Guest post by Christian Meoli, Vice President of Marketing for Bigfoot Entertainment
Food trucks used to be a staple of First Fridays in Venice, selling their delicious and unique food while patrons flooded Abbot Kinney Blvd. and the surrounding streets. But the growing crowds and resulting traffic created an unfortunate conflict with the Abbot Kinney Merchant’s Association (AKMA). Reaching a breaking point last month, the AKMA applied for an injunction from the city of Venice for a parking ban, which left the food trucks with nowhere to park. Bigfoot Entertainment’s Vice President of Marketing Christian Meoli shares his part in the story:
First Friday regulars and food truck aficionados were disappointed that their favorite restaurants on wheels would no longer be at the monthly event, with some going as far as calling for a boycott of the event. As an active business in the Venice community, we at Bigfoot have a desire to see the momentum and success of First Fridays continue. To that end, we reached out to both the AKMA and Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association (SoCal MFVA) to discuss a potential solution, creating a ‘win-win’ for the merchants and the public who love what the food trucks bring to First Fridays. We’re happy to announce that on First Fridays in 2011 (beginning Jan. 7), we will play host to 8-10 food trucks in our parking lot at 1611 Electric Ave., just across from The Brig, ground zero for the popular food trucks. We’re hoping to make this ‘foodie central,’ with a strong food truck presence and wide selection of cuisines.
The merchants on Abbot Kinney and the mobile food vendors are still in talks to come to a decision regarding the parking ban, which lifts this spring, but in the meantime, we’re happy to provide a spot where the food trucks can park and sell food to hungry patrons of First Fridays in Venice. We’re also planning the inaugural Venice Foodie food festival in 2011, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting local schools.
In a continued partnership with the SoCal MFVA, we’re also hosting “Dinner and a Movie” nights at Bigfoot’s Majestic Crest Theatre in Westwood, Calif. Movie-goers can bring food purchased from the trucks parked outside into the theater. We kicked off this initiative last week, with great success, and will continue hosting the promotion into the New Year. We’re currently the only theater in Los Angeles doing this, and our patrons have given us great feedback.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Cheers to Bigfoot for stepping up! I love me some food trucks! It shouldn’t be this hard!
Oh thank God they figured this out!
I understand the business owners on the street not wanting the trucks.
The city should figure a solution as I think a lot of people look forward to the event,
EATING & SHOPPING ! Perhaps, find a area close by and block off the street.
Good move, Bigfoot. It doesn’t seem right to me that in one fell swoop they can just wipe out the vendors means of doing business.
Bigfoot Entertainment deserves no credit. It does things that are only beneficial to Bigfoot. From the Management to the Crew the people that work there for any length of time at there are unreputable and dishonest.
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