Business & Tech

Downtown Naperville Food Carts Here to Stay - At Least for This Year

Permits extended for two food cart vendors, but city officials plan to review the program next year.

If you're looking to quickly crave late-night hunger in downtown Naperville, your taste buds are covered - at least for the rest of the year.

Naperville City Council extended the mobile vending permits for two food carts, John's Rib House and Joey's Red Hots, through the end of the year at Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

During its previous three meetings, the Downtown Advisory Committee discussed concerns over the food carts, including hours of operations and locations in the downtown area. On Tuesday, the city suspended bids for additional vendors and will revisit the program next year after gathering feedback from downtown businesses and customers. 

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In the meantime, John's Rib House and Joey's Hot Dog carts will continue operating in downtown Naperville for the year. 

John Singleton, owner of John's Rib House, told council members that the program could work if given a chance to succeed.

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"This is something new and i don't think we should give up on it," Singleton said. "We can work it out."

Councilman Joe McElroy agreed with Singleton saying that the program will take a while to get "fine-tuned." 

Councilman Paul Hinterlong echoed his support for the downtown food carts. 

"You know, the reason these guys came around is because the restaurants didn't want to cook anymore when it got too late," Hinterlong said Tuesday. "So it opened up a window for these guys, you know, good for them. They are filling that void."  

Patch recently posted a question originally posed by Councilman McElroy on Twitter about the topic of mobile vendors. More than 30 Patch readers responded on Facebook and said the downtown food carts should stay.

Great idea. Continue to provide "options" to anyone that wants to be in or around DT Naper. Brick and mortar restaurants can't prevent someone with the idea to have a hot dog stand from making a living as well. - David Julian

Keep the carts there, they add a unique feel to a downtown filled with chains. The food trucks are one of my favorite pieces of Austin, TX and the cart idea is the same. - Susan Spencer Patton 

Great idea and totally fair! Sometimes you want a quick inexpensive lunch, not an over-priced meal! - Alison Gister

Food carts are a great idea! There are not enough quick bite places downtown. - Diana Joyce Williams

When we were thinking of moving to Naperville we spent a weekend walking around downtown. One of the reasons we fell in love with the town was the hot dog carts. Plus the guy who owned it was the nicest most helpful guy." - Melissa Hanks Ketchel 

What's Your Take? Should Naperville Continue the Food Cart Program Next Year?


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