One of the main reasons we’ve heard that the City of Decatur has hesitated to jump to the cutting edge of the food truck craze in the past year is the potential impact on existing brick-and-mortar restaurants and other food businesses already set up in the city.  So, I suppose it’s little surprise that in Atlanta, where food trucking has become easier recently thanks to the lifting of some restrictions, there’s been a bit of backlash from local restauranteurs.

The AJC reports this morning…

But in some cases, the trucks have brought controversy along with gelato, tamales, Venezuelan corn cakes and char-grilled hot dogs. They have lower overhead than restaurants and — some restaurateurs suspect — tenuous allegiances to particular neighborhoods and their existing businesses. In a tough restaurant market, is that an unfair advantage?

“My main issue is, how are they helping the community?” said Coggin, who noted that his restaurant is hit up for charitable donations every week and wonders if food trucks are also asked. “Are they just making a buck and leaving? It’s like poaching.”

The “Art Stroll” in Castleberry Hill became the focus of the food truck debate earlier this year when the trucks got a special exemption from Atlanta to park in a public area.

And while I’ve come down on both sides of this argument in our time discussing it, the more I read about it and see real examples of its impact, the more respectful I am of the complexity of the situation.

Nate sends along this photo of Duck’s Comic Kitchen’s snazzy new food truck, “Wonderlicious on Wheels”.

According to a short Patch post yesterday, the truck will spend Monday in the East Decatur parking lot before hitting the road and heading into Atlanta this coming week to appease the food truck-crazed masses.  It will be selling everything from Duck’s donuts to veggie burgers, according to the blurb.

This food truck trend continues to gain steam around Atlanta while Decatur sits at the sidelines, unusually silent in the wake of another coming food/beverage storm.

We may feel like we can wait forever to “figure out” how food trucks fit into the Decatur food chain, but it seems to me like there are many parallels to farmer’s markets here.  Basically, if you don’t plant your stake early and show that you can draw the crowds, before you know it, we’ll be hearing a food truck version of “Well, a lot of the best farmer’s go to Morningside on Saturday morning.”

Will food trucks hurt brick-and-mortar retail business in a small city like ours?  I don’t know the answer to that.  But let’s have an open discussion about it now – restaurant owners, residents, retailers, etc – , so that if we decide, “No, it will most likely complement retail.”, we will have an actual shot of attracting the best food trucks to our city on a daily/weekly basis.

From the AJC’s recent article about Atlanta food carts and the obstacles they face around the metro…

And while free-standing restaurants such Taqueria de Sol operate food trucks of their own, most truck operators have been careful not to tread on the turf of dining establishments, Smith said.

Lyn Menne, Decatur’s assistant city manager for community and economic development, said that has been one of her concerns as the DeKalb County city weighs whether food trucks would be an asset in the commercial district.

“We don’t want to create businesses that compete with our existing restaurants,” Menne said. “We also have very limited spaces where these could actually park.”

In related news, John Kessler reports that Fulton County shut down both El Burro Pollo and Atlanta Fry Guy food trucks in Poncey-Highlands on Saturday for preparing their food on the street.  King of Pops was not closed down (because his food isn’t prepared on-site).

My one-and-only food cart pic from my trip to Portland, OR last summer