Food event organizer says he’ll keep on trucking

Promoter of food truck events says he wants to work with City Council, but will leave if his business isn’t wanted

WOONSOCKET – Frustrated by the City Council’s lack of enthusiasm for a series of “food truck” nights that have drawn hundreds to Market Square, the chief promoter of the event says he’s close to packing it in after the panel tabled his request for an expansion last week.

“We would leave Woonsocket,” said Eric Weiner, the founder and chief executive officer of FoodTrucksIn. “We’ve gotten calls from Scituate, Smithfield, Attleboro. There’s no reason to fight to keep it in a place that’s not making it easy.”

Market Square Food Trucks Night had already been approved for four events on one Friday a month through August, but the council voted 5-2 to put on hold Weiner’s request to add two more Friday nights through October, with additional food trucks.

Council members say they held off on considering the request until resolving the question of sanctions against Ciro’s Tavern on Cherry for allegedly serving alcohol at the first Market Square Food Trucks Night in May without the proper catering permit. Given Ciro’s unblemished track record, the Board of Commissioners was expected to do little more than issue the restaurant a verbal warning during a hearing that was scheduled for last night.

Weiner argues that the council has unfairly tied FoodTrucksIn to the liquor issue because the original application for the Market Square Food Trucks Night was filed by NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley. When the city discovered that beer was being served at the first Market Square Food Night in May, Weiner said it was because NeighborWorks and Ciro’s both operated on the belief that the restaurant had the required permits to do so.

“Ciro’s and NeighborWorks definitely made a mistake,” Weiner says.

The council might have never known alcohol was being served at the event had it not been for a visit by Councilman Richard Fagnant. On record as an opponent of the event, Fagnant discovered a possible safety issue involving a gasoline generator and summoned a policeman who inadvertently realized alcohol was being served to patrons.

The city issued an immediate cease and desist order on the sale of alcohol and later lodged a violation notice against Ciro’s liquor license.

Despite Ciro’s troubles, FoodTrucksIn still managed to legally offer patrons beer at the following food truck event in June by using another vendor with a proper catering permit known as a Class P license.

Weiner says Ciro’s has since obtained the same type of permit and he would like to rehire the local business for future food truck nights – if there are any.

The July 3 meeting of the council – when the panel is expected to take up the Weiner’s application – will likely determine whether Market Square Food Trucks Night has a future.

“It’s not meant as an ultimatum,” said Weiner. “It’s meant to try to work cooperatively.”

Parking at issue

The pending application to expand Market Square Food Truck events hinges on the council’s willingness to allot municipal parking spaces for the event. The council approved five spots in a municipal lot adjacent to a NeighborWorks facility at 40 South Main St. – the old Mulvey’s Hardware building – back in March.

Weiner, in a follow-up application filed in the name of FoodTrucksIn – not NeighborWorks – now seeks permission to use four more spaces, with additional events on Sept. 1 and Oct. 6. Anne Conway, director of the Museum of Work and Culture, which directly abuts the available spaces in the comparatively small lot, has indicated to NeighborWorks and Weiner that she is not opposed to their use of the area, but she said the decision rests with the council because the lot is owned by the city.

While Weiner says there’s was no cause for the council to put his request on ice because of issues involving Ciro’s and NeighborWorks, some members of the council disagree.

“Food Trucks Event was kind of a test balloon, and I can’t say the test has gone on without certain issues,” said Council Vice President Jon Brien. “Until those issues are resolved, I just don’t see how we can grant more.”

Brien lauds the apparent success of Market Square Food Truck Nights and says he wishes Weiner would be patient while the council fulfills its due diligence on the regulatory issues, but “he’s not a stakeholder.”

“Whether he chooses to come back or not is entirely up to him,” said Brien.

Supporters highlight exposure for city

Councilwoman Melissa Murray, who voted against tabling Weiner’s request, said it would be a very unfortunate turn of events if he pulls up stakes for an out-of-town venue.

“Any event that brings almost a thousand people into the city is beneficial,” she said. “Food trucks are extremely popular – they draw visitors from all over the state who normally wouldn’t set foot in Woonsocket, and I truly believe it’s a different crowd, probably a younger crowd.”

Such exposure is critical to changing the city’s image and getting newcomers to experience it as a place where fun, hip things are happening, Murray argues.

Market Square Food Trucks Night has been slogging through opposition from the beginning, however, with Fagnant and other councilors portraying the event as a rebuke to brick-and-mortar restaurants – particularly those in Market Square – forced to go toe-to-toe with mobile food trucks on one of the busiest nights of the week. In an interview on the radio, another council opponent called the food truck festival a slap in the face to establish- ment restaurateurs.

But Weiner says it’s nothing of the kind. By drawing newcomers interested in food culture to the city, many for the first time, Market Square Food Trucks Night will pay dividends to the host community long after the vehicles stop rolling.

“All of the data supports that when an event like this is successful they start to look at it differently,” he says. “They say ‘this downtown is different than we thought. We should come back and try one of these restaurants here.’ We’re opening them up to a whole group of 800 people who haven’t been there before. It’s not a slap in the face – if anything, it’ s handshake and a pat on the back.”

Weiner says he’s cognizant of how successful people seem to the think Market Square Food Truck Nights has been, be he throws cold water on the notion and openly blames the city council for preventing the event from fully blossoming.

“At this point, it’s not a big success,” he says. “A success is when all of the stakeholders are on board. It’s not a big success because the city’s council’s response has kept it from being a big success.”