Taking It to the Streets
Can Seattle Finally Become a Decent Street-Food City?
Kelly O
COMET DOGS Out of the bureaucratic morass and into your mouth.
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After a seven-year ban on downtown food vendors, Seattle is forming a plan to reintroduce taco, kebab, and pizza carts to their natural habitat: the streets. As part of the city's efforts to increase street life in Seattle and make the city more walkable, Mayor Greg Nickels and county health officials are working together to roll back the city's strict regulations on street food. They're also working with Skillet's Josh Henderson and Gabriel Claycamp of the Swinery (and the defunct Culinary Communion) on creating a migrating street-food fair, which they're hoping to get off the ground later this summer.
"Come all ye underdogs, cooks, sous-chefs, and guerrilla culinarists," Claycamp told The Stranger last week, playing the part of carnival barker. "This is happening."
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(Meanwhile, two new trucks are also happening: Marination Mobile, set to be up and running this week serving "Hawaiian and Korean curb cuisine," and an imminent pig-shaped Airstream from the Beecher's Handmade Cheese people, serving "the best pulled-pork sandwich you've ever had.")
Current county health regulations require roadside chefs to outfit food trucks with refrigerators, propane heaters, and three dishwashing sinks, among other equipment, or be limited to serving only precooked food like hot dogs or popcorn.
"In the '80s and early '90s, we had more [street] vending going on," says city strategic advisor Marshall Foster, who's been working on the street-food issue in the mayor's office. "From what I've heard, there were a lot of poorly run operations and people who weren't getting health permits," Foster says. "The city, at that time, did not have a very clear permit process."
In 2003, because of what it called overcrowded streets, the city council passed legislation cracking down on mobile vendors, banning food carts in the University District and from Westlake to the stadiums in Sodo. Also banned: vendors selling food near parks and schools. According to the city, hordes of largely unregulated street vendors had popped up along the monorail line downtown and near Seattle's ballparks in the 1980s, skirting health codes and jamming city streets. In addition to the bans, the city's tough street-permitting process—which requires consent of neighboring businesses—and additional county restrictions on types of servable foods pretty much made opening a cart more trouble than it was worth.
Now the city is hoping to streamline the permitting process and change regulations to allow vendors to provide a wider variety of foods—like tamales, piroshki, and noodles—on Seattle's streets. "You go to a city like San Francisco, you see carts grilling meats and selling tacos," Foster says. "You go to Portland, you see people assembling burritos from carts. You can have a reason to actually sit out on the street and enjoy being in the city."
Portland has its street burritos, while Seattle & King County Public Health has a 25-year-old, very short list of foods legal to sell on the street. In additional ridiculousness, until recently the county allowed vendors to sell hot dogs but not veggie dogs—unless they shelled out $350 for a special permit. The list now has been expanded to include things like grilled corn, but it remains much more restrictive than other cities.
The city has yet to work through a number of issues regarding raw foods and wants to mitigate problems with vendors crowding sidewalks in high-traffic areas. The mayor's office is still in the early stages of what appears to be a bureaucratic morass; Foster says they want to have the health code and legislative fine print worked out by next summer. The city hopes to expand the list of allowable street foods, bring food carts to downtown Seattle, and allow food trucks to congregate in parking lots around Seattle, creating miniature urban food courts.
When it comes to the new street-food fair, Claycamp and Henderson both seem to have a clear vision, but it's a bit surprising that the city has put its eggs in their basket. Claycamp gained infamy in Seattle regulatory circles for battling it out with health, fire, and liquor officials over regulations at his erstwhile cooking school, Culinary Communion, and the bacon factory he formerly ran out of his house, the Swinery. Skillet has also had run-ins with the health department and was briefly shut down in September 2007 for operating without a valid permit and for numerous health-code violations.
There's also the question of whether Seattle needs another food fair. To this, Claycamp says, "The Bite of Seattle is boring, no offense. It's the same vendors over and over again. This is the young circuit of street food. We don't want anyone who does the Bite." He says he and Henderson are planning something more akin to a carnival—with "edgy" live music and a beer garden—which will serve more ambitious fare than elephant ears, strawberry shortcake, and roasted corn. The city is pushing to hold the event at Occidental Park in Pioneer Square, but Henderson says he's hoping to have a traveling fair in the "burbs" of Wallingford, Beacon Hill, and West Seattle.
Henderson and Claycamp are still setting up their website, www.seattlestreetfood.org, and
figuring out how much insurance, legal fees, and vendor costs will be.
"The most
exciting thing Seattle has ever seen is about to
happen," Claycamp, never at a loss for
hyperbole, says. 
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and the hot dog in front of the comet is outstanding!
"Gail Lillian, a restaurant chef and former cafe owner, has spent the past three months trying to get a spot on a San Francisco city street for her new falafel and salad truck, Liba, but finally gave up because of the bureaucracy involved. 'Cities like Austin, New York, Portland and Seattle have really thriving street-food scenes,' she said. 'San Francisco has such amazing food, and I'd really like to see us step up on the street food.'" SF Chronicle, May 26, 2009
Are people in PDX bitching about the lack of street food in their town, too, while saying it's great in Seattle and SF?
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Look what's happening at the street fairs and farmer's markets -- Veraci Pizza BLOWS Via Tribunali or Ciao Bella OUT OF THE WATER (seriously, no contest); no restaurant north of South Park is serving better or more interesting Mexican food than those guys at the Fremont Sunday Market. This is where culture comes from: food in the street. And look at all the taco trucks!
And it spills over into new restaurants: Veraci and Rancho Bravo have set up in storefronts. Look at what's happening elsewhere in retail here: street food is SAVING SEATTLE. The mayor and the council should be making it MANDATORY.
I too go to skillet and grimace at the $12+ tab..I know Ill catch guff for this but I started limiting my tip for my walk up food experience to $1, at a maximum always. I figure these guys are making a killing on the food (at least 50% profit) so to tip the owners seems redundant..they are making most of their money off of volume anyhow. If they want to make some killer money start selling draft beer where they can--a killing is made off that shit.
I highly doubt that these two outfits can do a good everyman so-called street food for $7 and under. That food in LA is ridiculous (korean BBQ burritos? awesome), the stuff in SF is good but more expensive, and Portland's street scene is pretty good for the size of that town. All of it even the gourmet stuff goes for way less than Skillet's offerings.
I hope the food fair succeeds and will hit it at least twice, but there are so many restaurants out there especially now that can give you a decent, honest operation for under $30 for a sit down experience..paying that for street food seems like the rental market here in town--meaning Seattle, as great of a place as it is to live in--thinks its cooler and more in demand than it is. Kinda like SIFF.
And tipping the owners for walk-up street? rarely.
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That was one of the best jobs I ever had, and I was constantly busy. A few years ago I noticed that they were gone, and I wondered what had happened. Were they victims of the "crackdown"?
I keep looking for reasons to be excited about Seattle, but I feel like every time I check out the Stranger I encounter negative comparisons of the city to Portland. There must be some good carts in Seattle, no? Vegetarian, please. If not, well, I'm glad that some regulations may be changing to fix that. Street culture is an important component of livability, and, at least in Portland, the carts contribute to that greatly.
Also, incidentally, what's the best pizza in Seattle?
The Bite has gotten a bit boring...but I would not make a blanket statement about the food. Places know what they do well, and why would they change...the shortcake, Kalinka(which is damn good and has been the same throughout my life, I am 34 now)and many others. But I have had alligator on a stick, some of the best ribs I have had, deep fried okra and hush puppies from Southern Kitchen in Tacoma, and a seafood stuffed Bayou pocket all at "the Bite". Vendors change and some comeback year after year. I think it is more that the function is not folklife or Bumbershoot, that once you have your food there is less entertaining entertainment.
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As for price, Skillet's going to have trouble competing with the hoped-for wave of immigrant street food that's coming. If this city didn't have the world's largest stick up its ass, we'd already be competing with Portland; as it stands, they ABSOLUTELY DESTROY US on the street-food front.
I think this'll limit the variety and number of interesting restaurants in the areas that these trucks will operate. A lot of the existing restaurants will close. I mean these truckers don't pay rent, utilities, garbage removal, triple nets, etc. Who could compete with that?
When the existing resturants start closing and the city starts losing tax revenue, I hope they can collect it from the truckers. If they can find them.
I live in Asia now, which is street food heaven. When I go back to Seattle, I shudder at how boring and regulated it is. I like a good hot dog, but come on? How about some muthafuckin' tacos, or some spicy Korean dukbokey?
and beyond that, man, despising street food on almost on principle- move to Bend, i guess.
#26 well, i guess we'll see how good it is for this already almost bankrupt city and state when the tax revenue dries up. how many cash registers do you see at the hot dog carts? what do you think that means - underreporting maybe? if my business goes under it will mean 12 more unemployed people out there - will street vendors hire them? i don't really know what the rest of your comment is about.
So-o-o-----is this the Dawn of the Rising Street Vendor?
The Best Pizza in Seattle?
I'd say ignore Fnarf on his child like rant on this subject. Veraci is ... Okay. They do a decent attempt at a Neopolitan pizza. For some reason Fnarf has zoned in on this as a poster child an up an coming Pizza empire that far suprasses any pizza every made in Seattle.
Veraci opened a storefront in Ballard that just absolutely cries as a place that will be out of business by the end of the year. They may do a good job at Street fares but that a far cry from operating a restaurant. I've never seen this restaurant even remotely full, they have an awful location and they've don't have anything unique enough to cause a stir.
In response to the original question of What's the best Pizza in Seattle? All depends on what you are looking for in a Pizza and where you grew up, no? NY Style, Chicago..., California, or are you looking for Neoplitan as was already suggested. Pizza is a comfort food and your going to always elevate for that favorite Pizza you had as a kid.
PaulinBallard, step up fool.
Talkin like you know shit about za, how about throwin out your favorite places and why?
Cuz if you can't back up your typing finger here, you're just full of shit.
And by the way, as a restaurant professional, Veraci is kicking ass, and is going to be around for a while.
I don't think their pies are the best in town, but they are pretty good for Napoli style. The best Margherita pizza is at the old Lakeside Tavern down Rainier on the way to Renton. Pizzeria Pulcinella!
Providence Cicero has a good write up in the Times on them.
What do you get paid the big bucks for? Food critic?
Don't I see you at Pizza Hut scavenging everybody's leftover crusts?
Best pizza - Mr P's frozen pizza at Grocery Outlet. .69 cents each.
If you like NY Style, there's another pretty damn good place, but you have to go to Westwood Village Shopping Center way the hell down in SW Seattle to get it. The place is called Giannoni's Pizzeria. Not cheap either, but the pies are 18 inches, so at least you're getting the right size large.
Been on a quest for the best Pizza in Seattle since we moved here 2 years ago. Most of the pizza in this town sucks. The above two don't.
There's also some joint named Post Alley Pizza downtown close to the waterfront. Good if you're near there.
more regional food, less poorly done "fusion"
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Clearly you don't even live here, because it doesn't rain 9 months out of the year...
Seattle city council = premature group of morons.
http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.s…
By the way, where is the "Gabriel Claycamp is a douchebag" rant? I read all they way through the comments, but no money shot.
Also by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee
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