Food Truck Operators Rally at City Hall

The owners of Tacos Almita hold signs during an April 30 demonstration at Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Sophie Bolich.

More than a dozen food truck operators and their supporters gathered at Milwaukee City Hall Thursday morning to put the brakes on new late-night restrictions they said would “devastate” business.

Attendees carried signs with messages such as “food trucks cause no harm” and “save the food trucks,” opposing a new ordinance slashing hours for mobile restaurants in sections of downtown and Burnham Park.

Starting May 9, trucks on Water Street and surrounding blocks will have to close by 10 p.m., down from the previous 1 a.m. cutoff. On a stretch of Burnham Street, operators must close by 11 p.m.

The change, supported by the Milwaukee Police Department, Milwaukee Downtown, Business Improvement District No. 21, and the Milwaukee School of Engineering, is intended to address late-night loitering and violence in the downtown entertainment district, according to city officials. But operators took issue with both the restrictions and how they were introduced.

“They didn’t inform us about this,” said Abdallah Ismail, owner of The Fatty Patty, who, like many fellow operators, was unaware of the ordinance until it had already passed. “This will hurt me a lot. I just want to tell the city that I’m here. They have to give us a chance to speak.”

Ismail said his downtown truck makes the majority of its revenue between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., a claim echoed by several other operators at Thursday’s demonstration.

“It’s devastating,” said Dave Sluss, who often parks his hot dog cart, Dave’s Dawgs, near Fiserv Forum. “I have lines at 1 a.m. — I mean, we’re turning people away. At 10 p.m., I can only imagine. I get a lot of concertgoers, but at that time, most shows aren’t even over yet.”

Demonstrators also said the measure blames food trucks for issues they didn’t cause. “The bottom line is, it’s not our fault,” Sluss said.

“If you’re saying people are rowdy, are they intoxicated? Because that has nothing to do with the food trucks,” said Kelly Keefe, who attended the event as a supporter. “You’re prohibiting the food trucks, not the people who sell the alcohol.”

While brick-and-mortar businesses, including taverns, can face consequences ranging from warning letters to license revocation for issues on the premises, the approach differs from the new food truck rules, which impose uniform restrictions across designated areas.

“We pay taxes, we pay all the fees, we respect the rules of the health department,” Ismail said. “We’re not against the city. We just want to help stop the violence, but not by closing the business. There’s definitely another solution.”

Though restrictions at Burnham Park are less severe, operators still have concerns. Micaela Antunez, owner of Taqueria La Brazita, said she was informed of the proposed change by email on April 7. She and her team oppose the restrictions but said they attended the demonstration mainly to support downtown operators.

“It does affect us, because our sales increase up to 70% at night,” Antunez said, noting she has not personally observed violence or disorder requiring police involvement from her spot on Burnham Street.

Attendees emphasized that their intention wasn’t to cause disruptions at City Hall, but rather to start a dialogue.

“I just think it’s unfair for small businesses,” Keefe said. “It’s unfair to do to minority businesses and to not at least bring everybody to the table to warn them ahead of time.”

Alderman Robert Bauman sponsored the ordinance responsible for the shift. It passed the Milwaukee Common Council in a unanimous vote April 21 and was signed by Mayor Cavalier Johnson the following day.

After speaking to the press in the rotunda, attendees moved to a committee room on the building’s third floor, where the Public Safety and Health Committee was scheduled to meet at 9 a.m.

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