Linda Falkenstein
Prices are creeping up at food carts.
With the easing of COVID-19 and the prospect of workers returning to offices, we might be seeing more food carts downtown. There is no deadline to apply for a Mall-Concourse vending license this year, says street vending coordinator Meghan Blake-Horst, although the season officially starts April 15. The vending fee is back, after being waived in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
Blake-Horst says that she is starting to get requests from carts to be placed on the Square, which is a sign that “things are coming back.” She is concerned that staffing shortages might keep carts that also run a brick-and-mortar restaurant shuttered.
Blake-Horst is hearing concerns from some vendors about food and fuel cost increases. Two carts out already on Library Mall, Hibachi Hut and Bulgogi Korean Tacos, have raised their prices. At both, entrees are now $11-$12, compared to about $8-$9 pre-pandemic.
UW-Madison sophomore Ryan Guest, waiting in line at Hibachi Hut, says he noticed the cart raised its prices last fall and then again after winter break. The price increase wasn’t deterring him from eating at the carts, though, which he does about once a week.
Tradition
Homecoming, the farm-to-table restaurant in Spring Green, has been staging month-long popup themed dinners. This March, the theme is “Family Traditions,” featuring southern cuisine from owner Kyle Beach and chef Chance Spivey on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights 4-8 p.m. and Sunday brunch from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Menu items might include smoked chicken, beef, pork or portobello mushroom, pickled shrimp, Appalachian fry bread with pimento cheese spread, country fried steak, mac ’n cheese, buttermilk cucumber salad, collard greens and pie.
Opening
Jacknife, a fast-casual concept from Red founders Jack Yip and Tanya Zhykharevich, is on track to open on March 14. It will serve homemade dumplings, sushi rolls, and bowls including poke and salads, at 1050 East Washington Ave. in the new Arden building.
