BUSINESS INTEL:
FS/TEC special report pg. 18
FOOD & BEVERAGE:
Search party pg. 30
FINANCE:
Locked-up lending pg. 38
COMMUNITY:
John Y. Brown Jr. pg. 48
WWW.NRN.COM WWW.NRN.COM
MARCH 8, 2010
$10.00
Food trucks making inroads
Mobile food courts
accelerate on the
path from novelty
to mainstream
BY LISA JENNINGS
Last month, 30 food trucks participated in the first-ever L.A. Street Food Fest, which attracted thousands of hungry Los Angeles citizens.
LOS ANGELES — In a city that
has embraced the gourmet-food-truck movement like no other,
Dennis Rohde is not a fan.
Rohde is the franchise owner
of a Baja Fresh unit in the Miracle Mile neighborhood, next to
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It’s a vibrant spot that
has become a popular gathering
place for the growing number
of food trucks — including the
Calbi Fusion Tacos and Burri-tos truck concept owned by Baja
Fresh chief executive David Kim
— and their presence strains Rohde’s patience.
CHRIS TINA HOUSE
Though Rohde has not complained about the trucks, others — including his landlord
— have, and city officials have
cracked down, reducing parking
limits in the area from two hours
to one. The neighborhood has
become a battleground of sorts
See KEEP, page 10
Downturn forces casual-dining operators to retool
BY STEVE COOMES
During what’s become a three-
year segmentwide sales slump,
casual-dining operators have
tried just about everything to
spur sales, from discounts and
bundled meals to two-for-ones
and freebies. To keep the lights
on, many also have cut opera-
tional fat, muscle and, some
would swear, even bone.
But if there’s an upside to the
ongoing downturn, it’s that it’s
now forcing casual operators to
think longer-term, with many re-
considering and redefining their
businesses. In short, many say
they are switching from defense
to offense with an eye toward
positioning themselves to appeal
to the post-recession customer.
