# Food Truck regulations, bans, and laws **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 6, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-truck-regulations-bans-and-laws/830644 "2019-03-06T19:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-truck-regulations-bans-and-laws/830644/21 "2019-03-08T12:55:04Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > On vacation in St Martin there is an **Ice Cream Boat** owned/operated by two women. They approach a beach and anchor. People wade out and buy frozen confections. I’ve wondered how they get by. Their boat has a huge outboard that must eat up gas. Few people buy ice cream from them, preferring to wade out and take pictures instead. One of the neatest aspects of Xochimilco is being able to order snacks, beer, corn, or complete meals from the other boats, if you’re not afraid of unlicensed Mexican food. As for food trucks, I don’t usually find them appealing. I went to a “pod” of them as described above, and it was like an outdoor mall food court with really, really slow service and mediocre food. I see real, mobile food trucks from time to time near different events and venues, and maybe some of them are pretty good, but I don’t really see the appeal. (I’m not shitting on anyone that they appeal to, of course; everyone is different.) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-truck-regulations-bans-and-laws/830644/22 "2019-03-08T15:55:55Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Kinda with the libertarians on this one, its vested interests using regulations to stifle competition, to the detriment of the public. > > There needs to be enough regulation to stop people getting sick (libertarians can keep their dysentery thank you very much 🙂 ) But no more than that. When I was living in San Jose the city passed a law banning food trucks less than x-feet long (I think it was 20). I don’t know what the rationale was and we joked about having to step around the dead bodies strewn nearby the short trucks. Here in the Phoenix area food trucks in the wild are rare; you usually see them at some sort of event like a street fair where the street is blocked off anyway. In Mesa what you see in the evening a lot are tacos or Sonoran-style hot hot dogs being sold out of a trailer in the corner of a parking lot, presumably with the business owner’s permission. ---
**Author:** ![road\_lobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@road\_lobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/road_lobo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-truck-regulations-bans-and-laws/830644/23 "2019-03-13T03:34:39Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > here in la county they wouldn’t bother with banning them and they don’t really bother enforcing the rules they do have unless someone gets sick … there selling drugs or guns ect or they tie up traffic… > I went to a wwe wrestlemania in the early 90s at the la sports center where the nba team that’s not the lakers (edit:the clippers)played and they had sooo many food trucks and homeade pop up things … > > like a pick up truck that had a grill bolted to the back and a freezer/fridge that ran on a generator and some Hispanic guy was making tacos and stuff pretty much home made style … I ordered a dozen “real” tacos for about 5 bucks and he threw on cheese he grated by hand in front of me for free > > I joked about needing a license and the usual paperwork I said" I wont say anything if you don’t " he laughed and said if he had to pay all of that my tacos would be about 20 bucks …… I’m not in a financial situation to sympathize with restaurant owners or food truck owners. But as someone who has worked in food service, this is hardly an argument for food trucks. You had some cheese “grated by hand,” and you had some bacteria grown on his balls. Bragging about saving this seller $15 on “stupid” food safety, when you actually compromised on half cent plastic gloves and almost all accountability, is disgusting to anyone who associates food with safety and health. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-truck-regulations-bans-and-laws/830644/24 "2019-03-13T21:53:44Z")
If I was an owner of a restaurant who paid higher taxes to be smack in the middle of downtown adjacent to an open square where they hold festivals and stuff I’d be pissed if a food truck pulled up next to my business. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-truck-regulations-bans-and-laws/830644.md?page=1)