Mobile Chowdown: Too much of a good thing?

What happens when eight of Seattle’s popular mobile food servers join forces with the help of one of the city’s major print publications? Apparently, more than anyone bargained for.

Judging from the Tweets that were coming out of Saturday’s Mobile Chowdown, which took place in a nondescript parking lot in Interbay, no one really expected to get anywhere near the traffic that showed up.

mobilechowdown Outta food. Too many peeps. Sorry if u waited and didn’t get anything. Guess we need more more more.

That message was sent around 2 p.m. By the time I arrived around 1 p.m., some stands had already run out of some types of food, lines were 100-people deep and no one seemed entirely sure what lines went with which vendors. Realizing that several of the vendors frequent my neighborhood, I figured that we’d be better off trying another time. I’m guessing I wasn’t alone.

(As QueenAnneView reported, at least one vendor — Maximus / Minimus — seemed prepared for big crowds and brought an electronic device that allowed them to take orders from customers before they got to the head of the line. But even that wasn’t enough to keep them from having one of the longest lines, which I suppose says a lot about their popularity.)

Calling this event an unqualified success seems like a stretch.  Saying it has a future, though, seems perfectly reasonable.

Some of Mobile Chowdown’s problems could be fixed by simply making sure more food is available (and perhaps it’s the only problem worth addressing, but hang with me). The less-easier-to-fix problem is the lines and confusion that went along with them. Assuming the event only gets more popular, allowing the vendors to do business as usual is not going to do anything for people who aren’t interested in waiting an hour for food — probably mostly new customers who provide the greatest opportunity to expand their clientele.

The people at Mobile Chowdown, via Twitter, floated the idea of charging admission to future events. At least one commenter called that idea “anti-street food.”

The commenter seems to have a valid point: When people eat street food they aren’t expecting to pay an upfront cost. Of course, they also aren’t expecting to stand in hour-long lines. On the same token, charging admission brings in a whole different set of variables, not the least of which are increased initial costs. What was an informal gathering suddenly morphs into something that requires ticket sales, registration and serious promotion. What you’ve got is a full-blown food festival.

And who’s to say the vendors, or organizers, even want this kind of event. Participating in a fun, few-strings attached event like this was probably seen more as an opportunity to mingle with their fellow street-food vendors and customers, than it was about increasing their visibility.

Maybe the vendors, and most of the customers, like it the way it is — a little sloppy, but ultimately satisfying.

For these purposes, let’s just assume the people involved aren’t interested in making this a full-blown food festival, but are also interested in making the experience as accessible and inviting as reasonably possible.

Not that anyone asked, but here’s my suggestion on how to hopefully limit prep time, cut down on lines, keep the street-food feel and allow the event to grow.

• I’m a big fan of the tapas-bar concept, and I think that mindset would go a long way toward making this a more accessible event without taking away its character. As anyone who’s visited a tapas bar will tell you, the most basic aspect is that every item is no bigger than a few bites. Customers are encouraged to try lots of different things without having to fully commit to one dish.
• Instead of serving food from the “carts,” set up tables in front. The key to this would be limiting the scope of the menu — have each vendor pick two or three items they want to serve — and have them waiting for customers. Sure, this might require some extra manpower and planning, but so many more people will be able to get served that it should easily pay for itself. If crowds are anything like they were on Saturday, nothing will be getting cold — or warm — either.
• The limited menu should also lend itself to scaled-down pricing, limiting the various change scenarios and quickening lines. To further speed the process, make sure signs that read “exact change is greatly appreciated” are clearly visible. Maybe something along those lines could even be the slogan (I’m assuming people would get the joke).

I had previously kicked around ideas with the aim of eliminating vendors having to deal with money — more specifically change — but none of them seemed quite right. I thought about suggesting that vendors sell punch cards that had 10 holes worth $1 each. The cards would be bought either from vendors beforehand or at the event itself. Figuring out how to fairly compensate vendors posed a problem I couldn’t entirely wrap my head around. I also felt as though taking the money out of the equation might change the personality of the event too much, and discourage the kind of spontaneity that drew people in to begin with.

It’s clear to me that Seattlites are interested in supporting street-food vendors, and an event like this is optimized by encouraging people to sample from multiple carts. For a first-time event, I think the organizers of Mobile Chowdown have plenty of cause to feel good about themselves. Despite the lines, I have to admit I didn’t hear a lot of people complaining, either.

Moving forward, the key will be Mobile Chowdown’s ability to differentiate itself from the plethora of farmer’s markets and food festivals that already compete for foodie dollars. With a few tweaks, I don’t see why that shouldn’t be possible.

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