If it's true that the food trucks have to jump through hoops that brick and mortars don't have to, then there's plenty to complain about because it should be a level playing field i.e. as long as they pass health inspections they should be allowed to operate. City hall should not get in the way of a free market, which would be a business owner differentiating himself from competitors. There's nothing stopping established restaurants from opening food trucks too, which is exactly what Caplansky's did. Tim's also used temporary locations (which were basically mobile homes) when they were doing reno's to their restaurants to put in Cold Stones. Not a food truck, but nothing stopping them from going into that business.Wow.
They claim that nobody ever presented evidence that "competition" does anything but get more people to eat?
Ridiculous. Absurd.
Food truck vendors pay a few thousand dollars a year in fees to the City, and take a significant amount of business away from fixed locations which pay tens of thousands of dollars a year in fees, and which don't have the opportunity to move around the block if that's closer to their customers. Food truck vendors have nothing to complain about.
If a fixed restaurant can't compete with a food truck, then it doesn't deserve to be there. Sorry but such anti-competitive crap has no place in a market economy -- win your battle for the customer in the market. If the customer prefers food trucks, then open up a food truck.Wow.
They claim that nobody ever presented evidence that "competition" does anything but get more people to eat?
Ridiculous. Absurd.
Food truck vendors pay a few thousand dollars a year in fees to the City, and take a significant amount of business away from fixed locations which pay tens of thousands of dollars a year in fees, and which don't have the opportunity to move around the block if that's closer to their customers. Food truck vendors have nothing to complain about.
Actually the 'evidence' exists right at City Hall: there are hot dog and chip trucks on Queen Street, and HERO Certified Burgers won the bidding process to open a restaurant in Nathan Philips Square. (There's also a Hero across the street). They did not complain that the trucks less than 100 meters away were going to ruin their business or had an unfair advantage.Wow.
They claim that nobody ever presented evidence that "competition" does anything but get more people to eat?
Ridiculous. Absurd.
Food truck vendors pay a few thousand dollars a year in fees to the City, and take a significant amount of business away from fixed locations which pay tens of thousands of dollars a year in fees, and which don't have the opportunity to move around the block if that's closer to their customers. Food truck vendors have nothing to complain about.
Another instance of Toronto bureaucratic meddling from earlier in the week:City Hall once again meddling into the affairs of private businesses.
As the song goes,It started as a neighbourhood pizza night and grew into an underground culinary hit, but for now Brooklyn Alley Pizza has served its last pie.
Craig Horning has stopped his community pizza night in Toronto's east end after neighbourhood complaints and an investigation by the city’s Municipal Licensing and Standards Division.
Horning, who otherwise works in advertising, was serving pizzas every Friday night this summer in his backyard. People could pick up the pizzas in the alley at the end of Brighton Avenue in Toronto's east side.
The idea came from his weekly pizza nights with other families in the area. He eventually had a pizza oven installed in his backyard, where he planned to make pizza for guests.
Two days after the oven was built, he lost his job.
So he decided to "dabble in pizza-making" a little more, and started Brooklyn Alley Pizza. He told anyone looking for his clandestine pizza place to “follow the smoke" to his backyard down Brooklyn Avenue.
"I make pretty good pizza," he says, "and this was a fun, unique way to meet neighbours."
He thought he would be serving 10-15 of his friends. But within a month, he had more than 350 people interested in his version of the Neapolitan. He baked a maximum of 20 pizzas every Friday, and people came to his backyard to pick them up. He announced the toppings on Facebook every Thursday, and then posted again when he was sold out.
The city initially accused him of running an unlicensed business.
"The issue is zoning. It’s a residential community and if he’s operating a business from his property then that would constitute a violation of the city’s bylaws," says Joe Magalhaes, acting manager of investigive services for the Licensing and Standards Division.
Making or preparing food and selling it to the public also raises food safety issues. But the initial complaint, which came from a neighbour, was whether offering pizzas from his backyard was actually operating as a business.
Horning argues he didn’t charge for the pizzas — though he asks for a suggested tip of $15 to cover the costs of making the pie — and that he never made any money.
"It was more a creative outlet than a business idea," he says. "Not wishing to create unnecessary friction, I agreed to suspend operations of Brooklyn Alley Pizza immediately and indefinitely." (He says there may be a chance for a comeback in the future.)
Horning says he understands the city’s position with the complaints, but he's saddened that his pizza-making experiment couldn't continue. "It seemed like the right environment for a community-style pizza night," he says.
I saw this on the 6 pm news and I think a neighbour complained about the smoke. Can't say I blame him since you have to burn a lot of wood (that creates a lot of smoke) to get the oven hot enough to cook anything. That and the owner of the pizza oven broke a by-law by having random people come by and pick up the pizza i.e. running an unlicensed business. Kind of dumb to announce his makeshift pizza place on Facebook too.Another instance of Toronto bureaucratic meddling from earlier in the week:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/07/25/backyard-pizza-shut-down.html
Completely stupid idea forcing those vendors to buy a uniform and expensive food cart. Why the city wanted to get into the food cart supply business is beyond me. Let the individual business owner source their own food cart.It started long before Ford was Mayor JackBurton. Do you remember the a la cart program during the Miller years? Pure and simple, it's small bureaucratic minds protecting their l'il enclaves of control and influence.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/09/19/toronto_a_la_cart_called_an_a_la_failure.html
The Ex grounds and Ontario Place would only be viable if there are events there otherwise they won't get any business.I'd like to see the old CNE property be opened up into some sort of authentic food truck/ temporary bar/ music / busker venue during the season. It blows that the land down there is empty.
hence the temporary bars set up, live music, busker add-ons.The Ex grounds and Ontario Place would only be viable if there are events there otherwise they won't get any business.
ok. thats how it worksI want to go into competition with any one of the commenters on this thread. Just to make sure you appreciate the "free market" that you demand, my costs will be set at 10% of your costs, so that competition can win out as you require. It's only fair, after all, since you'll have so many advantages, what with already being established and all.
Which one of us gets the liquor license?I want to go into competition with any one of the commenters on this thread. Just to make sure you appreciate the "free market" that you demand, my costs will be set at 10% of your costs, so that competition can win out as you require. It's only fair, after all, since you'll have so many advantages, what with already being established and all.
If you think trucks are overwhelmingly what consumers want, if it is a more efficient business model, shouldn't we have a lot more of them?I want to go into competition with any one of the commenters on this thread. Just to make sure you appreciate the "free market" that you demand, my costs will be set at 10% of your costs, so that competition can win out as you require. It's only fair, after all, since you'll have so many advantages, what with already being established and all.
if you think that a food truck is competition with a sit-down restaurant, then you've got your head up your ass...I want to go into competition with any one of the commenters on this thread. Just to make sure you appreciate the "free market" that you demand, my costs will be set at 10% of your costs, so that competition can win out as you require. It's only fair, after all, since you'll have so many advantages, what with already being established and all.
Yeah, they should use the Ex grounds for something other than the CNE during the summer. Another festival in the city wouldn't hurt. Taste of the Danforth has all sorts of food not just Greek food: had some Thai, Japanese, and Indian the last time I was there.hence the temporary bars set up, live music, busker add-ons.
I'm not sure a variety of local, culturally authentic foods in one place without cars wouldn't be enough of a magnet ... taste of Danforth seems to draw a crowd, just for Greek food.
But its good to have other stuff going on. There are plenty of folks who show up for roving festivals...
