Food trucks are returning to the streets of Winnipeg, but on a smaller scale than in previous years

Food trucks are back on the streets of Winnipeg, but people may be seeing fewer options this summer.

Mickey stopped by Broadway Thursday afternoon and served up fan favorites for lunch.

“For the first time in probably 10 years (we're out the first week of April),” owner Dan Campbell said.

He said that in recent years it has been difficult to cope with the pandemic and road construction, food and gas prices.

“We keep to ourselves. Fortunately, there's not a lot of competition on Broadway. If there were five or ten trucks to go around all year, we'd all starve.”

It's a similar story for Goldie's Fries in the Exchange District.

“The weather was great. That's why we started early, but I'm very happy,” said Darryl Layman, owner of Goldie's Friesian.

While the city has a number of food truck options, Mickey and Goldie's is still one of the few stops on Winnipeg's roads.

“So far we have four permits for food transport. These are food trucks on city streets,” said Lisa Patterson, City of Winnipeg Operations and Facilities Manager.

“(I) don't know how many people are in surface lots or parking lots around town.”

The four permits are down from nine last year and about 25 permits before the pandemic.

“We were really busy before the pandemic, and since then the numbers seem to be decreasing.”

Leiman blames the city's high vendor fees and must pay more than $2,000 for a permit from April to October.

“It's ridiculous, you're charging us more money so there's no truck on the street,” Leyman said.

He wants the city to reassess the fees going forward. However, he continues to push forward.

“I still want to get up in the morning and go to work. I love all my customers and friends, and I still have energy, which is good.”