Bites remain out on Broadway

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This article was published 20/05/2021 (1627 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It used to sit on Broadway on most weekdays, luring hungry office workers with the scent of wood-fired pizza.

Now, the Red Ember food truck focuses on feeding folks at the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market and weddings. It’s one of many mobile eateries that have abandoned downtown streets after the pandemic forced many Winnipeggers to work from home.

Owner Steffen Zinn said the pandemic continues to keep his bright red truck away from the downtown parking spot it often occupied before COVID-19 hit.

“It basically destroyed the entire lunch food truck service downtown. So last year, we did not attend Broadway at all because there (were) just so few people working down there. It looks like it won’t change much for this year,” said Zinn.

Some food trucks have moved to private parking areas near businesses; others may have stayed parked, he noted. The cost of a permit from the city did play a role in the Red Ember’s relocation, said Zinn.

“I feel, for my business, it wouldn’t be feasible to run the truck (downtown) all week long and have enough income to justify the costs,” he said.

The city’s website notes the price of a seasonal mobile vendor permit can range from $332 to park at a non-metred spot, to as high as $3,670 to park a larger truck in a prime “high demand” area. The permits run from April 1 to Oct. 31.

After completing a second food truck season focused on weddings and the farmers market, Zinn said his food truck will shut down for good this fall. He stressed the business isn’t a pandemic casualty, though COVID-19 did convince him to free up more family time.

“I am a majority shareholder in four other restaurants and the (food truck) income wasn’t required to sustain our life,” said Zinn. “I kind of would like to enjoy summer, instead of feeding it.”

Winnipeggers who still venture downtown will likely notice a reduced number of food trucks. The city issued 25 mobile vendor permits in 2019, 13 in 2020 and just nine so far in 2021.

One city councillor said he’s concerned the trend hurts the economy and downtown.

“This is just another one of the businesses that are suffering as a result of COVID-19. We need to do more,” said Coun. Shawn Nason.

Nason wants the city to offer a 10 per cent rebate on mobile vendor permits this year.

“To have the choice when you’re a downtown worker to go for a nice walk and see the various (meal) choices on a warm sunny day, I’d like to get back to that,” he said.

Zinn said he suspects the city would be more successful in welcoming food trucks back to city streets if it waived permit fees for one year and let owners plug parking metres to claim spaces.

“Let them buy time on a parking metre, just as other motorists do. I think that would definitely change the landscape on Broadway,” he said.

Nason will raise his motion at a community committee meeting on May 26.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga