LA Food Trucks: Buyer's Remorse?

Just when you thought LA was beginning to get off it's high horse and finally succumb to joining the rest of the country, nay - the WORLD!  Street food:  New York has it's hot dogs, Mexico has it's tacos, Japan has it's takoyaki, but what about LA?  The answer to this has been the recent explosion of food trucks.  I didn't say "roach coaches," we're talking gourmet meals on wheels.  Asian tacos , soul food, gastromic science, it is all finally here!  But was the craze was only too good to last.

Just recently LA city councels are pushing to regulate the business of mobile food.  Among the complaints the city is recognizing that food truck owners, who at times park illegally, will happily pay pay the cost of the ticket and treat at it as a business expense.  Getting permits for this is one of their top priorites.

The city is pushing for food trucks to respect the stationary restaurants they sometimes park in front of.  That's a dicy subject for me.  Seems to me that if someone wanted to eat at Border Grill instead of Boa it's completely up to them.  It makes me wonder how this will effect the food truck owners.  Will it make it more difficult to do business?  Will it stop the majority of newcomers from starting up their own food trucks?

The street food culture that has been gracfully handed to us via food truck is a valuable one.  Regulation that could effect the social atmosphere in LA should be dealt with carefully.  People in LA are isoalted and clicky enough as it is and the last thing we need is to become even more isolated from goverment rule.  There's a reason people hate doing business in CA and that's do to poor business treatment from the state.  Food truck cusine is inexpensive, high quality, casual and fun; if anything we need more of them.

--J.O'Ly.