Food Truck is ‘Fired Up’ in Lakewood
New gourmet taco truck is ready to begin... But the owners will have to leave the city's boundaries to do business.
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Clarification: A city ordinance prohibits food trucks from operating on public streets, but they are allowed in private commercial parking lots.
The Fired Up Taco Truck may be coming to a neighborhood near you.
But maybe not Lakewood, though, because food trucks are not permitted to set up shop on public streets.
Co-owner Brian Finks said he and his partner, Gavin Rupert, would like to change that.
The pair — both professional chefs, whose resumes include Pier W and Lola — bought a retired Cleveland SWAT vehicle and transformed it into a taqueria on four wheels.
Fired Up Taco Truck's stainless steel kitchen — as clean and relatively as spacious as any gourmet kitchen — only needs some food to stock its shelves.
More than $30,000 and a couple months later, Finks and Rupert are ready to begin.
The food truck — serving tacos, empanadas and Cuban sandwiches — is set to open (appropriately) at the Cleveland Indians opening day on April 9 in downtown Cleveland.
At least in the beginning, they will have to leave the city’s boundaries to do business.
“We don’t want to take away from other businesses,” said Finks, who was trained at the Pennsylvania School of Culinary Arts. “But we’ve got to be able to break through.”
“There’s still the public property option,” added Rupert. “Maybe Lakewood Park.”
Dru Siley, the city's director of planning and development, said that Fired Up Taco Trucks — and other food trucks — are allowed to set up in private commercial parking lots with permission of the owner.
"They could potentialy apply to be a part of special events as a vendor," he said, adding that there were food trucks at the LightUp Lakewood event last year.
Finks said when they take the truck out around town, people take notice.
“People want this in Lakewood,” he said. “We’re exactly what Lakewood is: hip, trendy and coming up.”
Alex Vandehoff
10:20 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Do the right thing council, update the laws!
Of course, Monique probably won't be at that meeting because she's busy submitting her late paperwork for the year.
lakerockbay
11:30 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
a food truck is a great idea for lakewood,especially lakewood park.i really enjoy all the aspects that the park allows(i can legally walk my dog).i still would love to see a ice cream stand(honey hut,malleys) put in at the old ice skating house at the park,buta food truck sounds awsome.come on lakewood lets do the right thing!
Barbara
3:03 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
kinda snarky there, Alex.
Angel Whitman Neal
11:23 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
We would love food trucks in Lakewood! I would personally love another option to purchase great food at a great price! Maybe we need to start a new group "Food trucks in Lakewood"
Angel Whitman Neal
11:33 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Hey, it's like the adult version of the ice cream truck!
Barbara
3:00 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
Great analogy, and the visual of adults running after the Taco Truck is, in MY mind anyway, hilarious!
Missy Limkemann
11:36 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I saw this truck driving by the other day and my kids and I were so excited. I would love to see it in Lakewood.....
Brian
11:44 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
This would be great for Lakewood. It's no different than a restaurant opening up. It would be nice to have Food Trucks at Lakewood Park during lunch time.
Loretta Bowlby
11:45 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I think it's a great idea.. Especially at Lakewood Park!!
Holly Barnes
11:59 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I want to know where this truck is going to be because I want a real empanada! Add Cafe De Leche and I'm in! I haven't found a good place to get this since I moved back to Ohio 2 years ago! Come to the Lakewood Dog Park in the MetroParks. You'll clean up!!!! Are you tweeting your locations throughout the day? If we are going to allow hens in Lakewood, we should be able to have food trucks!!!
Jessica
11:59 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The west side towns need to remove the sticks from their butts. These food trucks never come over this way because they aren't allowed to park anywhere. So in turn they all end up out on the east side or downtown. Now I love all their food as I've tried just about all of the Cleveland trucks, but I'm not willing to drive from Westlake to the east side or even downtown (and then probably have to pay to park) just to get some delicious food. Businesses around here shouldn't worry about losing business to them either. When they started the Chow Down's about a year or so ago the businesses around the park they were at were so worried but then in the end welcomed them because they brought MORE business to the surrounding stores even other restaurants.
Allison Urbanek
1:46 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I think that the food trucks would be a great addition to our community. What needs to be done to make it happen?
Nicole H
2:50 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I too saw the truck parked on the street & had a food'gasam! Super exited to have one (or more) of those fabulous tacos! Just call me the "Fired Up" stalker! I'm following via Facebook & Twitter!!
Barb Mattis
9:32 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Food trucks are perfect for Lakewood! This appeals to the demographics of the city and is a perfect fit. Laws should definitely be updated!
Gina DeSantis
10:37 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
They will be joining the Screw Factory Artists' Open Studio event on Sat, May 5th from noon-7pm!
Rick Uldricks
12:24 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Looking for a Food Truck? Check this site out: http://www.ohiofoodtruckfinder.com/#cleveland
Jae Stulock
2:13 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
Here is another great site to find'em: http://roaminghunger.com/
-Jae
Patrick Giusto
6:08 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012
Jae might know a thing or two about food trucks-- he runs Umami Moto, an Asian-fusion meal-on-wheels. Their food is absolutely delicious, and recently won the Scene Best in Cleveland Award for Best Food Truck!
Find the food on Facebook and Twitter at: umamimototruck.com, Facebook.com/umamimoto, twitter.com/umamimoto