Abbot Kinney “First Fridays” – now a Truck Stop?

December 5, 2009 at 5:56 am in Events, Food & Drink, Uncategorized, West Side

On the first Friday evening of every month, the retailers on Abbot Kinney in Venice host “First Fridays”. The idea is for patrons to stroll along the sidewalks with a glass of wine, chat it up with strangers, and patronize the businesses.

I have gone a few times now and last night I was in shock. I didn’t do an official count, but there had to have been at least 20 Food Trucks lining both sides of the boulevard and even a makeup truck! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the gourmet LA Food Trucks and eat at them often, but I saw more people checking out the trucks and lining up for food than actually walking into the stores which were pretty empty. I can also imagine being a store owner and cringing as someone with a greasy samosa or dripping philly cheese steak came into my store and started fingering my wares.

The street wasn’t very crowded now that we are past the tourist season, so I wonder if the trucks are more of a draw than the businesses, which is a good thing if it’s just getting people to the event.

I’d love to hear what others that go to the event think and especially Abbot Kinney retailers.

5 Comments »

jimmy james

on any fri/sat night there is at least 4-5 trucks in front on the brig, and some down towards the other room. i assume this is good biz for the trucks since the closet thing to “drunk” food would be la cabana or abbotts pizza. so you would catch all the yuppie/DB’s coming out of brig/hals/OR/fish/stronghold.

i assume it is a one hand washes the other, since having the trucks prolly brings some people there, and then they end up walking past and might stop in, or see a shop that they didnt know was there before.
http://twitter.com/tara Tara Tiger Brown

Jimmy James – hand washing! Someone should walk around handing out their free samples of hand cleaners/sanitizers. At least then the food smears won’t get all over the clothes and artwork. :D
Matt Mason

I often pass through Abbott Kinney on Friday evenings on my way back from SM, yesterday included, and am amazed at the truck stop it has become. It seems like the number of food (and makeup?!!) trucks that park there just keeps multiplying.
carrie

17 food trucks on Abbot Kinney on our Holiday night. No parking for our customers. Store fronts who spent time decorating their windows were blocked by food trucks. Crowded lines on sidewalks for food trucks prevented shoppers from getting to store entrances. Mine was blocked for two hours, no shoppers, until truck was forced to move. Had to have police involved. Not fun. Not festive. Would be nice if one hand washed the other, but simply not the case. Many store and restaurant owners are very upset about last night. We created a successful event with First Friday and it was over run with food trucks.
http://www.yovenice.com/2009/12/06/nouveau-food-truck-regulations-needed-in-venice/ “Nouveau” Food Truck Regulations Needed in Venice | Yo! Venice!

[...] Metblogs posted up on this issue too, and common sense says if an issue makes two “more or less” non judgmental [...]

Abbot Kinney “First Fridays” – now a Truck Stop?

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