After a few unexpected delays, Borinquen Lunch Box has tweeted that it has finally received its DC permits and will be serving on Monday!  I can’t wait to try their Puerto Rican cuisine! Virginia permits are currently being worked on as well.  More truck info can be found here.

The Eater DC website appeared to be the first to reveal that Chef Jose Andres was planning on opening up a food truck, though it was reportedly going to debut in Miami.  Well, the Washingtonian spotted today that Andres has a Craigslist ad seeking a cook for that food truck, named Pepe.  It looks like the truck may debut in Washington DC after all!

As promised by the Mayor, the proposed DC food truck regulations were released in today’s DC Register.  Here is a direct link to the full regulations (DOC format) and a link to the split up web version.

The Washington Post has a quick rundown of the most notable provision: establishing vending zones.

I’ll give a more detailed opinion once I’ve had some time to read it all!  Please note that these are proposed regulations and that there will be an opportunity for community feedback.

Not to be confused with St. Anthony of Padua, Anthony the Abbot is the patron saint of charcutiers (pork butchers) and also the patron saint of bacon.  January 17th was actually the feast day for St. Anthony, but BBQ Bus postponed the unveiling of its new sandwich until today: featuring smoked brisket, crispy bacon, house-made pickles, lettuce, tomato & a new Looosiana Hot BBQ Sauce #26.

It is only on the menu this week! They will be serving at State Dept. today (21st and Virginia Ave NW).

District Taco’s restaurant in Arlington, VA

This news was actually tweeted by District Taco on December 17th when I was out of town, so that is why I’m just calling it a recap.  District Taco is opening its first restaurant in the District at 1309 F St NW!  It should be ready in the Spring of 2012 – and I’ll be sure to get you some previews of the space as soon as I can.

District Taco has a roaming cart in Arlington, VA, named El Torito, and also a restaurant (DTHQ), at 5723 Lee Hwy, Arlington, VA.  So, if you only look for food in the District, you may not have come across DT yet.  Their tacos are delicious and it is one of the few mobile food providers that regularly serves breakfast.

Source: District Taco’s website showing the DC location as coming soon.

The photo that accompanied District Taco’s Twitter announcement (click it to see the original tweet):

–Post updated (3:30pm, 1/13/2012)–

UPDATE #3: Mayor Vince Gray just tweeted me directly to say the following: @foodtruckfiesta No new enforcement actions are planned,@DCDPW and @DCPoliceDept assure me. New regs are moving forward according to law.

UPDATE #2: Mike DeBonis, from the Washington Post, just got word from a senior aide to Mayor Vincent C. Gray that the new regulations will be published in the Jan. 20 edition of the D.C. Register.

Over the past week, District officials have been visiting food trucks and telling them that beginning on Jan 13, 2012, they will be ticketing food trucks that don’t have a line formed in front of them.  Specifically, if there is a lapse of more than 15 minutes between customers, the food truck will receive a $1000 fine!  UPDATE #1: I hate to report this, but the news is even worse.. District officials were allowing 15 minutes between customers, but starting tomorrow, they will have no time frame!  The fine is also set at $50, but escalates with every violation (so, I’m guessing that’s where the $1000 figure comes from).  This means that if MPD rolls up and sees a truck with no line, they are immediately fined $50 and told to pack things up and go home.  To add insult to injury, if a truck racks up 17 of these violations in one year, they can have their license revoked.

As you may know, DC food trucks are operating under decades-old ice cream truck regulations.  District Mayor, Vincent Gray (email: eom@dc.gov), has new unpublished regulations sitting on his desk that would bring DC’s laws up to date with the current times.  But, he is refusing to move forward with updating the food truck regulations, probably because he doesn’t want to ruffle the feathers of the restaurant association.  So, even though 1,000′s of us residents and food truck fans love the food trucks and want to allow them to operate freely, our elected officials continue to ignore us.

Dessert trucks are likely to be hit the hardest with this new enforcement tactic since desserts are already prepared and lines move extremely quickly.

Enforcement is expected to be seen tomorrow at DC’s Farragut Friday and other popular spots, like L’Enfant plaza.  So, if you see a lonely food truck without a line, why not walk over to have a chat with the owner so that you can reset that 15 minute time limit allow them to continue serving for the day?

Red Hook Lobster Pound adds another permit to its collection: Fairfax County!  They will be serving in Tysons Corner today (1/11/2012).  The lobster truck joins the elite club of being permitted in DC, Arlington, Montgomery County and Fairfax County.

Tapas Truck tweeted (their first tweet) that they expect to start serving in about 3 weeks! More info about the truck is on their page.

Thanks to David for the tip! Yes – this Arlington, VA food truck is named Hot People Food!  Their slogan? It’s pretty straight-forward: Hot People Eat Hot People Food.  They have a Yelp page that has some photos of the truck.  As you might expect it is an eye-catching design.  David reports that they were just handing out samples today in Rosslyn.  More info..

Barring any unexpected issues, Borinquen Lunch Box (serving delicious Puerto Rican cuisine) will be launching in DC mid-next week! More truck info can be found here.