Food truck feedback: After first year with revised city mobile vendor license in Cedar Rapids, vendors and officials take stock
She isn't looking forward to renewing her mobile food vendor license, which at
"As a food truck owner, I must pay for insurance for my truck, business insurance, a health license and a fee with the fire department," said Rios, of
They also set standards for parking, trash cleanup, noise and fumes.
The new rules came with new fees, up from
The city collected
There were 28 mobile food vendors, including 24 food trucks, licensed in
Is the price right?
The new licensing process was intended to make it cheaper for food trucks and less time-consuming for city employees, Cedar Rapids City Clerk
"It was getting expensive for vendors because we used to license per location," she said.
"I'm not sure I'm taking full advantage of what I could with that license," Mercil said. "It does seem to be a pretty fair price. It takes weekends of operating, to pay off the (
Spangler's licensing fee went up from
"I had to eat
Vendor feedback
Rios gets a year-long license for Rio Burritos, which sells burritos, tacos, quesadillas and desserts, but business is slow from November through February.
"The city has done a really good job making sure the patron is taken care of as well as the business owner," Rios said of the
But "there are definitely things that can be done" to make the process better, Rios said.
In addition to lowering the licensing fee, Rios would like the city to post a list of licensed food trucks online. That would allow her to make sure her competitors are paying the same fees and give her a list of licensed trucks to suggest to host sites that might ask her for recommendations.
There were some questions about a provision that limits vendors to one street parking spot, even if they use a truck to haul a trailer, said
This was one part of the ordinance designed to protect business owners who don't want all the street parking in front of their stores or restaurants tied up with food trucks, he said.
Restaurants
"From an entrepreneurship standpoint, I'm all for it," Bredman said of food trucks. But "we prefer they not be in an area where there are brick-and-mortar restaurants."
Bredman would like to know whether any of the mobile food vendor license fee goes to the
No money from the mobile food vendor licenses goes to the
"The first day they had their food trucks at the park (last summer) was one of our busier days," he said. "Competition is a good thing."
Food trucks licensed in
Box Lunch
Chef Aubri
Dizzy Daddy BBQ
Flip N Shop
Grateful Crepe
Jays Philadelphia Water Ice
Keepin' Up With the
MZ B & the Boys
One more Bite
Polar Bird Peppy's
Rio Burritos
Rubes BBQ
Scratch Cupcakery
Stan's Ice Cream
Street Food Fighter
Woolf's Lunch Box
Yescas
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