

    Portland’s food carts came of age in a period when the economy was down and many new entrepreneurs were looking for creative ways to break into the food service industry. The low permit costs helped to foster that spirit and create the scene that we’re trying to replicate here. I fear though that the costs of the Van permits will close out the risk-takers and new entrepreneurs. Last thing we need are remote Cactus Clubs and Joey Mobiles….

  • Chris Keam

    An Aussie pie cart would separate me from my cash pretty regularly.

  • booge

    Crepes, Coffee, Pies, Japadog, Chestnuts, Ice Cream.

    Lets all eat on the street!

  • Charles Gauthier

    I have to question the City’s logic of allowing motorized units with no height or length restrictions to park on Granville Mall and sell fast food.

    The City/TransLink have poured $22+ million into a new street and Granville Street merchants have invested thousands of dollars on their respective facades and window displays. I’m certain we did not do all of this to have RVs pull up and sell fast food for an annual $1,000 permit. Whose brain child is this?

    If we want to emulate the Portland model, put these “restaurants on wheels” in a surface parking lot and have them pay market rate. With the parking sales tax going up to over 35% on July 1 as a result of the HST, there will likely be more vacant stalls to make this plan work.

  • Sharon

    I support the parking stall idea.

  • Joe Just Joe

    Gee that works out to cheaper then most parking in the city at just over $100/month. Maybe an entrepreneur will buy a permit with no intention of running it, just take advantage of the cheap parking while they work in a building nearby.
    I do hope the city ensures they don’t allow loopholes that could be exploited.

  • Jo

    Wow what a bunch of whiners. Its exciting we are getting food carts, its just the beginning, stop complaining about everything. [ referring to most the comments here]

  • nara is for lovers

    it blows me away how conservative the moves are here. one of the most frustrating things about vancouver is the absurd control government insists on maintaining over things like this. it’s a food cart, not a daycare! i’m reading these comments, and it’s just blowing me away that folks here aren’t marching to city hall with pitchforks demanding that the city radically increase the number of licenses and proposed sites.

    but then again, with how ludicrously piddly the sidewalks are in this damned town, it’s not really much of a surprise that this sort of thing has to be run by the city engineer!

  • Sharon

    $100 a month? I paid $16 to park for 4 hours the other night to attend the symphony.

    the point is that bricks and mortar retail should not have to compete on an uneven playing field with temporary vendors that have virtually no overhead.

  • spartikus

    the point is that bricks and mortar retail should not have to compete on an uneven playing field with temporary vendors that have virtually no overhead.

    Er, doesn’t the the interest of the consumer come first? Or are we not even pretending anymore.

  • Sharon

    you are missing my point.

    when little coffee shops are paying $50-75 a day in property taxes plus fees for outdoor patios, I am suggesting the vending fees are too cheap.

    is that harmful to the consumer – well, if the coffee shop goes out of business because their sales have fallen off and the staff get laid off… is the consumer the winner or the loser?

  • Chris Keam

    There are a lot of stands downtown selling trinkets. What has been their impact on bricks and mortar business?

    I think food carts are for a different market than sit-down restaurants. If they started setting up tables and chairs, then there might be an argument, but the idea that there has absolute equality in competition doesn’t seem to the usual stance of business. Bricks and mortar restaurants will have a huge advantage on rainy days, food carts will offer people on the run the convenience they seek.

  • Food nazi

    Food Carts are full of germs and other bacteria. I would never buy food from a cart.

    Give your heads a shake. Sit down and have a real civilized meal.

  • spartikus

    I entirely get your point.

    You think it’s unfair that a business who’s only crime is virtually no overhead – your words, not mine – should be allowed to compete with businesses your association represents…and you would like government to come to the rescue.

    And here I thought the market was supposed to be some sort of Darwinian survival of the fittest. Heaven forbid that brick and mortar establishments would have to find new ways to keep their clientele loyal. Like, say, passing on the savings they have gotten from the municipal shifting of business to residential property taxes. Or offering to pay your HST. I know a certain sandwich shop on Dunsmuir whose schtick for years was to pay your GST. They earned my loyalty.

    when little coffee shops are paying $50-75 a day in property taxes

    I would humbly suggest that it’s market rents, and not taxes, that are little coffee shops like Starbucks and Blenz’s greatest burden. It was noted in a GlobalTV piece on the new brick and mortar Japadog they are paying $12,000/mo in rent.

    If after the introduction of street vendors some of these establishments go under, well…surely rents will go down as landlords compete to fill their buildings. Meanwhile, the consumer will be able to get their coffee – and hopefully fish tacos – from “temporary vendors” – who also will provide jobs.

    Capitalism, in all it’s splendour, at work.

  • MB

    I’d like to see this idea evolve into small groupings of food / drink vendors with city water & power hook-ups in key locations, each vendor with large awnings, or possibly with adjacent small tented seating areas.

    Iron Chef on the Street!

  • Jeannette

    In regards to all this talk about whether or not the street vendors will hurt real sit down cafes and restaraunts – why don’t we look at the Chinatown night market as a point of reference? Is Hons in Chinatown feeling the crunch because I can get steamed buns and shrimp dumplings off the side of the street during summer nights? I was at the Chinatown night market the other night and a few near by bars/cafes were buzzing with clientele – probably more than they might get otherwise. And while I understand that some of those people were there because they came to the market and noticed the bars – we did notice that the availability of “cheaper” street food did not deter large numbers of people bucking up for considerably more expensive sit down meals.

  • Bill Lee

    I find it interesting that morbidly-obese (BMI 20?) councillor Heather Deal is fronting this street food carts experiment.

    She is also in charge of Vancouver representation on the GVRD waste committee for all the paper and other products that are to be tossed out while these carts set up on streets without sufficient garbage containers.
    Last weekend’s city street festivals showed that people don’t know where to put their paper cups and dishes, and never crush them down.

    In the Soviet of Burnaby however, they know how to handle waste eruptions as those who were at the Edmonds Street Fest last Sunday saw.

    Sometimes I think the city is going to require political food, just as they are now requiring certain income levels to live inside the city limits.

  • Sharon

    What a totally inappropriate comment to make about Heather Deal – shame on you.

    Spartikus, I do not have any locations for vending in this latest offering. I have a flower vendor in my hood that is a delight. The hot dog guy before that was also more than welcome.

    I am not looking for Darwin to be removed from the conversation nor am I advocating that vendors be kept off our streets. I am looking for some kind of attempt at fairness.

    I am unsure why that position is so offensive.

  • The Modern

    Sharon: “I am unsure why that position is so offensive.”

    Sharon, your position is offensive to most people because it suggests that self-centered, whining, nimby interests should compromise what is good for the city.

    The CoV is in need of better, more animated street culture – anyone who has traveled will tell you this. A better variety of food on the street is small step in this direction.

    If I were a restaurant operator, I’d be looking for ways increased pedestrian traffic and overall vibrancy can improve my business and the city overall.

  • Charles Gauthier

    Rather than clutter the public sidewalks with “restaurants on wheels” and have government manage the program with our tax dollars, a better idea is to truly follow what makes the Portland example a success– situate lots of these street vendors, as a cluster, in a surface parking lot like the one at Georgia and Cambie and have them pay much higher monthly rent to EasyPark (a wholly-owned City subsiduary). It would be like be an open air food court with a wide selection of food options to satisfy every palate. Picnic tables and tents could also be installed for patrons to provide relief from rain and sun. It’s like transplanting the PNE food experience to downtown. How fun would that be?

  • Tessa

    Charles, you suggest we follow Portland’s lead and then suggest much higher rents for the food vendors, when Portland offers their licenses for a third of what Vancouver is offering, as has already been said in this comment thread. Your proposal would flounder because it’s simply uneconomic.

    Sure, the street vendors have less cost, but they also won’t be making nearly the same revenue.

  • Rodolfo Rodriguez Vazquez

    It is funny and sad at the same time to read this comments ..
    food is food..We are lucky to have choices..
    but honestly…
    I was planning to start my food business..but the city is out of their mind.
    the prices that they are asking per meter is really insane!
    Vancouver …you need variety and movement..is ok…dont be afraid!!