KCRag Forum

kcjak wrote:And one I walked past in Austin had no generators (utility hookups), lots of picnic tables and packed.

I could live with that.

kcjak wrote:Not just OKC - they're all over - Austin has several of them, Springfield has one and I believe they're building one in East Lawrence near the Amtrak station. It's a good way to utilize underutilized lots and get some business during slow weeknights, and rotate out the spots every month to keep things fresh. Not good for every neighborhood, but could be good for parts of Troost, maybe western SW Blvd, Columbus Park/Berkley Park area, etc.
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I see the positives of it for empty lots and also know that these food truck enclaves are popular...i just don't know that they are for me.

I think if KC had a dedicated place like this, it may be best to have food stands, rather than trucks (or at least places where the trucks can plug in rather than run on generator power as mentioned). I agree of the importance of silencing the generator cacophony. It may also require less initial investment to work a stand, perhaps encouraging local chefs to start something cool. Those stands have to be pretty cheap to build. I think that's what I just visited today in Portland. Obviously, Portland is light-years ahead of KC in this area, but I think we can learn from how those have evolved. The weather is a pretty big problem for KC, though, since the stands would be very hot in the summer and need to withstand pretty decent wind gusts.

By the way, Nong's Khao Man Gai definitely reset my expectations for how awesome and simple a food truck/stand can be. Food trucks in KC are often way too ambitious with their menus.

A food truck/transit plaza is part of the plan for redevelopment of Washington Square Park in downtown. Hopefully whenever this plan comes to fruition it will be a really cool place and become a citywide destination.

Yeah, i was thinking this is a good idea as a basis for using for using empty lots in the core. I have been to one of these food truck food courts in Portland and it was really nice to be able to choose from all the different varieties

Oppenstein is a perfect place for a rotation of trucks. A new bbq truck has been there the past couple of weeks.

Oppenstein has this going on every Thursday all summer: http://www.downtownkc.org/art-in-the-loop/

It includes a rotation of at least two food trucks and there are occasionally one or two others in the street. There are also food trucks that hang out at Barney Allis Plaza and the courthouse area during most weekday lunch times.

It looks like KC will be getting their first dedicated food truck lot sooner than we thought. Sounds like an interesting idea, although it won't be in a location that can easily be walked to from most directions.

Hope it can be pulled off.

Foust has also partnered with a few investors and plans to launch a food truck lot on Southwest Boulevard where he will refurbish the old used car office into a rentable commercial kitchen and public restrooms. He will supply water, gas and lights to the trucks that park there, and plans build a deck or patio with tables and chairs for guests to sit and enjoy their food.

Once other trucks begin to use the lot, Foust wants to add an old school bus or two as a cold weather indoor seating solution, and eventually plans to build a beer garden. He will not be managing the food truck lot himself, but will be consulting as his partners start to work on creating a new place for trucks to rent kitchen time, park, sell or stay permanently.

http://www.feastmagazine.com/the-feed/a ... 8d055.html

I think this is pretty exciting - will add some live to a completely desolate block.

Very strange location.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/no ... .html?_r=1

Food trucks in NKC look like they are on the way out. Frou frou yuppy fad competing with already established businesses. Covered in the NY Times of all places.

***Edit: oops - dulicate to another thread

These food trucks won't go away there are a ton of businesses in this area, the question is where would be another good spot?

I think KCMO should step in and create some kind of Food Truck village right at Berkely Park or the Waterwell Athletic Fields. I highly doubt these people coming to this park were walking so if they like these food trucks they will follow these food trucks the extra 2-3 miles it might be. This could be a big win for KCMO if they did something. I think they like these food trucks because there is ample easy parking and they can relax in the park/parking lot (Alone or with a group) and eat this good food.

ClusterTruck is now officially open downtown, a sort of food truck delivery hybrid that has an onprem kitchen. A delivery only kitchen I suppose. Based out of Indy, expanded to OH, KC and Denver...
https://cityscenekc.com/clustertruck-pr ... -location/

KC menu: Thai to Mexi to burgers to breakfast delivery...
https://kansas-city.clustertruck.com/menu

Use it or lose it.