Truck food park concepts have thrived for decades in cities like Portland, Seattle, and Austin, but they haven’t yet gained popularity in Colorado, but that may change. In February, Wheat Ridge hosted the MoonRise Garden Bar
Together, the three have remodeled a former gas station near West 38th Avenue into a food truck park. There, visitors can grab bites from Adobo’s food truck and up to 3 other restaurants while lounging by the fireplace in one of 10 pergolas (which can be booked online) surrounded by greenery installed as a component of the Renewal Wheat Ridge network revitalization initiative. There’s also a designated children’s play domain, and picnic tables feature carabiners for dog leashes, making the domain pet-friendly.
The bar has two sliding windows, one for cocktails and one for beer. The former serves beers on tap from local businesses like New Terrain and Station 26, while the latter offers drinks curated by Dylan Zarett, one of Baggao’s longtime collaborators who won the Bartender of the Year award at the Colorado Restaurant Association’s 2023 Industry Spotlight Awards.
Baggao says more food truck park concepts like MoonRise haven’t taken off in Colorado because unpredictable weather can make the style of business difficult, and risk-averse owners and investors are betting on local culinary marketers looking for unconventional concepts or service formats. Unlike food halls, classic truck parking lots rely on strong relationships between park owners and vendors to keep the experience fresh. That’s why Heller hired Baggao, an industry veteran whose resume includes managing the culinary program for events at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Folsom Field and launching a food truck. The event’s production company called Happy Belly Productions with the help of her friend Akasha Arnold and Amanda Stoecker.
Other food truck parks on the Front Range that have closed or evolved include Run Westy Run Beer Garden in Westminster, which operated for a few months in 2022 but has announced its return. Meanwhile, La Plaza Marketplace in Aurora has a few food trucks parked. on-site but no longer allows them to gather on a large scale in its parking lot. Instead, the market, which officially opened this spring, has several vendors inside.
But there are some successful models. Hank Grant and Justin Riley own Rayback Collective in Boulder and Improper City in the RiNo neighborhood, both of which also serve as net collection locations. The interior and exterior properties, where a rotating list of on-site food trucks are parked, inspire visitors to stick around. to enjoy features such as an all-day café, a community workspace, and occasions such as live music, quizzes, and live comedies.
Despite the 8 or so years of good luck so far at the Rayback Collective and the gratitude of its owners to the City of Boulder officials who accepted the possibility of the project, Grant says the permitting procedure is “awful. “It’s nobody’s fault. We just didn’t have compatibility at any of the polling places [in the city],” he says.
Seeking a full license to sell tavern liquor, live music approval, and access to food trucks, Rayback faced exclusive zoning headaches due to its location near a restaurant, a residential neighborhood, and directly adjacent to a motorcycle trail. “We had to go through the whole municipal procedure to ask the mayor and council for a variance and write a new law so that we can establish in our express zoning code that we can function and do that kind of thing,” Grant said.
In ÀriNo, Improper City had to deal with similar documents to convert a public alley into a personal area that would allow visitors to walk through the building to the site area. “Cities naturally need those kinds of cutting-edge concepts, but the code is rarely heavily written. embrace anything innovative or creative,” says Grant. If you don’t find advocates within the city or in the business network who are willing to take the risk, then I think it becomes a very difficult and uphill battle. “
Until recently, Danny Newman, owner of My Brother’s Bar, was stuck in limbo with his new project, Full Tank Food Park, in West Colfax. Full Tank debuted in collaboration with business wife Lily Walters, Sam Salomon, and Jason Haygarth of Moonflower Coffee. in November 2023 as a lounge, bar, and food truck park, but just a month after starting operations, it temporarily closed its doors due to zoning permit issues with the City of Denver.
However, in early May, Full Tank announced that internal plans to renovate the lounge and bar had been greenlit, so the status quo will close for structural reasons and reopen the café in the fall/winter of 2024. Newman says he will look for the proper outside permit for trucks once the reopening is complete. “We’ve been working intensively with other people [in the City of Denver] to outline what we want to do to make this a long-term success,” he says. “And they’re super cool, super open to it. I think they see the opportunity. “
Baggao sympathizes with anyone who struggles with permits, saying that despite his charming experience, his dealings beyond with Denver city officials have evolved much more slowly than his existing relationships in Wheat Ridge, primarily because of Denver’s relatively older business population. At the time, Baggao recalls, the demands were relayed to state officials and remained in limbo for weeks. At other times, he had to juggle 10 email chains, several visits to City Hall, and consultations with city officials to get their approvals. all while managing your existing businesses. ” It’s like going to the gym, after going to the gym, and then trying to get your staff to be more productive after their third visit,” he laughs.
Despite the challenges, Baggao believes the parks are a way to boost the food truck network here in Colorado through softer monetary measures. After years of participating in festivals, farmers’ markets, and network events, he believes some places are predatory in setting rental rates and keeping a percentage of vendors’ sales.
While some venues require food truck owners to pay up to 20% of their daily sales to operate on-site, MoonRise charges around 10%. In return, MoonRise coordinates and promotes the program, not to mention the park itself, which charges around $250,000. “If I could do it for free, I would,” Baggao says. We’re opening the doors to the food truck community and that’s what I’m most proud of. “
In addition to parking its own Adobo truck at MoonRise, Baggao is recruiting from a network of more than 50 local vendors that will be advertised weekly. “I don’t want to just fill the calendar. ” We’ll never do that. “”I’m going to tell stories about some of the best marketers I’ve ever met. I know their families, I know how hard they work, and I know how hard it is to do it.
Moonrise Garden Bar
Customer Services: 1-866-271-5280
Phone: 303-832-5280