San Francisco Street Food Festival 2009

Street food is both everywhere and nowhere in San Francisco. You can wander between taco trucks, food carts, pop-up vendors and weekly farmers markets but still not get a real sense of the streets. And while each of these groups have existed in the city for a very long time, recent social networking websites have given once underground vendors a way to promote themselves and connect with their customers in new and unique ways. The result is that while street food is experiencing a huge rise in popularity, it's still very much an informal economy that is struggling to maintain its vibrancy and diversity while coping with city laws and ordinances that have (often) been established to favor the existing tax base of brick and mortar businesses. The simple fact is that while many people start mobile food carts because it is an inexpensive option for culinary entrepreneurs, the goal of transitioning to fully legal members of the San Francisco business community is expensive and full of barriers for many vendors.

10 Things you may not know about San Francisco street food:

1. If a food truck in San Francisco is on public property (a street) it must have a permit, which can cost in excess of $10,000 per year.
2. Food trucks themselves can cost between $60-$150,000 due to requirements from city and state health, fire, and police departments; these fees often eliminate the cost benefits of "starting small" with a mobile catering business.
3. Catering trucks can't operate within 1500 feet of a public school.
4. Food trucks are not allowed a permitted legal stop within 300 Feet (or 2 Blocks) of another legal stop. Therefore legal congregating of a variety of vendors is impossible.
5. A permitted stop is not allowed within 300 feet (or 2 blocks) of an existing brick and mortar business that sells a similar type of product. Brick and mortar vendors are able to appeal to (and have mobile stops revoked by) their district police departments if they feel their business is being adversely affected by the mobile vendors.
6. All new (or newly purchased) carts or trucks must have a three part hand washing sink and an enclosed cooking area and ventilation (trucks must also have a separate hand washing sink). These requirements are impossible in food carts because San Francisco limits the size of food carts within the city to 3ft x 4ft x 5ft high. Therefore, cooking fresh food from a cart is legally impossible in San Francisco.
7. All new (or newly purchased) trucks must have refrigerated coolers, an expensive Department of Health upgrade that increases the cost of a vehicle significantly.
8. San Francisco limits the number of mobile permits that one person can own to one per family.
9. The San Francisco Police Department has no specific "shut down time" for mobile carts, although they have been resistant to issue mobile truck permit stops past early evening.
10. Trucks and Carts serving food on private property are governed by the Health Department and City Planning (Zoning Board). The processing time for these locations has recently increased to 90 Days. In addition, the San Francisco Health Department requires a Mobile vendor to have an accessible bathroom within 300 feet of their operation for the use of employees.

These regulations, among others, make selling outdoors difficult, and make both selling food while moving and preparing food outdoors nearly impossible. Most of the vendors you see on the streets of San Francisco today - from mobile ice cream and tamale vendors to late - night hot dog grills - are all operating informally and subject to fines.

Places to Find Street Food in San Francisco

Street Food in San Francisco has historically been focused on Hispanic cuisine and, as a result, the Mission has been (and continues to be) the epicenter of street food in San Francisco. While tamales and bacon dogs are still plentiful around Dolores Park and up and down Mission Street, the rise of specialty food carts selling Crème Brulée, Curry, Soup and BBQ speak to the diversity of flavors that are now being produced in the area.

Additionally, Farmers markets, like the Alemany Market, have been a long-time source of street food in San Francisco. As the popularity of these markets increases, the number of vendors around the city has also increased and the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market has dedicated its Thursday Market specifically to street food.

Street Food in Other Cities

New York City's regulations are just as tough on street vendors as San Francisco's; the vibrant street food scene is mostly supported by a black-market in permits, street locations, etc. These turf wars make it harder for people to work within the system than out. The city is attempting to crack down on the black market and regulate street food more, which many fear could end up destroying the culture. The various fines imposed, such as for blocking a sidewalk or not displaying the license conspicuously, can cost up to $1000, which can be more than a week's worth of income.

Seattle's regulations are also tough, and the city is working on expanding and "streamlining" the permit process to make it easier for street food vendors; Mayor Greg Nickels is spearheading this process. A few vendors have already assembled and they are planning a Seattle Street Food Market, to be launched later this summer.

Portland seems to be the city with the most streamlined policies around street food. Potential street vendors need permission from the adjacent property owners of the spot they want to set up their cart, which means that they cannot rove around the city but also prevents the "turf wars" that are common in other cities. There are regulations about cart size and placement which does pose some limitation but fines cannot exceed $500 so businesses can more readily afford to "start small". As a result, the Street Food culture is flourishing, with anything from soups and sandwiches to pasta to Polish cuisine available on the streets of Portland. A blog describes all the different carts around the city for people to go find.

Los Angeles is having trouble, as well, with legalizing street food. The city tried to concentrate vendors into one neighborhood, which worked for a few people, but that limits the amount and type of vendors. It can take up to three years to be issued a license, and the yearly permit fee is almost $1000. However, in their attempts to change this, LA also hosts a weekly street food fair.

Several other cities, including Cleveland, Toronto, Austin, and Washington D.C. have been attempting to ease street vending regulations to make it easier for such enterprises to grow legally. They are having similar problems as San Francisco, but agree that in the current economy it is necessary to make Street Food a viable option.

Sign our Street Food Declaration

We the undersigned believe that creating policies that support the formalization of mobile food vending in San Francisco are necessary to create a viable economic model for entrepreneurs who own small food businesses. Policies as they exist today are discouraging and create barriers rather than opportunities for the creation of viable businesses and jobs for San Franciscans. We believe that street food has the power to bring communities casual, affordable, delicious foods made by food entrepreneurs who reflect San Francisco's diverse population. Policies that support the formalization of mobile vending will work to connect communities throughout San Francisco's spectrum of class and culture to the everyday food that we all eat and love.

Please sign the SF Street Food Declaration below: *Your email will only be used by La Cocina to keep you informed and will not be given to any outside parties.