The First Food Truck Can Finally Cook On Board
By Anthony Todd in Food on Feb 1, 2013 4:20PM
Food truck fans, rejoice. Years after agitation for food truck reform began, months after the food truck legalization ordinance passed, we finally have the first success story. The Salsa Truck, which serves a variety of fresh Mexican food, will now be able to prepare their tacos and quesadillas on board the truck.
DNA Chicago reported yesterday that owner Dan Salls was licensed on Wednesday to cook food on his salsa truck, the first truck in Chicago that has even gotten to the inspection phase. Rosemary Krimbel, the commissioner for the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, called it a "watershed moment."
Congrats, Dan. It's gonna be a long slog, though; Salls admits that the inspector who passed him warned him that he's gonna get inspected a lot, since he's the first. Salls is also working to start Chicago's first food truck "commissary" in the West Loop, where a variety of food truck owners can serve their signature dishes from a fixed location.
Here's hoping that the process will get easier as truck owners pass around advice and inspectors get more used to scrutinizing mobile kitchens. By summer, Chicago may have a whole new crop of food trucks serving fresh, hot food.