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Law Firms Recruited for Food Truck Fight

Published December 18, 2012 at 2:00PM | Updated September 3, 2014 at 8:39AM

At issue is a citation received by Seoul Food for violating the 60 minute rule, which police began enforcing over the summer. As noted in a CATO Institute post last week, the food truck owner told police he had moved to a different spot after one hour, but the ticketing officer didn’t believe the truck had moved far enough from its original position.

The Arlington-based Institute for Justice (901 N. Glebe Road) became involved after some of its workers heard about the legal issues while stopping at a food truck for lunch one day. They thought it fit perfectly into the organization’s National Street Vending Initiative, which aims to foster conditions that allow food trucks to thrive.

Around Town

‘Pepe’ Food Truck Makes Arlington Debut

By ARLnow.com

Published October 17, 2012 at 1:30PM | Updated October 17, 2012 at 3:43PM

Pepe, a new-for-2012 food truck that has been making the rounds in D.C. for the past six months and Montgomery County for the past week, made its Virginia debut in Crystal City today outside Jaleo restaurant on Crystal Drive.

The truck, from Jaleo proprietor José Andrés, primarily serves flautas, a type of elongated sandwich that Andrés remembered fondly from growing up in Spain, where flautas are a popular street food.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 28, 2012 at 9:30AM

Officials Prepare for USS Arlington Commissioning — Arlington County Board Chairman Mary Hynes, county treasurer Frank O’Leary and other local leaders traveled to Norfolk on Wednesday to meet with Navy officials to plan for the commissioning of the USS Arlington, a new amphibious transport ship named after the county. The commissioning ceremony is currently planned for April 2013. [Sun Gazette]

José Andrés Food Truck Coming to Arlington — Famed local chef José Andrés (of Jaleo fame) is bringing his new food truck venture in Arlington. The “Pepe” food truck is expanding its service area from the District to Montgomery County and Arlington. The truck serves a rotating selection of flautas — a type of Spanish sandwich. [Huff Post DC]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 14, 2012 at 9:15AM

Northern Va. Senior Olympics Come to Arlington — The Northern Virginia Senior Olympics will kick off tomorrow (Saturday) with a day-long track-and-field competition at Thomas Jefferson Community Center (3501 2nd Street S.). The Senior Olympics, which utilize several venues from around Northern Virginia, run from Sept. 15-26. Other events planned at the community center include basketball next Saturday, Sept. 22.

District Taco Not Launching a Food Truck — District Taco owner Osiris Hoil says he plans to continue using food carts, as opposed to larger food trucks, since Arlington is now enforcing a stringent one hour street parking rule for mobile food vendors. In addition to a food cart, District Taco also operates two successful brick and mortar restaurants. [Washington Examiner]

News

EXCLUSIVE: ACPD Launches Coordinated Operations Against Food Trucks

By ARLnow.com

Published September 7, 2012 at 2:05PM | Updated September 7, 2012 at 2:28PM

The operation was one of two such coordinated enforcement actions against food trucks this summer — operations that have become necessary due to repeated violations, according to police.

As the number of food trucks in Arlington continues to rise, complaints against improperly licensed or illegally parked food trucks have risen — with many of those complaints coming from the brick and mortar restaurants that compete with food trucks for customers. In response, Arlington County Police say they came up with a plan of action earlier this year that included a vendor education campaign.

Events

Arlington Food Trucks Defect to D.C., For a Day

By ARLnow.com

Published August 8, 2012 at 2:45PM

Five trucks — Doug the Food Dude, Bada Bing, Lemongrass, Hot People Food and Willie’s Po Boy — were on the docket for the so-called “Arlington Food Truck Invasion” at the Half Street Fairgrounds near Nationals Park. The free event, which also included beer, games of cornhole and a performance by the funk band Sol Roots, was held from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

“We invited 5 Arlington food trucks to give them a chance to vend in D.C. as well as the customers a chance to see food trucks that they don’t see every day,” said Doug “The Food Dude” Maheu, whose wife Andrea helped to organize the event.

News

Police Start Enforcing Hour-Limit On Food Trucks

By Aaron Kraut

Published July 27, 2012 at 3:45PM

His crime: Keeping his Korean cuisine food truck in one Clarendon Courthouse parking spot for longer than the county’s 60-minute limit for mobile food vendors.

“We feel like we’re being treated as a second-class business,” Goree said Friday. “We’re a micro-business, aspiring to be a bigger small business and it seems like that’s something that would be fostered by the community.”

Around Town

Tacos El Chilango Truck Opening D.C. Restaurant

By ARLnow.com

Published June 14, 2012 at 3:40PM

As the Washington City Paper reported last week, the Tacos el Chilango restaurant is expected to open at some point next month at 1119 V Street NW, in a storefront once occupied by an Italian restaurant. Truck co-owner Jesus Santacruz tells ARLnow.com that his brother, Juan, will be running the restaurant, while he continues to run the truck.

The truck, located at 14th Street N. and N. Queen Street, near Route 50, will remain open Monday through Saturday, from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Around Town

Crystal City Launches ‘Food Truck Thursdays’

By ARLnow.com

Published June 6, 2012 at 9:54AM | Updated June 6, 2012 at 4:00PM

The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) announced this morning that it is launching a pilot program called “Food Truck Thursdays.”

The lunchtime event — kicking off tomorrow, June 7 — will draw food trucks to a parking lot near the Crystal City Metro station for what BID president Angela Fox describes as “a fun and energetic dining option that will enhance the food truck and overall lunchtime experience.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 1, 2012 at 9:45AM | Updated June 1, 2012 at 10:03AM

Sauca Ends Food Truck Service — Coming on the heels of the closing of the Sauca restaurant on Columbia Pike comes word that the Sauca food trucks have also ended their run. Owner Farhad Assari says it was a lifestyle choice — he was tired of working 14 hours a day, seven days a week. [Eater]

County May Need to Create New Group Homes — Arlington County may need to find some new group homes to house 33 people with intellectual and related disabilities. Arlington is just one of numerous Virginia localities scrambling to house disabled residents after a federal judge ordered state-run “training center” facilities closed. [Arlington Connection]

News

Rosslyn BID Statement on Food Truck Regulations

By ARLnow.com

Published May 31, 2012 at 2:42PM

Citing “challenges” posed by the 100 or so food trucks and carts licensed in Arlington, the BID says the county should work to create a “level playing field” between mobile vendors and restaurants. Among the BID’s recommendations are regulating the “location and schedule of food trucks, trash, parking and access to restroom facilities.”

We reported exclusively last week that the BID was in the process of formulating a set of recommended county regulations for food trucks, at least in part to protect brick-and-mortar restaurants against the onslaught of competition from food trucks, which don’t make the same kind of long-term investments in a neighborhood as restaurant owners.

News

EXCLUSIVE: Rosslyn Mulls Ways to Control Food Trucks

By ARLnow.com

Published May 22, 2012 at 5:20PM

The Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID) is in the process of forming a set of recommendations for the Arlington County Board regarding the regulation of food trucks, according to an internal document obtained by ARLnow.com. The BID, which is funded by the property owners who rent space to the neighborhood’s 59 restaurants, delis and cafes, says in the document that “the number, location and type of operation” of food trucks and carts is “inadequately regulated by Arlington County.”

Even during the “off season” winter months, between 3 and 9 food trucks flock to N. Lynn Street alone to serve hungry Rosslyn lunch-goers, according to the BID. But while residents and workers may appreciate the variety and convenience of food trucks, the restaurants that pay rent in Rosslyn have been complaining.