Tyrone Slack’s hot dog cart looks different from other food trucks — it’s built like an old upright piano.
“It’s an old-fashioned box hot dog stand, made out of wood,” he said, rapping his knuckles on the side of the stand.
Slack is conveniently located next to Alki Beach in West Seattle, close to the city’s commercial center but just a few blocks from a range of brick-and-mortar restaurants.
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The grill was heating up and about 50 different kinds of hot dog sauce were laid out on the table.
Slack had everything except the paperwork that was there.
Mobile food trucks like Slack have been popping up in Seattle parks and beaches this summer, and while they’re fun places to grab a bite, many of them are closed. With many of these trucks now closed, public health officials are reaching out to them.
Slack’s hot dog stand is one of about five vendors along the beach that doesn’t have any kind of health permit or business license.
However, the old wooden hot dog stand has a sink for hand washing.
“Keep your seat clean,” Slack said. “Keep your hands clean. You’re distributing food. You’re serving people, you know? People need to be aware of that.”
Food trucks like his are plentiful on the south end near Rainier Beach, along the waterfront and in Alki, usually under bright blue tents.
“I think we’ve seen a general increase as we’ve gotten into the post-COVID era,” said Greg McKnight, who oversees mobile food vendors for the Seattle-King County Public Health Department. “There are a lot of people out there trying to make a living.”
And it’s not just a Seattle issue, he said.
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In cities along the West Coast, an increasing number of people, primarily immigrants, are opening pop-up food stalls without permission.
“I was just at a national environmental health conference the other day and it seems like there are conferences happening all across the country right now,” McKnight said.
Vendors at Alki told KUOW there are several reasons why they don’t go through the process of legally opening a food stall.
The first reason is the process itself.
“Everyone sees the guys who set up tents as being intentionally bad,” says Mac Owen, who works at El Core Camino, a legal food truck near Tyrone Slack’s hot dog stand, “but if they went through the process themselves, getting permits and all that, they’d understand how much of a hassle it is.”
Some restaurant and food truck owners in Alki have complained that illegal vendors are blocking their spaces on the streets and selling similar food.
But Oung sees value in his non-permit colleagues, who he says bring diversity to the beach.
“When vendors like us and other tents aren’t here, [customers are] “They’re being forced to eat burgers and fries and fish,” he said. “Maybe they want something a little more civilized.”
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But incorporating some culture into local options comes at a cost, which is the next big hurdle for smaller vendors like Slack.
He said it costs about $1,500 to get any kind of permit, except for the permit, which must be renewed annually.
But from the health department’s perspective, there’s a reason people are jumping through so many hoops: Preventing the spread of foodborne illnesses is the health department’s top priority, McKnight said.
“We may be seen as a barrier, but the reality is, we don’t know if that person is going to the bathroom, how they’re going to wash fruit, or even if they don’t have the ability to wash their hands,” McKnight explained.
In June, seven unlicensed fruit stalls and other kiosks along Alki were shut down on the same day. At least six pop-up stalls were shut down across the county last month, with at least nine having been shut down so far in July.
McKnight said they try to educate dealers when these situations occur, and the county will show dealers how to apply for the proper paperwork. The health department provides informational pamphlets in multiple languages.
“I think we’re trying to get them to work with us in some way to make sure we have safe food,” McKnight said.
Tyrone Slack said as long as he keeps his hot dog stand clean, no one will be bothered.
He likes that he can set up anywhere along the beach since no permit is required, and he has no plans to get any paperwork.
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“That’s why you get a lot of impatient people along the way,” he said, tossing the first hot dog onto the grill, “They’re trying to fight the fight, they’re trying to eat the fight plate, they’re trying to make money.”
Last week, the health department hosted a presentation at Alki on how to properly apply for a permit, one of its first meetings to reach out to food vendors at Alki.
