Why doesn’t Tacoma have food pods? New ‘corral’ wants to change the game

Every few months on local Reddit forums, in the comment sections of Instagram posts, and at kitchen tables around town (or so I imagine), an enterprising Tacoman asks, “Why aren’t there food pods here?”

The answer is a frustrating mix of bureaucratic red tape, city-by-city and county-by-county codes, health department regulations and the challenges every small food business faces, from managing volatile and seemingly ever-increasing costs to finding and keeping customers.

One local property owner wants to move that needle. He wouldn’t be the first to try, but I hope he can be the first to succeed.

The 6th Ave Food Truck Corral opened this fall at 4409 6th Ave. So far, three trucks have rented a space to set up shop, serving several days a week: Buddy’s Chicken and Waffles, Lumpia Love and Taqueria El Nopalito.

Since Albert Frank bought the 9,000-square-foot patch of pavement in 2022, it has played host to a Christmas tree lot and a storage site for a used-car business. Years ago, said the retired Tacoma firefighter and city resident of more than 30 years, there was a European market in a building that burned down, but the infrastructure of electric and sewer remains. Might it be beneficial to the community without becoming another development?

It’s located in a high-traffic area, in a dense residential neighborhood near a park (Jefferson) and a taproom that allows outside food (Beer Star, which recently welcomed The Chicken Supply, known for Filipino fried chicken and fun sides like coconut collards). Frank had already upgraded the electrical hookup to a higher wattage and installed a nice, sturdy fence.

What does Tacoma need?

“I really like the city. I really like the idea of food trucks,” he said in a November phone call. “I am not a foodie by any stretch of the imagination, but food-truck food is something I can wrap my head around.”

Plus, he said, “Everybody wants it.”

The owners of Little India Express and R.J.’s Burgers at Freighthouse opened a similar food truck pod, called Pind Kohala, in Puyallup earlier this year. Raj Singh and Rajinder Kaur told The News Tribune they were inspired by the setups in California and Oregon.

Food trucks always looking for a place to park

Beyond the aforementioned consumer questions, some food truck owners are looking for a way to settle their routines. The hustle of finding a spot to park (which, in many cities, can only be sanctioned by the owner of a private parking lot or through a special-event permit) and the unknown of customer traffic can be exhausting. Tacoma, for example, has only pre-approved seven specific locations where food trucks can park on city streets, at select times, without a permit.

“It is nice to not have to drive all over town,” said Lynette Boado. Her truck hit the road in 2023, but her business, Lumpia Love, has been a face of Filipino food in Tacoma since entering the farmers market circuit in 2013. “Every time you go to a new place, it’s like: anxiety.”

You have to arrive early, determine where exactly to park, who’s in charge, where’s the bathroom — and then you still don’t know if people are going to show up, or even know you’re there, she said. Lumpia Love uses Street Food Finder, an app and website where food trucks can update their schedules and even accept online orders for pickup. That connection helps, but people are creatures of habit. Some customers just want to know: Where are you located, and when are you open?

Buddy Brown, who opened his brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Lincoln District in 2024, saw a food truck as an alternate route to expansion — not necessarily cheaper than another restaurant but maybe more versatile, capable of reaching different audiences, he said at the corral on Nov. 12. Since acquiring the truck earlier this year, he has been sharing his anticipated location for the day on Instagram, but consistency can attract regulars in a way that moving around might not.

“I like the stability of one spot,” he said.

The Sixth Ave address is also close enough to the original Buddy’s (about a 15-minute drive) to be convenient for Brown and his staff, but far enough apart that new customers have found him at the corral. One customer, he said, had hopped over from Gig Harbor after previously hesitating to make the trip to Lincoln.

El Nopalito owners, Jose Sanchez and Jobita Barragan, had parked at South 56th Street and Orchard in University Place for a few months, but they were limited in how many times they could renew the permit to stay there, they said. They connected with Frank and now operate seven days a week at the corral. (I recommend the homemade gordita or sope with carnitas. Daily 2-5 p.m., select dishes are buy-one-get-one and chicken or pork tacos are just $1.99 each.)

While the trucks have been spreading word of their new digs with their own social-media followers, Frank set up a sandwich-board sign, a “grand opening” banner and a couple of flags to draw attention to the corral. He also gave it an official name and launched a website with a phone number and email, plus links to each business page.

He hopes to attract more trucks, likely a mix of some daily parkers and others that rotate, schedule-dependent. In conversations with interested vendors, he told The News Tribune, some have seemed weary to relinquish their reliable roving routines, however tiring, for a permanent address with unknown results.

“They have one foot in something that’s working,” he said. “To make that jump to something else would certainly be tough and nerve-wracking.”

In time, he hopes the initial trio’s leap of faith will pay off — both for the small businesses and the community.

“You need that synergy of multiple vendors,” he said, noting that early feedback from customers has been largely positive. “That’s what we’re working on. I think it’s gonna take some time. I’m willing to put the time in.”

What’s hindering food pods in Tacoma?

As Frank has navigated the process of getting the corral off the ground, he has learned the web of reasons why Tacoma and Pierce County don’t have food pods, parks or food-truck culture more broadly that have earned cities like Portland, Austin and Los Angeles reputations as trusted incubators of unique, upstart restaurants in outdoor settings.

In Tacoma, past efforts to arrange food-truck destinations seemed to have focused on downtown, where office crowds would ostensibly provide mobile restaurants with a built-in audience hungry for more lunch choices. See: Market Street from 9th to 11th in 2015, five curbside test areas in 2016, Tollefson Plaza in 2022. In addition to bemoaning lost parking spots, trucks have faced discontent from brick-and-mortar restaurants — rightfully or not — concerned about slicing into their sales.

On the food-safety and public-health side of the argument, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has two requirements for mobile units that have restricted food-truck growth.

First, trucks must return to their commissary kitchen each day, which is why we don’t often see trucks in a permanent type of setup. (Burger Seoul ran into trouble for that a few years ago at the original trailer on South 19th Street.)

Second, although not unusual, truck employees must have access to a restroom wherever the truck parks for service, which is why we often see trucks parked regularly outside a convenience store or gas station. To offer seating next to a truck, or in this case at the corral, customers must also have access to a public restroom within 500 feet. Another business could satisfy the requirement, but neighbors tend to be reticent to accept that responsibility — and in some cases, the purported competition in a tough-nosed, slim-margin industry.

“We’re trying to be conscious of that and be good neighbors,” said Frank.

He has vowed to not enlist a pizza truck, for instance, to accommodate neighbor Tacoma Pie, or Hawaiian for Da Tiki Hut one block west. (Buddy’s, which exclusively fries buttermilk-brined and freshly breaded tenders, differs from the gluten-free wings and thighs at The Chicken Supply. Even Brown admits that he often enjoys bone-in chicken from restaurants specializing in the style.)

Frank hasn’t solved the bathroom conundrum.

The City of Tacoma, he said, has so far declined to approve a “luxury restroom trailer,” which you might have experienced at a fancy outdoor wedding or concert VIP area. Equipped with tanks that can be removed and refilled, they have running water and the trailer itself is lifted off the ground. The city has said the restroom must have a foundation, he said.

So, for the moment, there is no seating at the 6th Ave Food Truck Corral, but you can pop over to Beer Star, pick something up to carry home, or as I am wont to do, eat in the car in between errands.

“I envision people from a two-mile radius getting something for lunch, getting something for dinner and then taking it home, or during the summer at Jefferson Park,” said Frank. “I really love Tacoma, and Tacoma has been my home for 30-something years. It’s one of those things that I would really like. I have a chance to move something like that forward.”

6th Ave Food Truck Corral

• 4409 6th Ave., Tacoma, 253-370-8168, 6thavefoodtruckcorral.com
• Lot Hours: Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Lumpia Love: Wednesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-7 p.m, lumpialovestore.com
• Buddy’s Chicken & Waffles: Wednesday-Saturday 12-6 p.m. instagram.com/buddyschickenandwaffles
• Taqueria El Nopalito: daily 11 a.m.-8 p.m., instagram.com/el_nopqlito

Reporter’s Note: Food truck hours may vary. Check their Instagram pages for weekly updates.

This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 5:00 AM.