The corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Orizaba Avenue was a car sales lot for years. Now it’s a revolving court of food trucks called the PCH Food Park.
It’s a dedicated space for the trucks, hosting four to six a day and creating a neighborhood gathering space along the heavily trafficked business corridor on the edge of Signal Hill.
“There was a need for something in the area to kind of help form community,” Priscilla Jaramillo, one of the organizers of PCH Food Park, said.
The food park is the result of two dreams colliding with the help of a Craigslist ad.
Jaramillo put out an ad in January searching for a safe space to regularly set up her food truck and grow her business. Hossein “Fred” Farshidfard, who owns the lot where PCH Food Park now sits, was the only one to respond.
Farshidfard has dreamed of opening a food court with a huge Persian fountain in the middle since he was a student at Cal State Long Beach in the ’80s. After years of leaving his dreams on the back burner while he pursued other interests, Farshidfard finally felt ready to start this project.
“I’ve waited too long for this,” he said.
After the last lease on his property ended, Farshidfard kept the lot open for a year as he worked to bring his vision to life. He said he lost thousands of dollars to keep it vacant for so long.
“That shows my determination,” Farshidfard said. “No matter what cost, I want to do this.”
His daughters love food trucks, so he was already interested in setting up a food truck park when he found Jaramillo’s ad. Jaramillo was open to any ideas when she posted her ad, but she had seen food truck parks in other parts of the country and thought it would be great to have one here.
“As a food truck owner, I’m looking to bring a space that brings like consistency and visibility to other food truck businesses, as well as my own, and also provides a safe space for us to operate, and it kind of creates a unique outdoor dining concept, which is perfect for food trucks,” she said.
Jaramillo’s food truck, Fried Out LA, serves wagyu smashburgers and artisan fries. It will be a regular truck at the park. The vendors will rotate every week, and the schedule will be posted on Instagram. Any food truck with a Long Beach health permit is welcome to apply for a spot.
In the future, they hope to lease out the building on the lot to an established coffee business looking to open another shop. They also want to expand the hours of the park and set up electric vehicle charging stations on the other half of the lot.
Though it doesn’t have the Persian fountain he has always envisioned (yet), Farshidfard is excited to see his dreams finally becoming a reality. He is especially excited to build a positive community space and make his customers happy.
“If they are happy, I’m happy,” Farshidfard said.
PCH Food Park, 3000 E Pacific Coast Hwy., is open Fridays and Sundays from noon to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. They post their lineup of trucks on Instagram.