When Rick Baker brought his bright yellow falafel truck to
Georgetown last year, he never expected to become a center of
controversy in the neighborhood.
But after slinging fried chickpeas and chicken shawarma every
Friday night in front of the 9 Lb. Hammer on Airport Way South for 17
months, Baker says his truck, Hallava Falafel, has been targeted by
angry Georgetown business owners who have interfered with his business
and pushed him out of the neighborhood’s nightlife scene.
Baker accuses one business owner in particular, Tim Ptak of the
Airport Way bar Smarty Pants, of having a friend park a truck in
Hallava’s usual spot in front of the 9 Lb., restricting Hallava’s
access to the neighborhood’s profitable main drag. Baker says the man,
Bryce Wengard—the former owner of a Ballard auto-repair shop and
friends with employees at Smarty Pants—leaves his half-ton Chevy
pickup in the spot where Hallava used to park every Friday afternoon,
getting in another car and driving home. Smarty Pants’ Ptak denies any
involvement in the situation. Wengard acknowledges trying to block the
parking space with his truck.
On September 2, Baker put up a blog post on Hallava’s MySpace page.
“So it appears that the falafel truck is a real threat to some
people,” Baker wrote. “We have full permission to provide food outside
of the 9 Lb. Hammer on Friday nights. FALAFEL TRUCKS ARE NOT A
CRIME.”
The King County health department requires mobile food vendors to
set up schedules, but could not confirm if Hallava had done so.
On August 31, after losing an estimated $1,200 in business in the
previous month, Baker says he confronted Wengard when he pulled up to
the spot. In response, Baker says, Wengard backed his truck up in front
of the 9 Lb. anyway. That’s when Baker and Wengard got into a screaming
match. Both men claim they were threatened, Wengard left, and Baker
called the cops. When Wengard came back to his truck the next day, he
says, his tires had been slashed. Wengard says the truck belonged to
his sister—a Seattle Police Department officer.
“If you’re going to threaten me, fine. [But] to follow
through—that’s just asinine,” Wengard says. “I basically got
frustrated the falafel truck was using that space. I don’t understand
how this escalated.”
Baker says he had nothing to do with slashing
Wengard’s tires.
Wengard acknowledges that he’s a friend of several Georgetown
business owners, and he admits he’s been trying to push Baker out of
the neighborhood. “There are ways of getting things done. Mine was by
legally parking my trucks,” Wengard says.
Wengard says he’s just trying to help out other independent business
owners in Georgetown who, he claims, are losing customers to Baker and
the 9 Lb., which does not have its own kitchen. “I know what it costs
to put a kitchen in [a bar],” Wengard says. “It’s direct competition
down there. [Baker] takes out of everybody’s pockets.”
Since the altercation with Wengard, Baker has cut his late-night
business and has opened his truck for lunch down the street on
weekday afternoons. He says he’s frustrated with the situation and
may be taking his truck to Portland soon, which, he says, is kinder to
street vendors.
“A falafel truck that’s there for three hours every Friday isn’t a
threat to neighboring restaurants,” Baker says. “If that ruins your
business, that’s crazy.” 
Although i’ve never visited Mr Baker’s falafel truck- it seems from many of the above comments that people would INDEED be willing to cross the street to support his business. However, in response to MAngel and other similar comments, i would like to say: as someone who is familiar with the laws and workings of mobile food vendors, it is not possible for Baker to simply move across the street or around the corner. Yes, mobile vendors are on wheels, but what many people seem to be unaware of is the fact that these vendors have to log the EXACT locations they plan to open for sales with the city/health inspector/etc. If an inspector shows up and Mr Baker is across the street/anywhere but where he specifies, HE WILL GET FINED. Subsequent fines could result in him losing his business. (Is it safe to say Smarty Pants/Mr Wengard were aware of tis fact? Who knows?) So it is not as simple a case it may appear to some. As for Mr Wengard, it does appear that in this case he has every right to park his truck in the spot Mr Baker had been using. We live in a great, free country (made even greater by our recent election of Barack Obama) where anyone can be a jerk as long as they don’t break the law. Is Mr Wengard violating any law? Apparently not. Is he being a jerk? Well, read his own words and decide for yourself. To me the answer seems obvious.
All of you f’n losers should know the best food in Georgetown is the TEXACO fried chicken and jo-jo’s.
All of you f’n losers should know the best food in Georgetown is the TEXACO fried chicken and jo-jo’s.
3 months since this happened – no Falafel at night anywhere, and this is still news? Huh?
What about the 8 foot penis burning from three weeks ago – at least that was entertaining.
For good chicken – it’s at the SHELL not the Texaco. And Marco Polo has better (and you get free ice cream too).
Jules Maes is closing? Really?
i’ve lived in g-town for 4 years-i don’t eat that often at smarty pants and i’ve never eaten at the falafel truck-i do however find the falafel truck offensive to look at and it has annoyed me parked in front of 9lb and under the bridge-effing move to p-town already
Excellent Sandwiches? Dude, you ARE affiliated with Smarty Pants. This is a total advertisement. I know this because the word “excellent” and the sandwiches at Smarty Pants don’t belong anywhere near each other, and definitely not in the same sentence.
Parking on Airport Way S. at that location is public parking: anyone can park there during hours that parking is allowed, so parking the pickup is legal.
Tire slashing is illegal.
Smarty Pants has excellent sandwiches, soups, and brunch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (no soup on brunch days).
I am a sstisfied customer of Smarty Pants; I have no business or personal relationship with anyone who owns or works at Smarty Pants.
I’m a G-town local. Been in the hood for 5 years. I’ll just go on the record and say that Smarty Pants doesn’t attract the G-town crew. The 9lb does. In fact, Smarty Pants brings people from out of the area, which isn’t a bad thing, but for other reasons, S.P.’s and it’s owner aren’t so popular amongst the locals. I wouldn’t say “hated,” just not favored. If Smarty Pants were to close up shop, only the PBR drinkin’ import crew would be sad. Nobody in G-town would care, it would make for good gossip for a week, but that’s about it. It would be like that Scooter’s barbershop place closing down. A few good stories, but an easy page to turn. Now, if you’re not from G-town, you don’t have a clue. If you claim to be on the side of S.P. and say you’re from G-town….”I know you’re lying,” you’re not from G-town. You just don’t know. Plain and simple, get a life and go find a new blog to spew over.
whoa nelly…… is this for real? I cant believe all of the comments. I only came to look because I heard about how much of a hot topic this is.
I moved to G-town before there was anything but Planet G-town aka Uncle Mo’s, a Shell station and a Texaco. I think I CAN speak on behalf of the average G-towner when I say that ALL of the businesses thrive on eachother.
Never before have I seen such an immature, gossip-driven tirade over a “he said she said” situation. PLEASE!
Everyone down in good ‘ol G-town wants to be the one who knows the most people, remembers when, has the best piercing or tattoo, leaves the smallest carbon footprint, is the most vegan, has the fastest scooter, etc etc etc…. ya catch my drift.
In my opinion, this is nothing more than a souped up version on Beverly Hills 90210 meets LA Ink. What a crock!
Competition is good and tire slashing is illegal; TRUE
It being the fault of Smarty Pants that some jackass decided to pull STOOPID antics without the knowledge of the owner; FALSE
Lets keep the record straight….
It seems to me, over the EIGHT years I’ve spent in Georgetown, that everyone has gotten along just fine.
Sure Stellar is frenetic and a little over-priced. GLC is a little holier than thou with its veggie-only agenda. Jules Maes has had its ups and downs. Calamity….. heh? 9 lb…. great but usually full of overserved wannabes. Smarty Pants…great fire pit and cheap beer but could use improvement too!
Do you see a pattern here…. its called DIVERSITY! There is room for everyone. It is what makes this hood unique. They all have a niche and there is a place for it all….. even the falafel truck.
Now get to improving relations and quit your whining or I may be forced to hang out elsewhere….. ANYwhere that people act like adults and say what they mean and mean what they say!