The gourmet food truck craze is coming to Long Beach starting this week, when, on Wednesday, trucks including The Greasy Wiener will set up shop near the intersection of Coronado Avenue and Anaheim Street and serve up their trademark fixings during lunchtime. Photo courtesy of Roaming Hunger.
UPDATE Tuesday, May 3, 8:55am | The Long Beach City Council recently threw its support behind allowing lunch trucks to operate within city limits so long as they are permitted and pass inspections by the city’s health department.
Previously, food trucks were allowed to operate in construction zones, but there were no rules in place to regulate them.
The Council’s April 12 vote created a permitting process that will include mandatory health inspections, meaning potential customers can rest easy with the knowledge that the trucks that will be visiting Long Beach on a weekly basis starting Wednesday are far from “roach coaches.”
The motion was sponsored by Councilmen Patrick O’Donnell and Steven Neal. O’Donnell has been instrumental in setting up the weekly Lunch Truck It visits to a location just off of Coronado Avenue and Anaheim Street in the Zaso Design District, where each Wednesday three or four Lunch Truck It trucks will temporarily set up shop during lunchtime.
Monday, May 2, 5:30pm | The gourmet food truck sensation that has swept Los Angeles and Orange counties will come to Long Beach for the very first time Wednesday, when a set of the luncheon mobiles will kick off their weekly visits.
Beginning this Wednesday, May 4, at 11:30 a.m., food trucks that were previously restricted in the city of Long Beach will come to the intersection of Coronado Avenue and Anaheim Street every Wednesday during lunchtime and set up shop at 1342 Coronado Ave., according to information provided by the office of Fourth District City Councilman Patrick O’Donnell.
“This is a first for Long Beach, and I am proud to sponsor an event like this that promises to facilitate community and culture through food,” O’Donnell said in a statement.
The draw is Lunch Truck It, a weekly event that aims to bring Long Beach professionals, families, students and local residents together for lunch every week. The businesses of the Zaferia-South Design District that lines Coronado Avenue, the East Anaheim Street Business Association and O’Donnell will host the event.
These key stakeholders are hoping that such an eclectic and epicurean event will bring a new awareness to an often-overlooked area of Long Beach.
“We want to bring attention to ZaSo, and what better way than to bring in the gourmet food trucks that have built huge followings in similar districts around LA,” said Carl Dene, owner of Vision Design Studio and a proponent of Lunch Truck It, in a statement.
There will be a variety of trucks in attendance every week, with L.A. favorites such as The Vizzi Truck, Cool Haus, Global Soul, the Sweets Truck, Ahn Joo, Grill ‘Em All, Greasy Wiener, Mandoline Grill, Buttermilk, Great Balls on Tires, Crepe’n Around and more, said an O’Donnell staffer.
To find out which trucks will head to Long Beach each week, follow Lunch Truck It on Twitter (@LunchTruckIt), check out its fan page on Facebook or visit LunchTruckIt.com.