by SDFT | Mar 30, 2014 | Truck News
If you are reading this, chances are that you enjoy dining out in our lovely town of San Diego–not only at food trucks, but at casual eateries, fine restaurants, and everything in between! Eating out can be expensive, so we’ve compiled our favorite ways to save money at restaurants and food trucks by using coupons, discounts, apps, and more! Happy dining!!
- MOGL. Our favorite savings app! Download the app or sign up for an account and register y
our credit cards. When you dine out at a participating location, you get 10% back. At the end of the month, all your savings are totaled and that dollar amount is put back onto your credit card. The best part about this app is that there are a LOT of participating eateries and bars, and you don’t have to check in or even know when you are at a participating location to get the discounts. Sign up here!
- ReaderCity and U-T San Diego Deals. ReaderCity has our favorite
local dining coupons. The big group buying sites – LivingSocial and Groupon — have some good deals, too.
- Follow your favorite eateries on Twitter and Facebook. They may post coupons, discounts, or contests.
- Sign up for e-mail newsletters for your favorite restaurants. National and local chains, in particular, will often send you coupons for signing up or for your birthday.
- Restaurant.com certificates. Unfortunately, there are only about 35 restaurants available in San Diego, but it’s worth a look. Always find a coupon code before buying a certificate on restaurant.com. Certificates come in denominations of $5-$100.
- Check in on Yelp and Foursquare. It may be annoying to pull out your phone and checking in, but it can pay off. Many times we’ve checked in and been pleasantly surprised to see a promo for a free drink, free appetizer, or a percentage off a meal..all just from checking in!
- Get1Free coupon magazine features many BOGO coupons. You can access discounts online, too.
- Buy the Entertainment Book. You’ve probably seen it before—it’s big, heavy, and hundreds-of-pages-long. It’s full of deals for fast food, casual dining, and fine dining, and often the deals are BOGO (buy one
entree, get one free). New, the book sells for $35, but the longer you wait to buy it after a new year, the cheaper it is. And always buy it online—it’s cheaper than in a store. Along with food, there are discounts on movie tickets, car washes, groceries, and entry to museums and other attractions. Buy it through a cash-back site like ShopAtHome or Ebates and sometimes you can save even more on the book’s purchase price.
Know any other great ways to save? We’d love to hear it! Let us know in the comments!
by SDFT | Mar 4, 2014 | Truck News
On Monday, the City Council, approved new regulations on food trucks in San Diego.
Read the full article from the San Diego Union-Tribune:
“The new regulations, which some mobile vendors say will harm their businesses, were necessary because there currently are no municipal code provisions that govern trucks serving food to the general public on private property, most notably in commercial areas.
“The net effect of the ordinance, expected to go into effect sometime in April, will be to disallow trucks in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, and portions of several beach areas. In addition, late-night operations in dense urban areas will be prohibited where food trucks are parked close to homes.
“The council did make one change Monday in response to concerns raised by truck owners over a requirement that permits must be obtained by property owners who want to host a food truck. No such permit would be required for industrially zoned land, and the council agreed to waive the permit as well for commercial office parks. The cost for obtaining such permits is between $491 to $935 for each location, a cost likely borne by the food truck owners.
“Other regulations include:
•Food trucks would be outlawed within eight blocks in the Gaslamp Quarter along Fifth Avenue and a six-block area of Little Italy.
•No food trucks would be allowed within the first two to three blocks adjacent to the beach in such communities as Ocean Beach, parts of Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla.
•A prohibition on food trucks within “parking-impacted neighborhoods” surrounding San Diego State, University of San Diego and UC San Diego.
by SDFT | Mar 1, 2014 | Truck News
A new study done by students at San Diego State University show Interim Mayor Todd Gloria’s justification for food truck rules don’t hold up and will likely be unenforceable.
The San Diego Reader did a good summary of the study, or you can keep reading for more details here.
Students from SDSU did a field study (see PDF link below) on some of the more controversial proposed food truck regulations to be voted on this Monday, March 3rd in City Council.
The proposed rules that were analyzed include:
- Ban on food truck operating on private property and the on the street in Gaslamp (157.0304)
- Limit on hours of operation for food trucks when within 500 ft of any dwelling unit (141.0612.A.11)
- Commercial & Residential property owners looking to host food trucks must obtain a Mobile Food Permit. (123.0602)
The results of the study answered the following questions:
- Is there a public safety concern for pedestrians when a food truck is parked on the street in the Gaslamp Quarter of Downtown San Diego?
- To what degree does a food truck increase the ambient noise level when operating between the hours of 11PM-2AM and how far does the noise travel with relation to the surrounding areas
- Approximately how many locations will be required to obtain a mobile food permit for food trucks operating on their property?
The findings of the field study included the following:
- A food truck parked in Gaslamp does not impede the flow of pedestrian traffic. In fact, restaurants seemed to clog up sidewalks more than food trucks.
- A 500 foot radius is proven to be too extreme as a cutoff point and a more realistic and reasonable distance should be set between 25 and 50 feet, depending on the location.
- It is estimated that 2,350 mobile food truck permits will need to be processed in order for food trucks to operate in a legal manner. This would require the city hire 5 full time staff just to process the paperwork.
The study results seemed counter intuitive to the press release that Interim Mayor Todd Gloria released two weeks ago that stated he wanted to create “sensible rules that address public safety.” Food truck operators have been urging the city to show concrete evidence of public safety issues caused by food trucks, since this is the reason provided for the proposed regulations. Food truck operators view the proposed regulations as anti-competitive and discriminatory.
Full Text of the SDSU Food Truck Study (PDF)
by SDFT | Mar 1, 2014 | Food Trucks in the Media, Truck News
Are you opening a food truck? Or just dreaming about it? Then you can try to get casted for the Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network!
If you are interested, click and read the image to the right for details and email foodtruckracecasting@rtvshows.com.
Let’s get some SD trucks on the show!
(Sorry, people who own or have ever owned a food truck cannot apply.)
by SDFT | Feb 26, 2014 | Truck News
- God Save the Cuisine & STUFFED! & Not So Fast!: downtown from 11-2pm (B st between India and Columbia)
- MangiaMangia Mobile & Crabcakes 911: Ashford University 11 to 1:30
- New York On Rye: 11:30 – 1:30 @ 9655 Towne Center Dr., UTC
- HaadSai Thai Food: 9540 towne center dr 11:30-1:30
- Mastiff Sausage Co: Carlsbad, 2200 Faraday Ave 92008. Parked around back 12-2.
- Simply Fresh: The Shire on Torreyana rd. from 11-1
- Devilicious: 4830 Eastgate Mall 11-1:30pm
- MexiCalbi Fusion: W Hotel, 11pm-2am [421 W B St, 92101]
- Crepes Bonaparte: MCRD San Diego 10:30am-2pm
- GreenGo GastroTruck: MCAS Base
Gatherings tonight in:
- Mira Mesa at 10510 Reagan Rd, 92126 from 5:30pm-8:30pm. Lineup: Devilicious, Patty Truck, Super Q Food Truck, Calbi BBQ
- Clairemont at 4150 Ute St. 92117 5:30pm-8:30pm. Lineup: Haad Sai Food Truck, Mangia Mangia, Underdogs.
- Eastlake at 871 Showroom Place, Chula Vista, from 5:30pm-8:30pm. Lineup: Devilicious, Crepes Bonaparte, Chubby’s, God Save the Cuisine
- University City at Spreckels Elementary, 6033 Stadium Street, 92122. Lineup: Not so Fast Food, GreenGo, Super Q Food Truck
Disclaimer: Always confirm a truck’s location by checking their Facebook, Twitter, or website before you go. Changes may occur.
