Mobile food vendors are some of the fastest growing businesses in Austin.
Ralph Gilmore took his passion for food and opened up Turf and Surf Po Boy along Congress Avenue and 2nd Street.
“I figured being a mobile vendor I could do it healthy, fresh, and keep the price down,” said Gilmore.
Every year, these trendy trailers grow by 20 percent. City figures show there are more than 1,600 mobile food vendors setting up shop around town.
“It’s growing in this area,” said Priscilla Garcia, co-owner of Turf and Surf Po Boy. “We have two more that have come in in the last two months.”
With so many new mobile vendors, council members put stricter rules and regulations in place. Mobile vendors will now have to disclose what commissary or kitchen they use to store, clean, and dispose of their products. They must provide a monthly log of their use to city officials, show a copy of their sales tax permit to both customers and the city, provide an itinerary for truck routes which enables the health department to enforce complaints regarding food illnesses, have written permission for employees to use restrooms at a nearby work site, and pay a new $125.00 fee for inspecting the storage, transportation, and use of propane gas.
“It seems like anything I get involved in gets tougher,” said Gilmore. “We'll do whatever we have to do."
“The paperwork is something we both don't enjoy,” said Garcia. “We are going to do it to make sure we are playing by the rules.”
Playing by the rules is what Gilmore and Garcia hope keep bringing customers back for more.
“They love us and we love them,” said Garcia. “Hopefully they will keep us around.”
The new rules and requirements are expected to bring in more than $260,000 a year. That is enough to cover the cost of three new inspectors, two of whom will devote their time entirely to mobile food vendors.
The new mobile food vendor ordinance goes into effect October 4.
