City officials are celebrating the return and expansion of the A-train’s Friday night service with Friday Nite Bites, a food truck festival. The festival on Friday also was planned to promote the food truck culture in Denton.
Kim Phillips, vice president of the Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau, said it’s an opportunity for visitors to experience Denton’s nightlife scene.
It’s been difficult to promote the nighttime entertainment to visitors because A-train service ended before the entertainment began, she said.
“The late-night weekend service has totally opened up our ability to sell the entertainment district as an attraction to Denton,” she said.
The city also is trying to provide a means for the community and visitors to experience food trucks, Phillips said.
Council member Kevin Roden said he wants to introduce the food trucks to the Denton community and vice versa.
Over the last year, the city has been working on passing a food truck ordinance, he said.
While the ordinance won’t be in place in time for Friday’s festival, the City Council is hoping to pass it shortly after.
The council has been trying to iron out the details to make sure the ordinance works for Denton, Roden said. It is currently being reviewed.
The reason Denton hasn’t been able to promote a food truck culture in the past is because the city currently prevents trailers from parking for more than 15 minutes.
The other option is to get a temporary food permit, which is good for 14 days and limited to three permits per year.
“Now they’re going to be able to stop and linger for periods of time,” Roden said.
Roden said he’d like to see Denton have a food truck park — a group of trucks that park in one area to offer people a variety of foods — like other cities, including Fort Worth and Atlanta.
The difficulty has been deciding how to create a culture in Denton that won’t be a nuisance to existing businesses, Roden said.
Under the new ordinance, food trucks will get a specific food truck permit, he said.
Because the ordinance isn’t in place yet, the city is having the food trucks come in for the festival under a temporary event permit.
“We had way more interest than what we could provide space for at this event,” Roden said. The city decided to limit it to 10 food trucks, including two Denton-based trucks — The Pickled Carrot, serving banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches, and Shiitake Swerve, serving soul food.
“I’m excited to have those two on board,” Roden said.
The others will provide an assortment of food, including dessert, sushi and sandwiches.
RACHEL MEHLHAFF can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is rmehlhaff@dentonrc.com .
FRIDAY NITE BITES
City officials are celebrating the return and expansion of the A-train’s Friday night service with Friday Nite Bites, a food truck festival. The festival on Friday also was planned to promote the food truck culture in Denton.
Kim Phillips, vice president of the Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau, said it’s an opportunity for visitors to experience Denton’s nightlife scene.
It’s been difficult to promote the nighttime entertainment to visitors because A-train service ended before the entertainment began, she said.
“The late-night weekend service has totally opened up our ability to sell the entertainment district as an attraction to Denton,” she said.
The city also is trying to provide a means for the community and visitors to experience food trucks, Phillips said.
Council member Kevin Roden said he wants to introduce the food trucks to the Denton community and vice versa.
Over the last year, the city has been working on passing a food truck ordinance, he said.
While the ordinance won’t be in place in time for Friday’s festival, the City Council is hoping to pass it shortly after.
The council has been trying to iron out the details to make sure the ordinance works for Denton, Roden said. It is currently being reviewed.
The reason Denton hasn’t been able to promote a food truck culture in the past is because the city currently prevents trailers from parking for more than 15 minutes.
The other option is to get a temporary food permit, which is good for 14 days and limited to three permits per year.
“Now they’re going to be able to stop and linger for periods of time,” Roden said.
Roden said he’d like to see Denton have a food truck park — a group of trucks that park in one area to offer people a variety of foods — like other cities, including Fort Worth and Atlanta.
The difficulty has been deciding how to create a culture in Denton that won’t be a nuisance to existing businesses, Roden said.
Under the new ordinance, food trucks will get a specific food truck permit, he said.
Because the ordinance isn’t in place yet, the city is having the food trucks come in for the festival under a temporary event permit.
“We had way more interest than what we could provide space for at this event,” Roden said. The city decided to limit it to 10 food trucks, including two Denton-based trucks — The Pickled Carrot, serving banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches, and Shiitake Swerve, serving soul food.
“I’m excited to have those two on board,” Roden said.
The others will provide an assortment of food, including dessert, sushi and sandwiches.
RACHEL MEHLHAFF can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is rmehlhaff@dentonrc.com .
FRIDAY NITE BITES
• What: Food truck festival featuring food, wine, beer, live music and entertainment to celebrate the return of Friday-night A-train service
• When: 5 to 10 p.m. Friday
• Where: Downtown Denton Transit Center (604 E. Hickory St.), at the corner of Railroad and Hickory streets
• On the Web: www.escapetodenton.com/events/friday-nite-bites-denton-foodie-truck-festival
Food trucks participating:
• Bombay Chopstixs
• The Butcher’s Son
• Crazy Fish
• Cup-Cakin
• Gandolfo’s Deli
• The Pickled Carrot
• Rock N’ Roll Tacos
• Rockstar Bakeshop
• Shiitake Swerve
• Three Lions Truck
