The Gulf to Bay Food Truck Association plans to host a series of rallies in downtown St. Pete that may spark a larger mobile kitchen following throughout the city.
Showcasing tacos, tater tots, popsicles and other eats, a 10-truck rally will happen Friday, Oct. 17, at the St. Petersburg Pier. It will continue each third Friday of the month, according to Maggie Loflin, the association’s vice president.
Another rally, expected to take place at Williams Park during lunchtime every first and third Wednesday, will rotate five food trucks regularly. The event’s still in development, with no launch date set. But Loflin said she wants it to debut as soon as possible.
Loflin, who dishes Mediterranean fusion from her Maggie on the Move truck, said she’s discussed food trucks with the city, everything from zoning regulations to rallies, for more than two years.
Though Loflin and others park outside USF St. Petersburg Wednesday afternoons and All Children’s Hospital every fourth Friday, she said it wasn’t until recently that city officials warmed up to restaurants-on-wheels operating in the downtown core, under certain conditions. The city’s co-sponsoring both upcoming rallies.
“It’s taken a very long time,” Loflin said. “Nobody seemed really excited about it.”
As of changes to the City Code on June 19, food trucks are allowed to sell on private property where zoning districts allow retail or restaurants and bars, and may obtain an annual permit for those operations. Truckers no longer need to purchase permits multiple times a year, city planner Derek Kilborn said.
Food trucks are also permitted in any of the zoning categories, including streets in limited areas downtown.
“It’s something we’re going to continue to monitor going forward, and if there’s an opportunity to further amend the code, we will do that,” Kilborn said.
The association’s new rallies aren’t impacted by the updated regulations since they’re city co-sponsored. However, Loflin credits the events’ fruition to truckers’ appearances at craft breweries, the success of the Tampa food truck scene and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman’s support.
According to Loflin, the mayor approached her about organizing the rally at Williams Park, adding that Kriseman wants it to be similar to Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s monthly Food Truck Fiesta.
Tony Leno, manager of the city’s Event Recruitment and Management Division, told CL last Thursday that he and Loflin were meeting Monday to discuss the event further.
“City administration wants to create a new atmosphere at Williams Park,” Leno said.
Along with an array of grub, the rally in the Pier’s Pelican Parking Lot will feature live entertainment, including two DJs. Loflin said she wants the gathering to be family friendly, and that she’s looking to incorporate farmers’ market vendors, too.
There was an industry divide before the Gulf to Bay association, which has more than 50 members, formed in February, Loflin said.
“We were just all separated,” she said, “And had a weird vibe.”
While the association’s latest rallies aim to give St. Petersburg truckers an opportunity to highlight their offerings, Loflin said, the events will have a “fair mix” of mobile kitchens from both sides of the bay.