More food carts coming to Bend’s west side

The west side of Bend already has several lots where visitors can grab a meal from food carts, and if local developer Mikel Lomsky’s plans come to fruition, another will be available in 2017.

Lomsky is moving forward with plans to develop a food cart lot on NW Arizona Avenue that can accommodate up to seven carts. Lomsky said the new lot could be finished by spring, if everything goes according to plan.

“When the sun’s shining, it would be nice for people to be able to walk over and get lunch,” he said.

According to plans filed with the city of Bend, the lot, located on the north side of NW Arizona between NW Staats Street and NW Lava Road, will be home to seven food carts that will encircle around 20 uncovered seats for patrons. Lomsky, who said he was inspired by street food in Mexico and Southeast Asia, said the goal was to be fairly bare bones, which he said would reduce operational costs for carts.

“It’s really a way to give the tenant flexibility,” he said.

Lomsky, who owns the lot, said lease rates will be “competitive” with the other rates for food carts in the area, though he declined to give specifics.

While The Lot, a covered, heated space on NW Columbia Street that hosts five food carts, gets a lot of the attention around mobile food in Bend, the corridor between downtown Bend and the Old Mill District has slowly developed into a hub in its own right.

Several businesses in the area host standalone food carts, and Atlas Cider Co. hosted three food trucks near its tasting room at the Box Factory, on SW Industrial Way, for around a year.

However, Atlas Cider Co. owner Dan McCoy said only one, The Curry Shack, remains following a dispute with the city. Spoken Moto, a motorcycle shop on SW Industrial Way that also sells coffee, beer and wine, started hosting food carts on its enclosed patio space earlier this year, according to co-owner Brian Gingerich.

“We always intended to have some form of food service,” he said.

Today, three food carts lease space from Spoken Moto. Gingerich added that the building Spoken Moto operates in, like many of the renovated factory buildings in that area, was never intended to accommodate food preparation. Food carts, he said, are an effective way to circumvent those limitations while still providing food.

McCoy added that having a mix of food carts within walking distance is a boon for Atlas Cider Co., as it gives groups of visitors the opportunity to try radically different types of food in one location.

“It really is the quintessential small business,” McCoy said of food carts.

Lomsky said he anticipates a lot of walk-up traffic from people who live and work in the area, particularly as the neighborhood continues to develop. The city of Bend designated the area between downtown and the Old Mill District west of U.S. Highway 97 as one of nine opportunity areas. The area has already seen chain stores like MOD Pizza and Market of Choice move into the neighborhood in the past 12 months.

“The area has a very unique feel,” Lomsky said. “It’s very eclectic.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com