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About The Jax Truckies Food Truck Championship
Metro Jacksonville's first Jax Truckies Food Truck Championship was created in an effort to promote small business growth and to encourage the City of Jacksonville to embrace the popular, rapidly growing food truck industry. Scheduled for Saturday, March 31 and capped at a maximum of 300 to ensure short lines, tickets went on sale March 2. As expected, due to a pent up demand by local foodies, this event quickly sold out in less than four days.
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Metrojacksonville.com presents:
Jax Truckies The Jacksonville Food Truck Championships
Come sample the best of Jacksonville's street food culture and vote on the Jax Truckies People's Choice Champion, Saturday, March 31 @ Bold City Brewery. Food trucks will be selling select menu samples so attendees can experience the food truck craze sweeping the nation. You don’t need to travel to Austin, Texas or Portland, Oregon. The food truck revolution is going on right here in Jacksonville, FL. Local food is better food!
$15 admission VIP Hour from 11AM to 12PM benefiting Second Harvest North Florida. In addition to benefitting Second Harvest, VIP Hour gets you access a full hour before the general attendees arrive. This allows our VIP guests to get food faster and fresher for a great cause!
$5 admission from 12PM to 3PM.
In addition to local foods, Jacksonville’s own Bold City Brewery will be selling local brews and other select beverages.
The Jax Truckies will crown the best food truck in Jacksonville. Guest judges include Caron Streibich from Folio Weekly’s Bite Club, Kerry Speckman of Jacksonville Magazine and Cole Pepper from the Jacksonville Backyard BBQ Championships. In addition to this professionally judged event, participants will have the opportunity to select a people’s choice award.
Admission is limited to the first 300 (50 for VIP hour) so act now to secure your spot.
This is a ticketed event. Food tickets purchased separately from admission price. Food tickets can be purchased the day of the event for $1 each or 20 tickets for $18.
If you can’t make the VIP Happy Hour benefitting Second Harvest North Florida, we will be accepting canned food donations that will be delivered directly to Second Harvest. The mission of Second Harvest North Florida is to distribute food and grocery products to hungry people and to educate the public about the causes and possible solutions to problems of domestic hunger.
Bold City Brewery is located at:
2670 Rosselle St # 7, Jacksonville, FL 32204
Follow us:
www.metrojacksonville.com/jaxtruckies
@JaxTruckies
Facebook.com/JaxTruckies
Facebook.com/Metrojacksonville
Current Contenders Line Up
BBQ Jax
Brucci's Pizza....Pizza, Pasta and Panini
Mike B's
Monroe's Smokehouse Bar-B-Q & Catering
Mother Fletcher's
On the Fly Sandwiches & Stuff
The Full Rack BBQ
Due to the event quickly selling out, we've created a possibility for those who were left out to participate:
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO WIN TWO FREE ADMISSION TICKETS HERE
Why Food Trucks and Downtown Revitalization Are A Perfect Match
Several cities, such as Portland, Phoenix, and Tampa, have taken advantage of the popular industry to generate additional foot traffic and exposure for their downtown businesses in underutilized locations (ex. surface parking lots and public squares like Hemming Plaza). This affordable method of programming within an urban setting is also known as "Tactical Urbanism." Food Truck Rallies, events where several trucks locate within a clustered, compact, pedestrian-scale setting (something a downtown environment naturally provides) provide several benefits for their participants:
1. Economic vitality. The experience in other cities shows that food vendors attract foot traffic to commercial districts - which means increased sales and a more vibrant retail business overall. By offering low-cost, culturally diverse foods for people on the go, they typically complement - rather than compete - with sit-down restaurants and give people more reasons to frequent local shopping districts.
2. Festive, pedestrian-friendly streets. Food vendors bring positive activity to the street and add a festive, people-oriented feel that improves public safety. In many cities, food vendors provide a window into many diverse cultures, introducing people to new foods and to the pleasures of spending time in the public space of the city.
3. An entry point to owning your own business. Food vending can be an ideal first business. For a modest investment, it helps an entrepreneur develop a track record and build loyal clientele. For many immigrant and refugee communities, food vending offers a point of entry to the economy and a way to learn the food service industry.
Mayor Takes Leading Role in Downtown Tampa Experience
In November 2011, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn brought the food truck craze to downtown Tampa with an event known as Mayor Buckhorn's Food Truck Fiesta. The idea for a regular food truck rally in downtown Tampa came about after Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn attended a food truck rally in early 2011. In a November 2011, Tampa Tribune article, Mayor Buckhorn was quoted as saying:
"I saw the excitement, and I saw the crowds that turned out," he said. "People were waiting in line an hour and a half for food. I want to bring it downtown. It's a great day for Tampa and for foodies. This is part of being hip. It's part of what makes a downtown cool. It's obviously bringing a lot of young people here. A lot of people from downtown buildings are excited about it. I'm excited about it."
The popular monthly event is held in Lykes Gaslight Square Park, which is located in the heart of downtown Tampa. Like Jacksonville's Hemming Plaza, this public space occupies a full city block in the heart of downtown and has been a popular location for urban outdoorsmen (the homeless). In addition, leading up the first rally, brick-and-mortar restaurants voiced concerns that food trucks would lure away customers.
However, the opposite ended up happening. So many people are attracted to the rallies, a common national characteristic whenever food trucks assemble in public places, that many adjacent restaurants ended up at capacity levels due to the rally's overflow of customers. Tampa's Mayor views events like this as a benefit for all downtown businesses, including the restaurants, because they are exposed to new customers. This concept of "clustering complementing uses within a compact pedestrian scale setting" is something that has long been promoted by Metro Jacksonville, in affordably addressing the revitalization of our downtown.
http://www.tampagov.net/dept_mayor/foodtruck.asp
http://www.facebook.com/MayorsFoodTruckFiesta
Why Jax Truckies Food Truck Championship Won't Be In Hemming Plaza
Many have asked why the upcoming Jax Truckies Food Truck Championship event will not be hosted in a location like Hemming Plaza.
"I contacted JEDC several times about making sure an event in Hemming Plaza would conform to the rules regarding mobile vendors downtown. Most of my attempts at contacting the appropriate parties at JEDC were ignored. In the meantime, I contacted the Office of Special Events, who were very helpful about walking me through the process of obtaining a special events permit to conduct the event downtown. The fee and process were all reasonable. However, when the issue of proper insurance requirements was brought to my attention it was clear this would be financially unfeasible to conduct this myself. This is a volunteer effort for me to provide a demonstration event to show city leaders how viable food trucks can be for downtown. I could not find a willing partner through various downtown organizations who would host the event and thereby be covered under their existing insurance policy. It was at that time that I decided to look elsewhere and found two very accommodating people in Stanton Hudmon at Pine Street LLC and Susan Miller at Bold City Brewery. These are two local entrepreneurs who clearly ‘get it’ in terms of improving their community. JEDC later did get back with me with a response to my inquiries after several weeks of being ignored, but the person I dealt with was largely unhelpful and unwelcoming. I got the distinct impression that the City was not interested in dealing with me.
This is consistent with the stories I have heard from the brave individuals who have defied odds by attempting to open food trucks here in Jacksonville. The City has largely taken a punitive approach against them, instead of working with them to ensure their success. They, like myself, cannot understand why the City would not welcome innovative ways to grow a small business in a community that has long felt the effects of a sagging economy."
- Quote by Mike Field, Jax Truckies Food Truck Championship organizer
Unfortunately, we currently live in an environment where small business development, creativity, and innovation is forced to move forward in spite of local government. Despite the billions spent in the name of redevelopment in downtown, this is why downtown continues to struggle after 40 years of city-backed revitalization strategies, while areas such as King Street flourish with small business growth despite little to no city involvement.
So on Saturday, March 31, 2012, hundreds of people will enjoy the dishes of some of Jacksonville's best food trucks in a single location, while a natural, underutilized public space like Hemming Plaza will continue to sit empty.
Article by Ennis Davis.
Mayor Buckhorn's Food Truck Fiesta images courtesy of Cafe Getaway's blog. Cafe Getaway is a Tampa-based mobile espresso truck.
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fieldafm
March 23, 2012, 07:58:42 AMGreat article Lake. I've actually met Bob Buckhorn, attended his food truck event in Tampa and eaten from Wicked Wiches(pictured). You don't need to have phenomenal vision to do what Mayor Buckhorn has done, you just need to do some reasearch. It would cost nothing for Jacksonville to try this. No corporate subsidies or huge tax breaks are required, you just need the courage to try something new.
urbanlibertarian
March 23, 2012, 08:04:43 AMDoes Downtown Vision have a conflict of interest with something like this because they are funded by taxes from downtown businesses including restaurants?
COJ, please free small businesses like this from the chains of regulatory oppression!
tufsu1
March 23, 2012, 08:30:46 AMHopefully this independent setup in a hip urban core neighborhood will spark interest from the City and Mayor Brown....truth be told, that's how Tampa's monthly downtown food truck festival got started too.
thelakelander
March 23, 2012, 08:40:35 AMI'm not sure. What would be the conflict of interest in exposing downtown businesses to hundreds of people that would otherwise not come? In urban settings, these rallies have benefited brick and mortar businesses by putting more people in their front door. Things like this would be more effective and positive for surrounding businesses around Hemming Plaza instead moving benches around.
urbanlibertarian
March 23, 2012, 09:17:43 AMI agree it would be to the benefit of every business DT but will brick and mortar restaurants see it that way?
thelakelander
March 23, 2012, 09:24:17 AMWe currently have a city council led committee seriously considering removing seating as a method to attract more people to Hemming Plaza, despite this being an easily proven failure throughout the country. This is Jax. Of course not. That's where you need leadership and activist to look outside of our boundaries for success stories that prove the typical Jax naysayers wrong. In our case, we're playing the activist role to show how easy it is to provide economic opportunity without large sums of money and over complicating urban economic development issues. No special committees or extra layers of bureaucracy and debate. Just the simple will to make it happen and collaborating with a mix of talented Jax citizens and businesses with the same attitude.
fieldafm
March 23, 2012, 09:41:13 AMNo one is advocating for a food truck to park at a parking meter right outside the door of a restaurant.
If a restaurant business studies the issue, they can find ways to benefit. If a food truck bazaar brings 1,000 people to an area that is otherwise dead of activity on a given night... they will benefit from the increased pedestrian activity in the area. I have personally gone to nearby restaurants for a drink after attending food truck festivals, and that is not an uncommon experience.
If you were a retail business, wouldnt you want all these people walking past your door? Major malls(who have food courts of their own) happily host these festivals b/c they know more people = more sales for their tennants.
Additionally, many brick and mortar restaurants are using food trucks to EXPAND their businesses. Take a look at LA, for example. Many high end restaurants purchase a food truck rig in order to expand their brand and reach customers they normally would not be able to capture in their current locations. Even chain restaurants are using food trucks to expand their reach. Two weeks ago, I walked past a Red Robin food truck in Southern California.
An example of a brick and mortar who is using food trucks to expand their business:
Furthemore, many food trucks will eventually open a brick and morter location after testing the waters of the viability of their concept.
Here are three properietors that started with a food truck on a shoestring budget, and now have fabulous restaurants:
urbanlibertarian
March 23, 2012, 04:19:12 PMI would love to see COJ relinquish some of it's power to tell people what to do but I'm not holding my breath. Mayor Brown has done a good job of right-sizing city government so far maybe we'll see some deregulation as well.
Garden guy
March 23, 2012, 06:23:29 PMI had some of the best ribs from a truck the other day..I like the love that can be bestowed upon the food when theres not so much worry of the full restaurant for the owners. Id love to see a whole block full of these guys..add some tunes and what a lunch while standing.
urbanlibertarian
March 25, 2012, 03:13:15 PMRemember Kennedy from MTV? Well, below is her piece about a proposed law in California that would prohibit food trucks near schools.
http://reason.com/archives/2012/03/25/california-assemblyman-wants-to-treat-fo
http://reason.com/archives/2012/03/25/california-assemblyman-wants-to-treat-fo
fieldafm
April 23, 2012, 02:37:36 PMWhat does downtown have a large supply of?
People? No
According to DVI's State of Downtown Report, 2011 marked the 2nd year in a row downtown 'visits' have declined.
Surface parking lots? YES!
According to Downtown Vision (DVI), more than 50% of downtown Jacksonville's streetscape consists of "dead space".
What can you do about that? Pop-up parks-food truck style:
Sometimes, you just need the courage to try something new.
fieldafm
July 23, 2012, 10:20:17 AMBIG NEWS today. Startign today, On The Fly will now have a permanent and legal spot DOWNTOWN!!!
By this time next week, we hope to make another exciting announcement regarding a second downtown spot
tufsu1
July 23, 2012, 10:23:31 AMawesome news....great work!
fsujax
July 23, 2012, 10:33:39 AMYes!
Tacachale
July 23, 2012, 11:26:22 AMAwesome news!
Captain Zissou
July 23, 2012, 03:16:04 PMGreat for downtown!!! I hope I can get down there soon for the ahi tuna bowl!!
tayana42
July 23, 2012, 10:58:45 PMHope they are successful and that inspires more food trucks.
aaapolito
July 24, 2012, 06:40:00 AMI told everyone in my office about On the Fly, and several of them walked over from our LaVilla office building.
I'm going for lunch today. I hope to see a good crowd.
thelakelander
July 24, 2012, 08:13:57 AMFrom yesterday...
What are some other downtown locations where you think they can successfully co-exist with brick and mortar businesses?
Lunican
March 14, 2013, 03:39:43 PMFood Truck Economics
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/45352687467/food-truck-economics
thelakelander
March 14, 2013, 03:52:04 PMI stopped by the Taste Buds truck today at Park & Rosselle. While I was there, I probably saw about 20 people order from a truck in a random parking lot. I imagine a real truck court lined up around a public space like Hemming or the new county courthouse would bring a pack of people everyday.