Ryan Brennecke / The BulletinDavid Staley, owner of The Lot, a food-cart pod at Northwest Columbia Street and Northwest Hartford Avenue, said the venue will remain open throughout the winter. A heated seating area and fire pit warm diners, who may choose food from several vendors.

At The Lot on Northwest Columbia Street, hungry customers can find a plethora of flavors at five food carts — all within feet of each other.

Cuisine varies from locally sourced grilled cheese sandwiches at Real Food Street Bistro to brioche French toast at The Brown Owl.

That variety is what The Lot owner, David Staley, thinks will make his business a success.

“People come with a group of friends, and they don’t have to agree on what kind of food they want to eat,” he said. “Everybody can get something different. I think that’s really the draw that is bringing people here.”

Staley opened The Lot in mid-August after spending more than a year designing, obtaining the necessary permits and constructing the food-cart-pod facility.

“Really, what I was passionate about was designing the space, thinking through all the details of how this all had to come together,” he said. “It was very stressful because during that entire time I didn’t know if it was actually going to happen.

“It’s hard when there’s no guarantee and you have to put in all the effort and all the expense upfront before you know if it’s ever going to pay off.”

More than $100,000 of Staley’s savings went into the project, to pay for work on the road and curbs around the lot, installation of a common seating area that includes heated benches, a fire pit and a beer station.

Being the first food-cart pod in Bend, Staley said, made gaining city approval a “rigorous process.”

However, he said, the changes ultimately made his project better.

“It would have been easy for the city to say no,” he said. “It was very forward looking of them to see food carts were part of Bend’s culture.”

On average, Staley said, a couple hundred people have visited The Lot daily since it opened.

On Friday, Bend resident Dan Reisch ordered a breakfast burrito from The Brown Owl. Reisch lives near The Lot and eats there about once a week.

“I kinda try most of them. My favorite is the Thai place,” he said, referring to the different carts as he was waiting for his burrito. “I think it’s just the convenience thing for me. It’s really easy.”

And while business has slowed recently with the colder weather, Staley and food-cart owners expect business to pick up again when Mt. Bachelor ski area opens, bringing customers bundled in winter apparel.

Staley has also put up two clear plastic walls to block the wind, and a fifth heater was expected to be installed Friday.

The Lot is currently at capacity with five food carts. Staley said he regularly receives calls from other interested food-cart owners. Each food-cart owner on The Lot pays Staley $600 a month.

“I don’t take any of their sales at all,” he said. “They pay that monthly rent, and they run their own business.”

In addition to owning the land, he said, he runs the beer business himself to generate additional revenue.

“A lot of these other carts did a bunch of lunch business,” he said. “But now that we have beer here and available it’s drawn a lot more of a dinner crowd, which I think has really helped their sales, too.”

Despite the competition, Staley said food-cart owners at The Lot tell him they are still doing better in the pod than they would be on their own.

Lisandro Ramon, owner of The Brown Owl food cart, agreed.

“I like the camaraderie of everybody,” he said. “Everyone tries to push each other’s businesses … And it helps having 16 beers on tap.”

Ramon said he got his trailer in June and operated downtown, but had to pack in and pack out every day, which took about two hours. So when the opportunity came to join the pod, he said, he jumped on it.

“We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without Dave’s lot, and he wouldn’t be able to do this without us,” he said. “We all feed off each other.”

—Reporter: 541-617-7818,

rrees@bendbulletin.com