Food trucks sizzle during power outages in Sonoma County

With power outages scheduled across Northern California, including Sonoma County, residents are scrambling to figure out what to do with their food. Many restaurants throughout the county will be closed, leaving hungry people searching for their next meal. Thankfully, due to their reliance on propane tanks and generators to operate, many food trucks will be unaffected by the shut-offs. Some may even see a surge in business.

Sonoma is one of the areas who has been most affected by the power outages, with almost all of the town losing power. One of those businesses, Picazo Cafe, sprung into action when the news of PG&E outages was released. According to employee Denia Candela, the staff used a generator from their food truck to keep their refrigerators in the cafe running, ensuring that food would stay cool and at the necessary temperature.

Although they had to close their two restaurant locations, Picazo Cafe and Picazo Kitchen & Bar, they were able to use their catering food truck to continue operations on Wednesday. With some quick thinking, staff will be serving up warm meals from their food truck, which will be parked at their 19100 Arnold Drive location in Sonoma.

“We have enough gas to keep us open until 8 p.m. today,” said Candela. They plan to purchase more gas and try to keep the truck open throughout the outages. “We will do our best to serve people through our food truck,” she said. “And we are waiting graciously to open our restaurant and bar again for our customers.”

Another business that jumped on the opportunity during the power outages is Sonoma Eats Real Mex, which will be serving al pastor, carne asada and chicken tacos hot off the grill, said the owner, Efraín Balmes.

"Everything is closed. Nobody has electricity in Sonoma, there are no restaurants open. We will serving tacos and enchiladas until we run out, I think we will be busy until 10 pm or so," he said. They will be operating out of the Barking Dog Roasters parking lot, located at 18133 CA-12. 

In order to get his truck ready for customers, Balmes had to drive to a gas station in Petaluma, because "there is nothing open in Sonoma".

Food trucks in Santa Rosa have currently not been affected by power outages. According to Armando Coronel, owner of El Coronel Mexican restaurant and taco trucks, the business hasn’t had to make any changes to prepare for the outages, but he did note that there were more customers than usual. His businesses will remain open through the shut-offs.

Some food trucks may close in the event of a power outage. Betty, a worker at Super Taco on Sebastopol Road said that if they do experience a power outage, the truck may close. For the moment, they will also remain open to feed customers.

For those left in the dark in search of some lunch or dinner, food trucks may be a sizzling option. Here is a brief list of open trucks:

Picazo Cafe Food Truck

19100 Arnold Drive in Sonoma

707-931-4377

Sonoma Eats Real Mexican Food

18133 CA-12 in Sonoma

(Barking Dog Roasters parking lot)

707-623-6317

El Roy's Taco Truck

760 Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa

707-843-2166

Delicias Elenita

816 Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa

707-575-7021

Super Taco

1758 Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa

707-694-9427

El Coronel Taco Truck 

1015 Gravenstein Hwy in Sebastopol

707-321-6490

Lucha Sabina 

665 Sebastopol Road in Santa Rosa

707-393-8370

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Reach La Prensa Sonoma’s Editor Ricardo Ibarra at 707-526-8501 or email ricardo.ibarra@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ricardibarra.

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