A new food truck pod open by summer on this major Boise street? ‘Sounds awesome’
If all goes according to mouthwatering plan, Idahoans will flock to a new food truck pod on one of the capital city’s busiest streets by summer.
You’ve probably driven past the small property zillions of times. If you’re like me, though, you’ve never consciously noticed it.
Located between an alley and Kibrom’s Ethiopian & Eritrean Restaurant, the .13-acre lot at 3508 W. State St. is filled with vehicles in various states of disrepair. It’s used for month-to-month auto storage. An eyesore, one might call it.
Boise real estate agent Suzanne Hanrahan listed the property about a year ago; it’s owned by her husband, Matt Hanrahan. But with no deal on the horizon, she plans to take it off the market.
“I would like to repurpose it,” Suzanne Hanrahan explained in a permit request filed with the city of Boise, “to serve the community better.”
The concept? Four on-site food trucks — rotating, probably monthly. If possible, a permanent shipping container selling beer and wine, too. A couple of portable toilets. Picnic tables. A little corn hole area.
C’mon, Boise. Let’s make this thing a reality.
“All the reaction I’ve had so far has been, ‘Go for it. It sounds awesome,’ “ Suzanne Hanrahan said in a phone interview. “ ‘We need something fun like that in that neighborhood, in that area.’ ”
The City of Trees has lots of tasty food trucks, but not many actual destinations for them. The major one that comes to mind? Green Acres Food Truck Park, a grassy, seasonal hangout that will open along the Boise River behind Payette Brewing in spring.
Hanrahan’s still-unnamed food truck court would be near 36th Street across from Veterans Memorial Park. That’s where a new disc golf course is being installed (by mid- to late summer, last I checked).
Those feel like magical forces working in synergy.
Hanrahan envisions her food truck pod as year-round. “I would like to give it a shot and just see how it does,” she said.
Four years ago, a permanent food truck park called Cart Life was planned down the road at 4191 W. State St. It was the site of a former Tates Rents (now 1 Source Portable Air). But the project fizzled out.
With the property owner’s spouse masterminding this pod, it might have better odds. “My husband’s all for it,” Hanrahan said. “He’s like, ‘Hey, you have this idea. I think it’s great.’ ”
Appetites whetted, let’s hope Boise city officials feel the same way.
