Greg Mikos, owner of Cargo Pizza, at the Cutter Street Food Truck Park on Mnjoy Hill Today.

Vy Banh Mi Food Truck Has been in the Food Truck Park Since April 15, 2024 When the Park Opened for the 2024 Season.

Mr. Tuna Food Truack at the Cutter Street Parking Lot Today Serves Two Hungry Park Visitors.

Greg Mihos, Owner of Cargo Pizza, returned to the Food Truck Park off Cutter Street on Munjoy Hill today for the first time since last year.  “Business has been slow so far,” he admitted..  “We’ve had a few customers, but we need warmer weather to draw them.  When the kids get out of school, we’ll be much busier.”  A  playground on the Eastern Promenade has always been a major magnet for parents and their young children.

Earlier this year, the city of Portland asked Greg if he wanted to reapply to occupy one of the coveted spaces at the Cutter Street lot.  “Yes,” he said without hesitation.  The Cutter Street Food Truck Park was formed three years ago and Cargo Pizza was one of the original renters of the spaces there.

Mihos will not be in the Cutter Street Park tomorrow, Saturday, April 27, because of a private event at Bowdoin College that he is catering.  But he will be at the Park on Sunday.  “Pizza is an equalizer.  Everyone loves pizza,” he said.

The food trucks that were lined along the Eastern Promenade were so popular that neighbors in the area objected to them three years ago.  Easern Prom residents cited lack of parking for area residents, poor trash removal and similar incoveniences as justifications for the ban on Food Trucks on the Eastern Promenade.

In a last minute memorandum to the city council that did not inform the food truck owners of the change, City Manager Danielle West informed it of the dramatic changes coming for the operation of the very popular food trucks – without their input.  A move to the Cutter Street Parking Lot and a reduction of the number of Trucks allowed to participate was a dramatic change for all parties..

The Food Trucks off Cutter Street reputation for excellence is so far reaching that it even reached the pages of the current issue of YANKEE magaine.  The blurb said in part:  “……..in warm weather hungry crowds head to the Eastern Promenade whose views of Casco Bay are the backdrop for some of the city’s best food trucks.”

There has been no response from the city’s spokeswoman from this blogger asking multiple questions about the basic rules in place this year for the Food Truck Park off Cutter Street participants.   Questions such as how many spaces are available this year, what is the fee the city charges for food truck licenses this year, what is the length of the seasonal rental at the Park this year, who are the Trucks who will be at that location, etc.   Transparency is not a virtue of the city of Portland,  Last year, the fee for food trucks’ participation at the Park wss $3,000.  Is it the same this year, or has that been jacked up like everything else?

For more background information on the controversy that dominated local news, please visit posts herein dated May 14, 2023 and April 2, 2022.