Food trucks
Food trucks are mobile vendors serving food throughout the Birmingham area. "Taco trucks" appeared on the scene in the mid-2000s, while SpoonFed Grill touched off a "gourmet" food truck flowering in 2009.
Food trucks are food service businesses licensed by the municipalities in which they operate, and permitted and inspected by the Jefferson County Department of Health, which requires them to operate in conjunction with a permitted brick-and-mortar food service establishment such as an affiliated restaurant or catering kitchen, or a multi-tenant "commissary kitchen," where foods are stored and wastes are discharged.
In addition to serving street food or rotating lunch periods between businesses with large numbers of workers, many of the trucks are available for hire for private events, functioning as caterers.
By 2012 the Birmingham City Council began responding to private complaints by brick-and-mortar restaurateurs in the City Center by drafting a proposed ordinance to restrict operating hours and locations. The proposal has been debated in Council committee hearings, but has not come up for a vote. Public hearings were renewed in November 2013.
In response to the threat of restrictive regulation, several truck and food cart vendors joined together as the Greater Birmingham Street Food Coalition in early 2013 and proposed an alternate, less restrictive ordinance for consideration. The coalition has also developed a "Food truck lot" at 211 Richard Arrington, Jr Boulevard North.
The Council passed its Birmingham food truck ordinance in December 2013, and amended it in July 2014 to remove some restrictions that applied to groups offering free food to the homeless.
In January 2013 Deep South magazine included four of Birmingham's food trucks: Dreamcakes, Los Dos Hermanos, Shindigs, and SpoonFed Grill, in their listing of the "Best Food Trucks in the South." By 2022 the Jefferson County Health Department reported that nearly 150 food trucks had active licenses.
List of food trucks
The following list includes typical locations, along with Twitter handles or semi-permanent locations:
- 1918 Catering, Jason and Jamal Brown (facebook), 2020–
- 2 Men and a Pig (2 Men and a Pig website), 2005-
- A-Train Station, Careese Agee (facebook), 2020–
- Aww Shucks, Phillip and Avrie Powell ([https://www.awwshucks.online/ website), 2020–
- Bayou Bros. (facebook), 2019-
- Broad Street Peaux Boys (@BroadStPeauxBoy), August 2017-
- Cantina on Wheels (@cantinaonwheels), 2011-
- Cheezin (@cheezinbham), 2015-
- CoCo Crabs, Ni'Cole Connor (facebook), 2021–
- The Current, Ben Menkin (facebook), 2021–
- Dirty Red, Neleshia Dale (facebook)
- Dreamcakes (@dreamcakesbham)
- Drift Kitchen, Eric Bennett and John Easterling (https://www.instagram.com/driftkitchenbhm/ instagram), December 2021–
- El Pollo Ranchero, 1500 9th Avenue North Bessemer
- Encore Rouge, (instagram), 2017–
- Eugene's Hot Chicken (@ChickenEugene)
- Four Garcias
- Fresh Off the Bun (@FreshOfftheBun)
- Fryer Truck
- Full Moon Bar-B-Que (@FullMoonBBQ)
- Granny's Fish 'N Grits (facebook)
- A Hole in One (@AHoleInOne)
- Hyderabad Dum Zone, Venesh Kumar and Srivalli Sai Kanchi, 2019- (facebook)
- I Love Bacon, 2017-
- Hot Tag (@HotTagFood)
- Lazy Boy BBQ (@LazyBoyBBQ)
- Little London Kitchen, June 2019- Bea and Matthew Morrissette (littlelondon.kitchen)
- Master Tacos
- Me Gusta Truck (website)
- Melt (@meltbham)
- Neal's On Wheels (@Neals_on_Wheels)
- Notorious P.I.G. (@bhmbbq)
- Off The Hook (@RUHKT)
- On A Stik, 2020– (facebook)
- Panoptic Food Truck, 2020– (facebook)
- Pa Que Ronald
- Peanut Truck, 2022– (Alabama Peanut Co. (instagram)
- Los Primos (formerly Taqueria Pineda), Alex Nunez and Analy Pineda, 1417 Pinson Valley Parkway
- RendezVous Kitchen, 2020– (Britini Liberton and Jamie Parks facebook)
- Savor Mas, 821 Green Springs Highway, Homewood
- Saw's Street Kitchen (@SawsStKitchen)
- Shindigs (@ShindigsTrucks)
- SlapHappy BBQ (@SlapHappyBBQ)
- Slice (@SliceBirmingham)
- Snapper Grabber's Coastal Kitchen (@SnapperGrabber)
- Street Bowlz
- Taco Boys (2019–, Instagram)
- Taco Mariachi (2020–), 1848 Crestwood Boulevard
- Taco Morro Loco (Facebook)
- Tacos El Guero, Yieney Garcia, 4656 U.S. Highway 280
- Tacos Dos Hermanos, Daniel and Jaime Guzman, Innovation Depot, 1331 1st Avenue North
- Tacos Mi Butique, 1800 Pinson Valley Parkway, Tarrant
- Tamale Queen / Snowies Shaved Ice, Gina Moran,
- Taqueria El Parrandero, Green Springs Highway at Valley Avenue
- Taqueria Guzman, Daniel and Jaime Guzman, 215 West Valley Avenue (2006-)
- Taqueria Juarez, 1459 Montgomery Highway (Vestavia Hills)
- Tot Spot (Facebook)
- Two Fat Men
- Underground Vegan, Khalilah Sowell (2020–)
- Los Valedores, William Paredes, 309 Oxmoor Road
- Wyld Child, Leo Hill
dessert / beverage trucks
- 80 Pops (@80Pops)
- Bendy's Cookies & Cream (facebook)
- Cookie Destiny (facebook), 2019-
- NOLA Ice (@NOLAIceBham), 2011-
- Ono Ice, Rebecca Davis 2012- (@OnoIceBham)
- Pandy's Sno Biz
- Temper Coffee (Christine Brons & Marcel Stamps), 2023–
- Whole Latte Drip, James Agee
Food trailers
- Battle Axe’s Feast (Drew & Sierra Kramer)
- Crazy Cravings (Rashauna Carter)
- Old Town Pizza (@OTPCullman)
- O My Turkey Leg (website)
- Rickshaw (Chris Joe website)
- Taco Tech (Facebook)
- Travis Chicago Style (Facebook, article) Bessemer Flea Market, Platinum of Birmingham, Regions Lakeshore Operations Center, Saturn (1975-)
- Wandering Coffee Co. (Facebook), 2019-
Other street vendors
- Greg's Hot Dogs, outside Regions Plaza
- Knotty Bham
- Respicci Italian Ice
- Steel City Pops
- Walter Simmons, outside Birmingham Central Library
- Donnie "Candy Man" Goodin, along Highland Avenue
Former street vendors
- Lucy's Coffee and Tea
- Mancha's
- Paradise Chow (Phillip and Marsha Mims), –2021
- SpoonFed Grill, 2009-2014
See Also
Commissary kitchens
Food truck lots and events
References
- McWhorter, Andy (August 5, 2011) "The Rise of the food truck". Birmingham Weekly
- Horn, Jason (November 6, 2011) "Birmingham food truck directory". Magic City Post
- Carlton, Bob (December 6, 2012) "Lawyer for food truck operators urges Birmingham City Council to reconsider mobile food ordinance." The Birmingham News
- Carlton, Bob (January 18, 2013) "Food truck operators form Greater Birmingham Street Food Coalition to promote, protect industry." The Birmingham News
- "Best Food Trucks in the South" (January 31, 2013) Deep South
- Crawford, Cindy F. (September 27, 2013) "Riding the food truck trend." Birmingham Business Journal
- Godwin, Brent (November 12, 2013) "Ordinance could shake up local food truck scene." Birmingham Business Journal
- "Your Ultimate Guide to Birmingham’s Food Truck Scene" (July 6, 2016) StyleBlueprint
- Velasco, Eric (October 4, 2017) "Let's Taco 'bout Taco Trucks: A guide to the city's thriving taco truck scene." The Birmingham News
- Robertson, Terri (January 9, 2019) "3 new food trucks to check out in Birmingham, including Bayou Bros." Bham Now
- Parker, Illyshia (March 10, 2023) "Growing food truck scene outpacing available commissary kitchens." Birmingham Business Journal
External links
- Birmingham Food Trucks website
- Birmingham Food Truck list at roaminghunger.com