More of this, coming to a sidewalk near you: Chef Shack co-owners Carrie Summer and Lisa Carlson, outside their restaurant-on-wheels on Nicollet Mall. Star Tribune file photo.
The wording was a little dry, but the news is good:
"The Minneapolis City Council today unanimously approved the expansion of mobile food vending in downtown Minneapolis," read the press release that just came across my desk. "Restaurant owners and entrepreneurs who do not own restaurants now have the opportunity to expand their operation to a mobile food vending vehicle that could park on a preapproved location within the Downtown Improvement District. Food preparation will also now be allowed in the vehicle."
In other words, if food entrepreneurs jump through the city's newer, more-relaxed hoops (and Mayor R.T. Rybak signs off on the council's actions), diners can look forward to seeing a wider variety of street food on the sidewalks of downtown Minneapolis, probably sometime mid-summer.
Applications (to the city's public works department) will be accepted starting on May 1. Fees run slightly higher than a fishing license: $483 for the license fee, and an additional $391 in start-up costs.
