It’s Friday night in Bloomington. It’s overcast but there’s no rain in the forecast. And that’s a good thing for the Friday Night Food Truck Festival in the parking lot at the RE/MAX Rising real estate office. Rain can kill a food truck fest faster than a generator breakdown.
Jaclyn Mulvey of Pekin and her boyfriend follow trucks on social media and consider themselves food truck enthusiasts. They sat eating fish tacos and a cheeseburger on one of the few picnic tables set up in the parking lot. Curbs, car hoods and small patches of grass served as dining areas.
“We tried something from every food truck tonight,” Mulvey says with a laugh.
Was there a Best in Show?
“I think Healthy in a Hurry. We love Healthy in a Hurry because it’s so good every time.”
Healthy in a Hurry owner-operator Christie Collier is now the veteran food truck operator in McLean County. This season will be her 11th in business. Collier owned restaurants in Lexington and Saybrook but grew tired of the hours and challenges. She started a food truck business because she didn’t want to give up what she loved best.
“I love traveling around and meeting new people. I love the response (to her food) and just making people happy.”
But her concept of healthy food from a truck didn’t catch on right away. She recalls overhearing snarky comments from people thinking she only served tofu and hummus. In fact, Collier’s best-seller is grilled fish tacos, and she recently added Nashville hot chicken to the menu. But she has learned from the many miles she’s put on her truck, which she purchased from a former cop in Springfield who decided running a food truck was too much work.
For example, her worst experience was at a well-known Central Illinois music fest where she learned a valuable lesson: know your audience.
“Everybody had a few cocktails and they wanted nachos and burgers. Oh my gosh … that was the worst. I took a huge loss on that.”
She’s also learned to avoid complicated food items such as the Mediterranean wrap. It’s off the menu because it took too long to assemble. Another lesson – with rare exceptions, she no longer commits to events with fewer than 50 people.
Who loves a food truck?
Nationwide, the food truck industry grew by an average of nearly 10% each year from 2016 to 2021. Gen Z makes up the biggest share of food truck spending. According to a report from career site Zippia, 43% of monthly food truck spending is by people between 25 and 44, and an additional 20% is attributed to people under the age of 25.
Sarah Shipp fits the demo. She lives in the RE/MAX neighborhood and walked over so she could troll the trucks to find her faves.
“I took a glance at everybody who was here but once I saw nachos on the sign it was like, game over!” Shipp said.
Shipp thinks food trucks are fun and add another seat to the cultural table of a community. For example, she waxes on about her experience with what seemed like a food truck bonanza in Portland, Oregon, which is considered the best place in the country for food trucks because permits are cheap and there are few restrictions.
“It was interesting in Portland to see so many different cuisines from all over the world. So, I think I would probably get excited to see Italian food or maybe Asian food because that’s something you don’t really see a lot here in a food truck.”
Jaclyn Mulvey was happy to see Sugar Mama Bakery with a cart at a recent downtown Bloomington farmers market. The recent Illinois State University graduate enjoys exploring the local food truck scene.
“Bloomington’s pretty impressive because I know they don’t have that many mom and pop shops. So, for the city to have as many food trucks is impressive.”
So far this year, the McLean County Health Department has issued 39 food truck permits. That’s double the number from eight years ago, the farthest back local public health department records go. In 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of trucks took a big jump to 32 and that held steady for 2021.
Back at the RE/MAX lot, a singer with a guitar plays Don McLean’s 1970s hit “American Pie,” as Baby Boomer Mary Haynes shares, “I think it’s kind of a cool thing that I can get something more than a hotdog or a bag of chips at an outdoor event. I like that.”
But if she had her way, Haynes said there would be a food truck offering lobster rolls, pointing to a significant gap on available food truck menus.
Food truck laws
Some local laws are more food-truck friendly than others, based on operating restrictions and how much time and money it takes to obtain all required permits. And there’s no consistency between communities, so it makes it difficult for food truck operators to know the rules of the road, so to speak.
In Illinois, most food truck operators will need a health permit, a food safety manager’s certification, food handler permits for employees, and a mobile food facility permit from a municipality. While the process can be overwhelming, Austin Sorensen started his Butcher Block Burger Stop when he was 19. With no credit history, he used his own savings to finance a dream of being his own boss, at least when he’s home on break from college.
Sorensen markets the truck as “college-student owned, College Hills Meats-supplied.” His entrepreneurial endeavors began at age 16 when he set up a mac ‘n cheese stand at his school, Cornerstone Christian Academy. But Sorensen had a hard time estimating crowd turnout for events and wound up eating his profits because he had to throw out so much food.
He took a year to reassess and opted to keep it simple with a food truck serving hot dogs and his specialty – hamburgers, his favorite among friends and family.
“When I wanted to move away from that (mac ‘n cheese), I knew that burgers were going to be the right option for me. It’s just kinda my passion and I knew I wanted to do one thing and do it really well.”
The pandemic effect
Like other entrepreneurs and those who dreamed of taking their job and shoving it, Sorensen saw an opportunity with the pandemic and revved up his truck in 2021, but he was months behind his target. That’s because he struggled to find a certified commercial kitchen for his food storage and prep, plus he realized he didn’t know what he didn’t know.
“What taxes do I need to pay locally? What permits do I need? Where are places I can set up? Who are people I can get connected to? I struggled to find that in the very beginning.”
Sorensen credits Christie Collier from Healthy in a Hurry for helping him through some of those issues. He also soaked up everything he could during an hourlong phone call to England with Steffan Block, who in 2012 started the first modern-day food truck in McLean County with chef Jon Fritzen. Two Blokes and a Bus served globally-inspired street food from a double-decker bus.
While Sorensen had mentors, experience has also been his teacher.
“I kind of went out on a limb and took on a bunch of events that people warned me not to take, but I wanted to do my thing and try it out, and learned the hard way that I shouldn’t have taken on some of those things.”
Tony Williams learned his own lessons during his seven years operating Uncle Tony’s Food for the Soul food truck. That’s in addition to cooking breakfast at the Holiday Inn across from the Central Illinois Regional Airport and a full-time job at Afni. Williams saved up and jumped on an ad for a former bread truck he could buy in Ohio.
The road to his dream was bumpy when he found himself and his brother on the side of the road with a broken down 1983 GMC in 90-degree heat.
“My first thought was, ‘What the hell did I just do?’ Oh my God. I said, ‘I did not think it was going to start out this hard.’”
But even when the temperature reaches 130 degrees in mid-July inside the truck, Williams says he’s doing what he loves. After cooking breakfast for Holiday Inn patrons and then putting in a full day at Afni, he’s still ready to fire things up when he gets home.
“I’ll go home and I’ll cook up a big meal and I’m good. I’m happy because I’m cooking, especially if I’m on a grill. Oh, I love to be on a grill. I just love it!”
While some food trucks are an extension of an existing bricks and mortar restaurant, Williams is doing the reverse. The success of his food truck is allowing him to open MEGALE’S, a Soul Food Joint, in the former Dollface Desserts building on East Oakland Avenue in Bloomington. Part of that success was from pandemic profits.
“2020 was the best year I had in terms of sales and profit simply because the state and even the federal government put all these restrictions on restaurants, but they didn’t touch the food trucks.”
However, the pandemic wasn’t good for all food truck operators. Curbside Grillin’, a popular food truck that had been operating since 2014, ceased operations in January 2022 because co-owner Lyle Ridgeway died from COVID-19. Nacho Mamma’s Grilled Cheese, which operated for seven years out of Tazewell County but was popular at events throughout the region, closed in July 2020 when owner Karen Harris said the pandemic, combined with her Celiac disease, made it impossible to continue operating.
Williams says his success is tied to his ability to use his older children to help out, plus he buys his meat in Chicago at what he says is a more affordable price so he can keep his menu items relatively low-cost. He’s also learned to limit the number of menu items for large events such as during his best day ever – at Rivian’s Employee Appreciation Day last summer. It allowed him to keep up with record demand, without anyone having to wait too long.
Collier and Sorensen also say the Rivian event was also among their best days in business and they would like more days like it.
Collier suggests government leaders could find a way to make food trucks part of community-sponsored events and ease regulations on where trucks can locate so entrepreneurs are encouraged to make the investment.
“A centrally-localized spot where food trucks could set up on a specific day every week or every month … every Saturday afternoon maybe a food truck corner where people could come. I think that would be a good idea.”
In Rockford, the city’s park district hosts Food Truck Tuesdays where a variety of trucks are allowed in a public conservatory and gardens, offering a variety of options. The day we interviewed him, state Rep. Dave Vella (D) of Loves Park met his brother at a city-run event that allowed food trucks and they dined outside, with each picking a different culinary option.
“You get food trucks and people will come out, enjoy the park area, walk around. It creates community. It creates shared togetherness, experiences, which is just good for the city. At least that's their belief here.”
Rep. Vella also serves as a judge for the annual Tamale Fest in Rockford which attracts food trucks from across the state. It was there Vella first heard the complaints from owner-operators.
“Each county has their own health department with their own rules, and each city has their own rules. So if you're in, for instance, Winnebago County, there's one rule. If you're in the city of Rockford, another rule, and so on and so forth all over the state.”
Operator Tony Williams says the fees for licenses and permits also add up.
“I can understand the fee, but why so much? Why can’t food truck businesses get a break just like some restaurants. The restaurants … I know sometimes cities incentivize them just for locating in their city. Why can’t that be the same for food trucks?”
Rep. Vella believes because the food truck industry in Illinois sprouted so quickly, most communities simply transferred to food trucks, nearly the same regulations for restaurants. For example, he points out one community in Illinois requires a sprinkler system over food truck cooktops, something that’s just cost-prohibitive.
In March, Vella introduced legislation called the Food Truck Freedom Act (HB 2099). It says local governments may not require a separate license, permit or fee beyond an initial or reciprocal license for a food truck business. It also outlines that the agency issuing the license cannot charge a fee in excess of the actual cost of processing the license. So, for example that could include the cost of inspecting the truck.
The bill also prohibits an operator’s past criminal record from being considered in the licensing process, something the City of Bloomington includes as a condition of license approval. All vendors’ applications are reviewed by the city of Bloomington police chief.
City of Bloomington spokesperson Katherine Murphy says eliminating a criminal history review could have unintended consequences.
“Without checking a criminal background, you don’t know if you’re looking at somebody who might be a child sex offender running a food truck who can’t be allowed in an area where children are," she said.
But Murphy thinks Bloomington staff members are open to looking at how local regulations can be more food truck-friendly.
“I think it’s something the city can build on and grow. I think the more food trucks the better. Seriously. I think it would be great around town.”
Burger chef Sorensen would like to see economic development and city leaders consider ways to grow the industry through a public-private partnership to encourage development of a large-scale, rental space housing several commercial kitchens for food trucks and caterers.
Murphy says that’s an interesting idea.
“I think there’s always room for discussion of anything that can help a business operator or the city in a partnership. It’s something the city is always interested in talking about.”
The city has a $250 food truck fee. The Town of Normal does not have a food truck fee but does require a town-issued permit and the local ordinance bans food trucks from parking on open streets. However, town spokesperson Cathy Oloffson says Parks and Recreation leaders have mentioned an interest in waiving that restriction in town parks under certain circumstances.
“I think the staff would certainly be interested in revisiting the conversation, but it is something that would have to be considered by council. So, letting council know that there’s interest in the community is a key next step.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Vella’s legislation has been referred to the House Rules Committee. Vella calls it a starting point for stakeholders to provide input, especially the Illinois Department of Public Health, which ultimately is responsible for protecting public health and safety.
“Some people are considering an amendment that would say like, for instance, if you got certified in Bloomington, it should be certified all over the state. Some people said that Chicago should have their own. Some people said the state of Illinois doesn't do things very well, so we should have different people doing it.”
Vella plans to get input and then introduce a revised food truck bill in the next legislative session. However, he admits the food truck industry is a loose-knit group of owners whose typical connection occurs in groups on Facebook. So, he admits finding a consensus and getting feedback will be challenging.
No matter what the future holds for food trucks in Illinois, Tony Williams is not going to let Uncle Tony’s Food for the Soul be sidelined. How long can he keep it going?
“Until I can’t walk anymore. And even if I can’t walk anymore, somebody’s going to do it in Uncle Tony’s name.”
In fact, Williams’ high school-aged granddaughter has culinary interests and wants to continue the legacy.
As for Christine Collier, climate change could impact plans for when she becomes an empty nester. With more volatile weather and hotter temps, Collier jokes she’s starting to re-think plans to semi-retire and set up her truck down south.
“I’ve always wanted to go by the beach but maybe I’ll be headed in the opposite direction.”
