ST. PETE’S DANCING MARLIN Bar & Grill EAT AT PETE’S A DALLAS LANDMARK SiNCE 1994 WISE UP, | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish Long Road’s End Dallas City Council greenlights food trailers. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS Show YouR AggiE RiNg foR 12% off! stpetesdancingmarlin.com Deep Ellum • 2730 Commerce 214-698-1511 GREAT FOR LUNCH! OPEN FOR DINE IN, TO-GO & DELIVERY! 7 Days a Week • Catering & Delivery Casual Dining • Excellent Service INDIAN BEER & WINE GRILLED KABOBS FINE CURRIES WRAPS VEGETARIAN DISHES 2 LOCATIONS: 3675 Gaylord Pkwy Suite 1105 • FriSco • tX (469) 980-7005 4438 Mckinney ave #100 • dallaS • tX (214) 521-3655 WWW.FRESHINDIANFOOD.COM T he growth of food truck busi- nesses in Dallas has long been stymied by regulation. High fees and the mere definition of who qualifies as a mobile food vendor created a high barrier to entry that hindered entrepreneurs. After years of flirting with ideas, on April 27 the Dallas City Council unanimously ap- proved significant changes to mobile food vendor codes. The new ordinance will cut fees for mo- bile food vendors, allow for food trailers (not just food trucks), expand food preparation options and will no longer require daily commissary visits. These specific changes were the result of a yearlong study and the MLK Food Park, a four-weekend pop-up incubator last sum- mer spearheaded by the nonprofit Better Block, which studies ways to foster growth in communities. After the event, the Better Block Mobile Food Vending Task Force worked closely with the city to compare notes. They also looked at what other cities, like Austin, were doing. Jason Boso was on the Better Block task force. A longtime local restauranteur and founder of The Truckyard, a food truck park on Lower Greenville, Boso says Dallas just got better with this decision. “In the years to come we will have better quality food and more diverse options of res- taurants when these future entrepreneurs rise to the top and start growing into their own brick and mortar establishments,” Boso said in an email. The barrier to entry in the former code primarily hinged on the fact that fifth-wheel trailers were not allowed to operate in Dal- las unless it was a special event, in which a $250 daily permit was required. Trailers, which are pulled by another vehicle, are much more affordable than food trucks. A prime example is 225 BBQ, which operates in Arlington. René Ramirez started his busi- ness with a $50,000 trailer outfitted with a commercial-grade kitchen. When he found out trailers weren’t allowed in Dallas, he priced a food truck: $140.000. So, he worked around Dallas, but never in it. Another issue amended was a require- 14 14 ment that mobile food vendors had to check into a commissary, a large commercial kitchen, daily. This made attending week- end-long events difficult. Now they only have to go once a week. Other changes include eliminating a code that prohibited the preparation of raw poul- try or seafood on a truck. Now we only need spaces for these now- free mobile food units to work. Currently, the only options are private spaces, where a percentage of profits are often handed over to the property owners. City staff is explor- ing a pilot program that creates “Food Truck Zones” at city parks and green spaces. So far, two spaces are scheduled to be tested this summer: Pacific Plaza downtown and Kiest Park in central Oak Cliff. The Dallas City Council has said in a year’s time they will review the effects of the ordinance changes. ▼ CLOSINGS SOUR CREAM SAUCE CHRONICLES news that Herrera’s Café on Sylvan Avenue planned to close later that day, Friday, April 22. After only a few seconds of discussion, we decided to skip breakfast and load up our two kids and make the 40-mile drive to ar- rive as soon as we could. Sadly, past experience taught us that the A “last days” at restaurants, breweries and the like often mean stocks and supplies run low, and we both hoped for our favorite orders, as well as the hot food on hotter plates, and fast, friendly service Herrera’s are known for. Having slipped into a booth or chair in at least a dozen Herrera’s locations over the past 25 years, I clearly consider myself a bit of a Herrera’s aficionado. And we were only mildly disappointed with our last meal’s substitutions — unlike one young man at the table next to us who sent back a plate after the kitchen substituted his protein of choice. While a trio of restaurants still cook up Amelia Herrera’s recipes, many considered the Sylvan location, whose owners had pre- viously hopscotched Maple Avenue in three locations, to be the closest with ties to the “original” Herrera’s first opened by Amelia Dallas agreed to update vendor codes. Taylor Adams Herrera. Others see a connection to the Denton Drive location she also opened, and the current spot in Addison. Amelia originally opened the nine-table Tex-Mex institution in 1971 on Maple Ave- nue in the cozy hole-in-the-wall now hous- ing The Grapevine Bar. Famously featured and photographed in National Geographic in 1984 with a gathering out front of eager din- ers, the national press only added to that original Herrera’s popularity, eventually leading to seven Herrera’s restaurants open at once. In total, in the 51 years since the first, 17 restaurant locations’ signage and menus carried the family name. Today, Herrera’s recipes seem written into A NOT-SO FINAL GOODBYE AT HERRERA’S CAFÉ. BY DANIEL RODRIQUE s we sipped our mugs of coffee Fri- day morning in Denton, my wife and I read the shocking-to-many the family’s DNA as her children, grandchil- dren and extended family carry on the family business. Even with the Sylvan location closed, three other Herrera’s continue the tradition. The southernmost and now oldest location, Herrera’s Oak Cliff on West Illinois Avenue, was opened by Jimmy Herrera, Amelia’s son, in 1983; Café Herrera at Restaurants on Lamar (housed at and operated by the Omni) is an up- scale version that opened in 2016; and the Her- rera’s Tex-Mex location on Beltline Road in Addison, which opened in 2019. Gil Bonifaz runs the Addison location, and he was instrumental in opening the Omni location. “When [Ameila] passed in January of 1998, her goal was to leave a restaurant to each of her kids, Maple to Mary Ontiveros, Larry’s mom, Denton Drive to Becky Mar- quez, Oak Cliff to Jimmy Herrera and Car- rolton to Mike Herrera,” Bonifaz says. Amelia Herrera’s grandson, Larry Ontive- ros, along with his wife, Nora Ontiveros, and family ran the second and third Maple loca- tions and then the final spot on Sylvan. Nora, who often greeted guests at the host stand, as she did on Friday’s busy lunch rush, told The Dallas Morning News high food costs and worker shortages since the pandemic steered the decision to shutter the location. When our family arrived at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, the scene at the restaurant was already chaotic and crowded as hungry, hopeful diners from all over North Texas descended upon the restaurant for a final meal. MAY 5–11, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | dallasobserver.com
