Food Trucks Sticking Around Through April 2013

Selectmen vote to extend the food truck permits through April of 2013, hearing that there is some support for the program.

Clear the old leftovers out of your fridge, because you can pick up some fresh tood truck feasts through April. The Board voted to extend the town's food truck program through April of 2013, and to stop waiving the food vendor fee of $225 which were waived at the beginning of the food truck pilot. This vote also extended the permits for Baja Taco Truck, Compliments Food Truck, Paris Creperie, Pennypacker's Food Truck, and Renula's Greek Kitchen at their current dates and times.  Health Department Director Alan Balsam added that in April, they intend to extend it again for 18 months, so that the food truck permits can be renewed the following December, at the same time as the other food vendor licenses that come before the Selectmen.  …

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Grahame Turner

10:30 am on Friday, October 19, 2012

I don't stand for myth and misinformation getting into the public dialog on a subject, which is why I attempted to clear up some of the misconceptions you appear to have. I would rather not have someone read your comments and assume that the Selectmen haven't considered the things you brought up--especially because they did. Fitting a 30-40 minute discussion into a few hundred words is a …   more ›

Brookline Officials Set to License Ice Cream and Canteen Trucks

With the Food Truck pilot underway, Brookline's licensing board is firming up its regulations on other mobile food vendors, such as canteen trucks and ice cream trucks.

Thanks to a sub-set of the food truck regulations approved earlier in the year, ice cream and canteen trucks may be trucking more food into Brookline.  After approving the food truck pilot program in April, the Board of Selectmen last night looked at the licensing fees for other types of mobile food vendors: ice cream trucks and coffee coaches, for example. These fees will be finalized at a later meeting, but what those regulations entail were part of the discussion last night.  Selectman Betsy DeWitt explained, "these are incorporated in the regulations for food trucks. Canteen trucks are singled out because of [Statewide] legislation pertaining to ice cream trucks." Unlike the food trucks, these are vehicles which stop in neighborhoods …

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Brookline Food Trucks: When and Where?

Want to know where you can catch the food trucks when they start running in Brookline? Here's the list and schedule.

Brookline Food Trucks: When and Where? [Updated]

Want to know where you can catch the food trucks when they start running in Brookline? Here's the list and schedule.

Cheap, fast, and mobile food is on its way to Brookline. A couple of weeks ago, Brookline's Selectmen approved five food trucks to start serving in Brookline, kicking off the six-month pilot program (despite some opposition).  Paris Creperie says their truck is among those who will begin serving this week--they start on Friday afternoon. Some trucks may start later than that, but all will be in town until October 15 when the pilot program ends. After that, the Selectmen will consider the success of the program before deciding on the future of food trucks in Brookline.  Below is the schedule for Brookline's five food trucks. When and where you can find them: Baja Taco Truck – Expected in early June. Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the …

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Bill Davidson

11:54 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The folks at Compliments told me that they are very grateful for Selectman Jesse Mermell's support.   more ›

Letter to the Editor: Mobile Food Trucks or Mobile Food Labs

Kenwood Street resident and food writer Amy Traverso paints a different picture of the potential future of food trucks in Brookline.

Letter to the Editor:  I’m writing in response to Martin Yaseen’s letters to the editor protesting the food truck pilot program in Brookline. I share some of his concerns about the impact of food trucks on local restaurants, but I also wonder if Mr. Yaseen is operating from outdated assumptions about what food trucks are and the role they play in the current food landscape. These are not the so-called "roach coaches" that tour construction sites (not that I have any problem with them). They are rolling labs that allow entrepreneurs to test new ideas on consumers, often before committing to establishing bricks-and-mortar outlets themselves. Look at the success of Clover Food Lab, which began with a single food truck and has grown into a …

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First Five Food Trucks Licensed, Coming to Town [POLL]

April 17 is the earliest date Brookline residents can expect to see the first five food trucks approved to the town's pilot program.

As soon as next week, Paris Creperie will no longer be the only place to get their crepes and smoothies in town. Their food truck joins four other trucks approved at last night's Board of Selectmen meeting. The five trucks approved to operate in Brookline mark the first participants in the six-month pilot program, which Economic Development Officer Kara Brewton says could begin as early as April 17 and will end on October 15. Baja Taco Truck – Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the median parking spaces across from 1842 Beacon Street  Compliments Food Truck – Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the median parking spaces across from 1842 Beacon Street  Tuesday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Pleasant Street near 940 Commonwealth …

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Grahame Turner

9:58 am on Thursday, April 12, 2012

I'm sure some of the folks who put this together will be to hear glad you're excited. One of the factors they considered when selecting the trucks was whether or not there was a lot of competition for that type of cuisine. It sounds like at least one food truck is filling a niche.   more ›

Letter to the Editor: Clearing the Air about John Street Food Trucks

John Street resident Martin Yaseen clears the air about some comments made at the Board of selectmen's meeting in early March.

On Tuesday, March 5, I and a number of other Brookline residents and property owners spoke at the Selectman's meeting and registered our opposition to locating food trucks on John Street.   In the reporting of that meeting and the comments that followed it seems that the question of whether there should be food trucks in Brookline and whether there should be food trucks on John Street have been conflated as if the John Street question was simply representative of the general question.   Nothing could be farther from the truth. The truth is that I have lived on John Street for 27 years and John Street has always been a RESIDENTIAL street. The issue for the residents of John Street is not whether there should be food trucks on John Street, …

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Food Truck Location Offends Some John Street Residents

One resident crafting a warrant article to ban mobile food trucks from public ways in Brookline.

When the Selectmen approved the food truck locations in early February, there were two late additions to the program--it is to one street in particular that several residents took offense: Pleasant Street. The Board of Selectmen approved the regulations for a food truck pilot program, and a number of locations around Brookline. Nine food truck vendors have applied to the program. On April 10, the Selectmen will hold a public hearing on the individual licenses for food trucks. They will determine whether the program has been a success after the six-month pilot ends.  The method of this pilot program was criticized by Stanley Spiegel, Town Meeting Member for precinct 2, who said there was no criteria to judge whether or not it was successful…

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Selectmen Nail Down Food Truck Locations (POLL)

The Board of Selectmen voted last night to approve the proposed food truck locations, combining some, losing others and adding new ones.

Locations are now set for food trucks, which could roll in as soon as April. Last night, the Board of Selectmen voted to approve the final list of locations for the mobile food truck pilot program (see map at right). The list now includes two locations where a couple of food trucks can "cluster" together, offering multiple dining options. The Boston Area Food Truck Association have commented on the importance of clustering, as did Selectman Jesse Mermell in a BostInno column. The program also has a number of timing options for vendors, giving them the ability to pick and choose times when they would set up in Brookline, each with parking fees payable to the Town of Brookline or the Recreation Department.   "Some vendors swear up-and-down …

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Grahame Turner

2:33 pm on Thursday, February 9, 2012

Ah! The Economic Development Officer for the Town. (My mistake. Thanks for subtly hinting).   more ›

Jesse Mermell on Brookline's Mobile Food Truck Program

Selectman Jesse Mermell's column on BostonInno explains more of the thinking behind the Brookline Mobile Food Truck Pilot

Brookline's Selectmen voted to approve the Mobile Food Truck regulations, but the locations have yet to be finalized. In a column posted on BostInno earlier today, Selectman Jesse Mermell expanded on the Mobile Food Truck pilot program, and how she thinks the program can succeed in Brookline.  It's important, she writes in the piece, for Brookline not to simply clone the Boston program, but to learn from it and apply lessons that will make it a success in Brookline. The important points, she feels, are: locations, the ability to create clusters of food trucks, the ability to expand on the program, and the flexibility to respond to feedback.  Read the full column on BostInno's website.  With the regulations approved, Brookline could see …

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