Late Night Gotcha for Food Vendors


On Saturday night Dapper Dog was doing what it has been doing for the better part of the year at 2nd and Poplar, feeding the masses. But this week shortly after midnight the hot dog cart was approached by police officers who told Dapper Dog they had to immediately stop vending as it is illegal to do so between midnight and 7am.

A quick scan of the Philadelphia code shows that late night vending is indeed prohibited.

(7) Prohibited Conduct. No vendor or person shall:
(l) engage in the business of vending between twelve midnight and seven A.M.

We contacted Dapper Dog’s Seth Russell today for more information. Russell says he has been vending across from the Standard Tap for close to the year without incident and “never heard any negative feedback from the community.” He sees that his success has brought other vendors to the area (most notably Jose Garces’ Guapos Tacos) and these vendors have raised community ire as they “simply showed up, even parking in no parking zones.” Russell says he’s working on a plan for this weekend but “sadly, our spot may have been ruined.”

We’ll be updating this latest chapter in Food Truck Woe as the week goes on.