Mobile Food Vending
Enquirer articleMOBILE FOOD VENDORS AT FOUNTAIN SQUARE!
Check out the food trucks at Fifth & Race during the World Choir Games. Hungry for something healty & inexpensive? Try the city's new mobile food vending pilot program I created downtown. We have 25 vendors selling pizza. tacos, burgers and jambalaya in 4 locations: Fountain Square, Fifth & Race lot, Court & Vine St, and next to the Purple People Bridge. Mobile food vending has created/retained more than 80 jobs! At Cafe de Wheels, try the delicious sandwich "The Councilwoman".
Mobile food vendors in the 5th & Race parking lot where people now flock for lunch. Now this lot is being turned into the new Headquarters for Dunnhumby and the most popular mobile food vending zone is around Fountain Square.
Coffee Guy likes to park at the Court Street location.
Fireside Pizza Oven waits for customers at the end of the Purple People Bridge.
When mobile food vendors came to my office for help doing business downtown, I agreed to find a solution. I searched the downtown area to find three city-owned locations I thought would make excellent mobile food vending zones. The zones include the 5th & Race lot, the Court Street & Vine Street area and the base of the Purple People Bridge. Click here for a map of the zones.
I thank my fellow Council Members for passing the one-year pilot program in June, just in time for summer, and to local media for all the great coverage (see news section). We're now in the third year of the program and it's going strong. Our most recent change is streamlining the application process by having everything at a one-stop shop--the health department.
Local 12: Jeff Hirsh's story on the new Mobile Food Vending from Laure Quinlivan on Vimeo.
Why Mobile Food Vending?
A sign on Señor Roy’s Taco Patrol truck says it all: “Roll with It.” Mobile food vendors bring a diverse array of cheap eating options and create vibrancy on our city streets. They diversify the local economy by encouraging entrepreneurship, and by increasing neighborhood foot traffic, they help improve safety while discouraging criminal activity in public areas.
If you are interested in applying for a mobile food vending permit or learning more about the pilot program, read this information sheet on the Mobile Food Vending Pilot Program.
The New Trucks on the Block
Hungry? Try one of the vendors in this list of the City’s first Mobile Food Vendors Pilot Program.
- Butler, Inc.
- Café de Wheels
- The Coffee Guy
- Coldstone (8 Creations LLC)
- Dojo Gelato
- FireSide Pizza
- Gold Star Chili’s Chilimobile
- Habanero Burrito Wagon
- Hey Ice Cream Man
- Ike’s IMA, LLC (fried chicken and chips)
- M&B Distributors, Inc.
- M& S Chicago Style (kabobs and filafel)
- New Orleans to Go’s A Street Car Named Desire
- Señor Roys Taco Patrol
- Taste of Belgium (waffles and crepes)
- Vinnie’s Gourmet Pretzels
Want to offer any suggestions or feedback? Send an email to vendingcoordinator@cincinnati-oh.gov or laure.quinlivan@cincinnati-oh.gov.
Mobile Food Vending Story - June 8, 2010 from Laure Quinlivan on Vimeo.
