Food truck fever expands with new downtown venue

Fresno’s food truck scene is growing once again. A new venue called Fresno Streatz has opened up in a downtown parking lot.

The South Stadium location on Van Ness Avenue near Inyo Street used to be the parking lot for a thrift store. Now, it’s the spot for four local food trucks that gather every Tuesday. The Smokin Burrito, Latin Urban Bistro, WTF Where’s the Food and Burgers and More Co. are the trucks; more will be added as the venue grows, said Aaronn Hansen, owner of the Smokin Burrito and one of the Fresno Streatz organizers.

“I really want to create a venue that will be an everyday thing that can serve breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Hansen said. “Other cities like San Francisco have that and I think we can do it too.”

Hansen said that for now, the four trucks will be available on Tuesday afternoons. But starting Tuesday, he will be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. also serving breakfast burritos, French toast and other breakfast items.

“I’ve been getting a lot of feedback from people about wanting someplace to go for breakfast so we will try it and see how it goes,” Hansen said.

Hansen said he wants to make the venue family oriented and plans to partner with local schools for fundraisers.

If the public embraces the concept, Hansen said he may expand Fresno Streatz into the building next door with additional food options and seating.

“We have some really good ideas, it just depends on what the city lets us do,” he said.

Fresno Streatz joins several other food truck venues, including Gazebo Gardens at Van Ness and Shields avenues Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; CartHop on Mariposa Plaza Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Eatin’ on Eaton in the Eaton Plaza near the downtown library Fridays from 11 a.m to 2 p.m.; and weekends at Enzo’s Table, on the southeast corner of Shepherd and Willow avenues, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Food truck fever expands with new downtown venue."