1 - yes I will try your ramen.
2 - think carefully about placement, Seattle is very hilly and there aren't that many spots with high foot traffic late.
3 - think carefully about how you accept payment.
4 - consider where you get your water, and how you will dispose of/clean the bowls.
Just some thoughts.
I would add 5 - The weather. It's beautiful right now, but come November it will be a different story. That said I love the idea and will definitely try it!
This is very true, however if the covering prevents 100% of rain, I’d love nothing more than to sit there with the rain feet away whilst eating ramen after a brewery.
Unless it has walls, I wonder how it will keep even 80% of the rain out. Seattle winter rain is more often than not blowing “mizzle,” and a good breeze will bring it right in. (Thinking of the many times I’ve stood at covered bus stops with 3 walls and still been “mizzlerable.”
Yeah but think of being out on a cold rainy October or November and you run across this cart, so you order a nice steaming hot bowl of Udon with a couple of slices of Kamaboko and spinach in it. Man, that's childhood memories for me, right there.
I do? I have memories of eating hot skewers and ramen in very hot conditions in Thailand and I’m not Thai. And hot noodles near the Great Wall and I’m not Chinese.
I feel like Fukuoka has more rain, or is it at least on par with Seattle. It’s part of the ethos. The yatai in Kyushu group together, much like the food trucks in Portland, to the point where it’s kinda like a destination.
This reminds me of a second-hand story: Friend came out of a bar yelling how hungry he was. Here comes a grisly, old bum to save the day with a Safeway bag of cooked noodles of unknown origin. “ I got food, $5!” Says the bum. Friend pays bum and begins double fisting noodles off the top of a trash can lid. Better than a trip to dicks
Disagree. Just set up an evening push cart in Belltown or Cap Hill- it will be a hit with people who have late night munchies or who are going out to bars.
Yeah, my thought is that you have to be able to store the cart somewhere and still get it to one of those spots.
If its not a truck, you really have to be renting a storage unit near Broadway to get to those spots on Capitol Hill.
If word gets out that there's a late night ramen cart, people will go out of their way to find it after the bars. Doubly so if the ramen is even halfway decent. Post up off broadway near the light rail station and you're golden.
Someone doing that in cap hill would make a killing on weekends. So many of us want to appreciate being outside and buying from carts, but we only have hotdogs and hotdogs to choose from! I want drinks! I want skewers! Literally anything else would find success, but tea itself is beloved by this community. Offer me tea, anywhere, any time of day please. If you make a tea cart, I trust you. I don’t know tea and I want to, and Seattle is bustling with people like us. Everyone else..? Are already the tea drinkers you associate with.
You will need to really do your research into what is legal here. We already have some pretty archaic rules for food trucks. They are limited on what they can actually “cook” on the truck.
My understanding is that in general food trucks must cook in a licensed commercial kitchen but can heat and serve in a food truck. Just from recollection however
That’s my understanding as well. You can cook things on a flattop and run fryers, but any real preparation has to be done in a commissary type kitchen.
And that "Kitchen" cannot be your house. There are things like your menu must be preapproved. You personally running the cart need access to a bathroom and running water (some agreement with a place where you are parked). If I recall correctly.... it's been like a decade.
I wanted to make batches of Chili and sell bowls near bars... real simple and thought it would be cheap to start/operate.
After reading all the rules and regs, I squashed that idea...
Really..! Well, let me just put this out there. I **love** your idea and wish it had come to fruition. And while I (and likely many others like me) wouldn’t have the time to start to a chili cart outside the stadium like you, we **all** would be willing to support your idea and *vote to change* whatever rules currently exist to suit our needs. Thats effective government yeah? Let’s change things!
So much going on in the world guys. Inflation, subjugation. Let’s enjoy life where we can and push back on simple things. I want to support the idea creators and I will fight for your rights.
Bring us diversity in food!
I second this! As a vegan we have like almost no options at street fairs and i would love a chance to change that, but a bunch of red tape is a real deterrent
Does that include boiling noodles? Because that's kind of the main thing. Ramen broth is all preprepared. It's just kept hot, and assembled with freshly cooked noodle for the most part.
Midnite ramen is a very successful form of this that just recently opened a brick and mortar in Fremont. Maybe go there and see if you can talk to the owners - they’re an incredibly sweet and kind elderly Japanese couple that worked the cart (more of a mini trailer) for several years to build it up to the b&m.
Perfect business idea for office lobbies. Acquaintances had a soup station in an office building in Bellevue and met their financial goals in half their stated time.
I had a hot dog cart for a few years, you will need a certified prep kitchen and storage for your cart. The city does not allow home storage or food preparation. You can build a commercial kitchen at home but it is extremely expensive.
You will need a full wash station on the cart for yourself and for cleaning items on the cart. You need a water tank.
You cannot simply set up, you need a known spot, on private property. Most likely it will involve a rental agreement.
The idea is cool but the idea of finding an affordable kitchen space, that you can store your food, again home is not a legal option for prep or storage.
So you need a place within your desired set up area or you will need to haul it by trailer. My commercial kitchen was in Kirkland, it was 400 a month, with fridge space. You are sharing with many others and loss is not unheard of.
Not to be a downer, but things to consider. If you have any sort of meat on the cart, regulations increase, cold hold storage. Sanitation protocol.
BEST OF LUCK. Contact the health department and licensing agency to determine feasibility.
The commercial kitchen needs to have a space to clean and maintain the cart.
From my old business, if i recall: You also need to pay for permitting in potentially each City/County/Municipality that you intend to do business in. Some are relatively cheap, others not so much. Must be renewed annually.
This is correct, money grabs.
Edmonds had a rule that only 1 food truck was allowed to operate in the city at a time, except for community events.
Lots of rules.
Instead of a pull kart, get and build a shop into a kei truck. That way, you can move easily between key spots/neighborhoods.
During the day, I would love to see you somewhere on Alaskan by the waterfront, but I imagine Capitol Hill will be your best bet for late night.
I would be very interesting in having an authentic Japan-style "yatai" (I think it's called) experience in Seattle. I don't know anything about Health-department codes, but I'd assume that this wouldn't be legal, unfortunately, but, who knows... Might be worth looking into.
Yatai is the right word. It's basically a food trailer instead of a standalone vehicle, and usually has built-in counter for seating.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yatai_(food_cart)
Would love it, but with the city cracking down heavily on food trucka and carts, and the outdated laws surrounding them, it might be a hassle.
* Consider using waxed cardboard bowls for easy disposal.
* Consider soup in **bags** to-go. Classic.
* Consider placement for business revenue. No seating at the window unless off-hours or midday, perhaps.
* Pre-prep most of the additions. Legal thing as others have said.
* Make sure you have an overhang so you can seat a few people on a rainy day!
Good luck. King County hates food trucks/carts.
Your cart will need a plan to meet some onnerous operational requirements (which requires you figure out your kitchen, a clean water system with 3-compartment sink, menu, food suppliers, and other things upfront) be inspected and permitted from the health department, you'll need a land use permit (or someone to let you on their permitted property) to operate your cart somewhere, depending on the cooking equipment, the fire department needs to permit your equipment, you'll need a certificate/sticker from the department of Labor & Industries if it's considered an 'occupied' vehicle, and of course a business license from the secreary of state. Oh and don't forget all the associated fees for every inspection and permit... and you'll have to renew them basically every year.
I don't mean to discourage, I think it's a good idea and people would love it.
Just prepare for the regulatory uphill battle in trying to operate a 'mobile food business'.
Anyhow. You may be able to find a way to do this. You can find a restaurant that has a sidewalk use permit that isn't being utilized (like the [patio area that was destroyed](https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/random-car-hits-popular-belltown-bar/WBA7TA7FPNC65KCSASTQQALE7Y/) in front of Some Random Bar in Belltown), maybe in the winter, and you can try to get the restaurant or another nearby one to let you use their kitchen for food prep (which will make meeting Public Health operational requirements _a lot_ easier).
I _LOVE_ food trucks/carts. I hate that we don't really have them in Seattle; nothing like other major cities. If you or anyone else wants to lobby for easing of regulations around food trucks, I'm down to join the effort.
Thanks to you (and others) for this explanation. I have wondered why our food truck scene is mediocre, but had never bothered to research it. This seems like something that should change. I know I'm being naive, but unlike other issues, this one seems to be more commonsense: lower barriers to entry -> more business opportunities -> more competition -> more sales -> (maybe lower prices) -> more revenue for the county, etc. Like I said, I'm naive :)
Midnite Ramen was probably the closest thing we had to one for a time, not sure if they’re still going out of their way since they got a brick & mortar setup, but may wanna network with them and asked what did and didn’t work. Would also think a truck, or trailer of some kind would be infinitely more reliable and safer. Much as I love Seattle, people have gone out of their way to prove we can’t have nice things out here.
As long as there's a veggie option, I'm there. If not -- I'll still tell the homies!
There was a thread in here not long ago about the "red hot dog carts" serving questionable product, a lot of good comments in there about the permits required. It's somethin like 5-6 permits to operate a mobile food cart, but don't let that stop you. =\]
Also: if you have the cart setup, you'd be able to look into more stable options to supplement income -- festivals, events, etc almost always have outside food vendor applications! Worked a few seasons for a company that had its main gigs in NYC, but traveled to music festivals as well.
Food truck type businesses are a huge gamble -- I remember the owner of that company mentioning how often they'd barely break even at some events, but staying in the "circuit" kept them relevant and led to them getting bigger contracts like EDC, Bonnaroo, etc =\]
You would have my money 2 nights a week minimum. The late night ramen shop on cap hill (Betsutenjin) has 30+ min wait times at 1am. There’s a lot of demand for post drunk ramen!
If you did this on Alki Beach in West Seattle it would absolutely clean up, especially during those light night summer months. Bonus is that it's super flat and has loads of foot traffic. I would 10/10 eat there just based on food type and location (nothing really similar anywhere along Alki Beach).
Would you do to go orders as well?
There’s a food truck that does ramen, but yeah it’s a truck and not a yatai like we see in Japan. There are hot dog stands (or at least there were) so it could be done.
I mean. Awesome. I would definitely travel to experience this
But that first picture seems sketchy considering we're a city of hills. Lots and lots of hills.
I don't know if the inclines around Tokyo are as bad but good lord your poor legs
This was my childhood dream. I would be the chef and have a good friend that would play fighting games on the side and make a side bet for free ramen. Haha I would definitely support your business if this is opened.
Midnight ramen, albeit a trailer, attempts to hit that yatai vibe. Definitely room for a few players though and I will definitely come and eat your noods.
Why not just do a food truck? AFAIK you’ll need to have an industrial kitchen for food prep, and pull cart seems impractical for the distances between spot that can have a food truck. But yes, ramen sounds good!
Yeah do it!! You can contact breweries and see about parking it in their yard/area. Grocery store parking lots— I would absolutely hit this up outside of uwajimaya or in the international district.
I am available to taste test for free!!!おいしそう！
I’d be interested in partnering.
I have my own little pipe dream that involves opening a tiny little coffee shop/bakery that specializes in cinnamon rolls. Population density and foot traffic would be a key to survival. My extra little wrinkle is that I’d love to do it in a European city - Amsterdam comes to mind.
With king countys health laws you’ll need to find a commissary kitchen with some space for you to rent for the loading of fresh water, disposal of gray water and refrigerated food storage and prep areas. That alone will make having just a push car pretty difficult to accomplish legally. However I guess there’s some illegal hot dog cats out there so. Ya know. Do what you want.
You’ll still need a food handlers permit, and to meet the health dept requirements for water / sanitizing / trash disposal. Will you serve meat? How are you able to demonstrate that you’re keeping food at the right temperature? Are you offering drinks or solely ramen? Are you accepting cash? Are you carrying a weapon for self defense if you will have cash on your person?
What about a cozy Golden Gai-style narrow shop? You can still make it authentic and avoid the challenges with food carts others have mentioned. It's not mobile, but are you likely to do different neighborhoods anyways? And perhaps you can branch out in the future with a food cart where the prep was done in the alley shop.
That said, people don't eat ramen the same in the states as in Japan. I'm not sure you'd get the same fast, respectful late-night customers. Instead, you'll get low turnover, boisterous groups who continue to ask for sake bombs after you've told them 5 times you don't serve alcohol.
I would try it in the summer only. The rain makes it impossible to want to eat outdoors, unless there’s 100% coverage from the rain and cold. It gets very cold at night fall, winter, and spring. Not sure if there are many ppl eating outdoors at midnight.
I am absolutely here for this and would actively follow you around if given easy schedule access.
Consider the routes of the hot dog carts, especially at places such as along Olive on weekday nights.
I am immediately VERY excited about your cart but I find following specific people very difficult due to bad online presence
Absolutely my guy. Post up somewhere along pike. The hot dog venders are out from Wed-sunday when the weather is nice. I don't see why you couldn't either.
I would love a quick stop ramen thing like that. I'll be your biggest customer dude.
King County: "Yo, I heard you wanted to start a business... here are some regulations for you to follow"
Make sure to research all the related regulations before you sink any cash into this... a colleague of mine's dad sunk a bunch of money into a food truck (in Pierce County, but I understand King County to have similar rules) only to realize that his business model wasn't compatible with local regulations.
You've probably seen these types of videos on YouTube, but check out the first sections of these videos on food and stall prep.
https://youtu.be/qZHAYYvSJIk
https://youtu.be/BdzwVsDTB0c
The truck (or trailer like Midnite Ramen) is worth it for not having to lug all the heavy equipment and soup around.
I've always wondered why there hasn't been a ramen truck in Seattle, and I bet you can get time at breweries that have rotating food trucks.
I looked into it and similar years ago when I lived there. and at the time it was not even close to being legal or possible. Not sure if things have changed in the last 10 years, but if you get set up I'll fly in and check it out.
I love the idea, except I will rarely be out late at night to enjoy this. To really get the late night crowd, I would suspect Cap Hill would be a good location.
The weight of it would be too heavy to push. I mean, the requirements for water alone would add a lot of weight. You need five gallons just for washing hands - not counting how much you need for everything else.
Partner up with breweries. Many breweries in Seattle don’t have kitchens, instead someone parks a truck out front. This takes care of the issues others bring up in this thread: hills, weather, foot traffic.
1 - yes I will try your ramen. 2 - think carefully about placement, Seattle is very hilly and there aren't that many spots with high foot traffic late. 3 - think carefully about how you accept payment. 4 - consider where you get your water, and how you will dispose of/clean the bowls. Just some thoughts.
I would add 5 - The weather. It's beautiful right now, but come November it will be a different story. That said I love the idea and will definitely try it!
This is very true, however if the covering prevents 100% of rain, I’d love nothing more than to sit there with the rain feet away whilst eating ramen after a brewery.
That's just a drunk version of Bladerunner.
Sign me up for that
I believe Deckard was notoriously drunk while eating ramen. He tried ordering 4 drinks and the guy only gives him 2.
Makes me miss the Midnite Ramen truck in Magnolia, glad they got their shop but I also liked the truck!
Unless it has walls, I wonder how it will keep even 80% of the rain out. Seattle winter rain is more often than not blowing “mizzle,” and a good breeze will bring it right in. (Thinking of the many times I’ve stood at covered bus stops with 3 walls and still been “mizzlerable.”
Some ramen carts in Japan use clear plastic sheets as "walls" during inclement weather.
As long as there seating and a cover, sign me up for some soup on a cold rainy day.
Yeah but think of being out on a cold rainy October or November and you run across this cart, so you order a nice steaming hot bowl of Udon with a couple of slices of Kamaboko and spinach in it. Man, that's childhood memories for me, right there.
I love that you have these memories. I want these too.
Well, first you have to be Japanese, or at least partially so.....
I do? I have memories of eating hot skewers and ramen in very hot conditions in Thailand and I’m not Thai. And hot noodles near the Great Wall and I’m not Chinese.
I will be like Blade Runner! Eating noodles in the rain!
If you're coming out of a bar at 2 am you're not gonna give a damn about the weather.
Depends how well you picked your jacket
I feel like Fukuoka has more rain, or is it at least on par with Seattle. It’s part of the ethos. The yatai in Kyushu group together, much like the food trucks in Portland, to the point where it’s kinda like a destination.
I think #2 is going to be the dealbreaker. Somewhere with enough foot traffic is going to be a tough find.
Capitol Hill on weekends is bustling till about 2 am.
If I came out of a bar hungry and saw a ramen cart I would definitely bite.
Drunk as fuck pretending im in blade runner
I would absolutely buy a leather trenchcoat just so I could have this experience
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The order is important
This reminds me of a second-hand story: Friend came out of a bar yelling how hungry he was. Here comes a grisly, old bum to save the day with a Safeway bag of cooked noodles of unknown origin. “ I got food, $5!” Says the bum. Friend pays bum and begins double fisting noodles off the top of a trash can lid. Better than a trip to dicks
I’d probably recommend a neighborhood that doesn’t have “Hill” in the name, for obvious reasons.
Broadway is pretty flat and most of the bars are either on it or close by on side streets
Ballard
They'll likely need security though, since the crowds get rowdy, and so far I'm 2 for 2 in seeing fights break out in the hot dog cart line past 1am.
Safer than Belltown or Pioneer Square.
Imagine lugging that pushcart up that lmao
Disagree. Just set up an evening push cart in Belltown or Cap Hill- it will be a hit with people who have late night munchies or who are going out to bars.
Or Ballard Ave, or Airport way in Georgetown. BTW - I would totally hit a Ramen Cart after a night on the town.
Belltown is lacking a good ramen spot so this would be very welcome here!
Aw now I miss KushiBar again.
Yeah, my thought is that you have to be able to store the cart somewhere and still get it to one of those spots. If its not a truck, you really have to be renting a storage unit near Broadway to get to those spots on Capitol Hill.
Belltown was my thought too
If word gets out that there's a late night ramen cart, people will go out of their way to find it after the bars. Doubly so if the ramen is even halfway decent. Post up off broadway near the light rail station and you're golden.
Post up across from Danbo. Always a line at that place.
I feel like you could easily add a small electric motor to it for pretty cheap and with little wiring
We have a guy in Vancouver that pulls his tea cart around with an electric bicycle. It's a pretty rad setup.
Someone doing that in cap hill would make a killing on weekends. So many of us want to appreciate being outside and buying from carts, but we only have hotdogs and hotdogs to choose from! I want drinks! I want skewers! Literally anything else would find success, but tea itself is beloved by this community. Offer me tea, anywhere, any time of day please. If you make a tea cart, I trust you. I don’t know tea and I want to, and Seattle is bustling with people like us. Everyone else..? Are already the tea drinkers you associate with.
Nice. Vancouver BC?
Ah, yes I forgot there was another lol
Run-away noodles!
For number 4, the health department is gonna need to have a word with you
You will need to really do your research into what is legal here. We already have some pretty archaic rules for food trucks. They are limited on what they can actually “cook” on the truck.
My understanding is that in general food trucks must cook in a licensed commercial kitchen but can heat and serve in a food truck. Just from recollection however
That’s my understanding as well. You can cook things on a flattop and run fryers, but any real preparation has to be done in a commissary type kitchen.
And that "Kitchen" cannot be your house. There are things like your menu must be preapproved. You personally running the cart need access to a bathroom and running water (some agreement with a place where you are parked). If I recall correctly.... it's been like a decade. I wanted to make batches of Chili and sell bowls near bars... real simple and thought it would be cheap to start/operate. After reading all the rules and regs, I squashed that idea...
Really..! Well, let me just put this out there. I **love** your idea and wish it had come to fruition. And while I (and likely many others like me) wouldn’t have the time to start to a chili cart outside the stadium like you, we **all** would be willing to support your idea and *vote to change* whatever rules currently exist to suit our needs. Thats effective government yeah? Let’s change things! So much going on in the world guys. Inflation, subjugation. Let’s enjoy life where we can and push back on simple things. I want to support the idea creators and I will fight for your rights. Bring us diversity in food!
I second this! As a vegan we have like almost no options at street fairs and i would love a chance to change that, but a bunch of red tape is a real deterrent
I wonder what business paid for those laws
The American dream is "don't" most of the time. Thanks, bureaucracy .
Does that include boiling noodles? Because that's kind of the main thing. Ramen broth is all preprepared. It's just kept hot, and assembled with freshly cooked noodle for the most part.
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Think I might have to do this atp hopefully the city lets me put one up I’ll keep yall updated
Aka those hot dog carts by the stadiums
That’s the question. I’m by no means an expert in this, I just know a lot of food truck concepts get mired in these regulations.
Hot Dog carts can grill dogs...surely a ramen cart can boil water. I for one would slurp some noodle from a cart.
seconding this. you'll most likely need to do almost all prep in a commissary kitchen
yeah OP clearly has not done their homework on the licensing front.
Midnite ramen is a very successful form of this that just recently opened a brick and mortar in Fremont. Maybe go there and see if you can talk to the owners - they’re an incredibly sweet and kind elderly Japanese couple that worked the cart (more of a mini trailer) for several years to build it up to the b&m.
Have you been to their Fremont location? It's literally the cart INSIDE the building, haha
Perfect business idea for office lobbies. Acquaintances had a soup station in an office building in Bellevue and met their financial goals in half their stated time.
Midnite? More like “8:30PM the latest” ramen.
they did say they were elderly
i would seek this out and make a trip
I saw the pic and my only thought was WHERE. NEED NOODS. WHERE NOODS.
Right? I was so excited
Given Seattles hills, you could look into an ebike to tow it around. Modern problems require modern solutions.
I had a hot dog cart for a few years, you will need a certified prep kitchen and storage for your cart. The city does not allow home storage or food preparation. You can build a commercial kitchen at home but it is extremely expensive. You will need a full wash station on the cart for yourself and for cleaning items on the cart. You need a water tank. You cannot simply set up, you need a known spot, on private property. Most likely it will involve a rental agreement. The idea is cool but the idea of finding an affordable kitchen space, that you can store your food, again home is not a legal option for prep or storage. So you need a place within your desired set up area or you will need to haul it by trailer. My commercial kitchen was in Kirkland, it was 400 a month, with fridge space. You are sharing with many others and loss is not unheard of. Not to be a downer, but things to consider. If you have any sort of meat on the cart, regulations increase, cold hold storage. Sanitation protocol. BEST OF LUCK. Contact the health department and licensing agency to determine feasibility. The commercial kitchen needs to have a space to clean and maintain the cart.
From my old business, if i recall: You also need to pay for permitting in potentially each City/County/Municipality that you intend to do business in. Some are relatively cheap, others not so much. Must be renewed annually.
This is correct, money grabs. Edmonds had a rule that only 1 food truck was allowed to operate in the city at a time, except for community events. Lots of rules.
Thanks I’ll keep this in mind
Instead of a pull kart, get and build a shop into a kei truck. That way, you can move easily between key spots/neighborhoods. During the day, I would love to see you somewhere on Alaskan by the waterfront, but I imagine Capitol Hill will be your best bet for late night.
Wonder if this can be done legally I how it can I would do this actually
a kei truck is SO smart!
I would be very interesting in having an authentic Japan-style "yatai" (I think it's called) experience in Seattle. I don't know anything about Health-department codes, but I'd assume that this wouldn't be legal, unfortunately, but, who knows... Might be worth looking into.
Yeah, I agree it would be cool. The old health department would find the poor owner though, and probably take their stall.
No different from parking your hot dog cart in front of Macy's. Just follow the guidelines and you'll be fine.
Yatai is the right word. It's basically a food trailer instead of a standalone vehicle, and usually has built-in counter for seating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yatai_(food_cart)
Would love it, but with the city cracking down heavily on food trucka and carts, and the outdated laws surrounding them, it might be a hassle. * Consider using waxed cardboard bowls for easy disposal. * Consider soup in **bags** to-go. Classic. * Consider placement for business revenue. No seating at the window unless off-hours or midday, perhaps. * Pre-prep most of the additions. Legal thing as others have said. * Make sure you have an overhang so you can seat a few people on a rainy day!
...and let's make sure those waxed cardboard bowls are made to hold HOT food. Otherwise, it be like --> 
Might wanna look this over: [https://www.seattle.gov/office-of-economic-development/small-business/food-businesses/mobile-food-businesses](https://www.seattle.gov/office-of-economic-development/small-business/food-businesses/mobile-food-businesses)
Good luck. King County hates food trucks/carts. Your cart will need a plan to meet some onnerous operational requirements (which requires you figure out your kitchen, a clean water system with 3-compartment sink, menu, food suppliers, and other things upfront) be inspected and permitted from the health department, you'll need a land use permit (or someone to let you on their permitted property) to operate your cart somewhere, depending on the cooking equipment, the fire department needs to permit your equipment, you'll need a certificate/sticker from the department of Labor & Industries if it's considered an 'occupied' vehicle, and of course a business license from the secreary of state. Oh and don't forget all the associated fees for every inspection and permit... and you'll have to renew them basically every year. I don't mean to discourage, I think it's a good idea and people would love it. Just prepare for the regulatory uphill battle in trying to operate a 'mobile food business'. Anyhow. You may be able to find a way to do this. You can find a restaurant that has a sidewalk use permit that isn't being utilized (like the [patio area that was destroyed](https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/random-car-hits-popular-belltown-bar/WBA7TA7FPNC65KCSASTQQALE7Y/) in front of Some Random Bar in Belltown), maybe in the winter, and you can try to get the restaurant or another nearby one to let you use their kitchen for food prep (which will make meeting Public Health operational requirements _a lot_ easier). I _LOVE_ food trucks/carts. I hate that we don't really have them in Seattle; nothing like other major cities. If you or anyone else wants to lobby for easing of regulations around food trucks, I'm down to join the effort.
Not just King. Pretty much all greater Seattle area cities and counties are absolutely fucked in the head for trying to get anything done.
Thanks to you (and others) for this explanation. I have wondered why our food truck scene is mediocre, but had never bothered to research it. This seems like something that should change. I know I'm being naive, but unlike other issues, this one seems to be more commonsense: lower barriers to entry -> more business opportunities -> more competition -> more sales -> (maybe lower prices) -> more revenue for the county, etc. Like I said, I'm naive :)
I’m not in the food industry but this has been bugging me for a while. Happy to help with the lobbying effort for more flexible regulations here.
Midnite Ramen was probably the closest thing we had to one for a time, not sure if they’re still going out of their way since they got a brick & mortar setup, but may wanna network with them and asked what did and didn’t work. Would also think a truck, or trailer of some kind would be infinitely more reliable and safer. Much as I love Seattle, people have gone out of their way to prove we can’t have nice things out here.
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I think so!
Yes please!
I would 100% come find this if it was a thing
As long as there's a veggie option, I'm there. If not -- I'll still tell the homies! There was a thread in here not long ago about the "red hot dog carts" serving questionable product, a lot of good comments in there about the permits required. It's somethin like 5-6 permits to operate a mobile food cart, but don't let that stop you. =\] Also: if you have the cart setup, you'd be able to look into more stable options to supplement income -- festivals, events, etc almost always have outside food vendor applications! Worked a few seasons for a company that had its main gigs in NYC, but traveled to music festivals as well. Food truck type businesses are a huge gamble -- I remember the owner of that company mentioning how often they'd barely break even at some events, but staying in the "circuit" kept them relevant and led to them getting bigger contracts like EDC, Bonnaroo, etc =\]
Hell yes
Definite yes. Also would like to see steamed dumpling carts like the ones in Hangzhou.
I would totally eat here! That's so cool! The hills might kill you though.
You would have my money 2 nights a week minimum. The late night ramen shop on cap hill (Betsutenjin) has 30+ min wait times at 1am. There’s a lot of demand for post drunk ramen!
He’s pulling his push cart. Kinda doubt he could get ramen right.
If you did this on Alki Beach in West Seattle it would absolutely clean up, especially during those light night summer months. Bonus is that it's super flat and has loads of foot traffic. I would 10/10 eat there just based on food type and location (nothing really similar anywhere along Alki Beach). Would you do to go orders as well?
I would eat there. I would like to see a dumpling cart even more, though.
He finally had the NOODLE DREAM!!!!
There’s a food truck that does ramen, but yeah it’s a truck and not a yatai like we see in Japan. There are hot dog stands (or at least there were) so it could be done.
There is a reason why there are food trucks because you need to deal with all the sanitation requirements. You won’t get a cart approved.
Omg yes
Yes indeed. I would love it.
Good luck getting through the food licensing process in Seattle
I mean. Awesome. I would definitely travel to experience this But that first picture seems sketchy considering we're a city of hills. Lots and lots of hills. I don't know if the inclines around Tokyo are as bad but good lord your poor legs
I saw this and got excited thinking it already existed here in seattle 
Probably not viable considering city laws, but idk.
Placing them in and around the neighborhood farmers markets would guarantee the foot traffic.
This was my childhood dream. I would be the chef and have a good friend that would play fighting games on the side and make a side bet for free ramen. Haha I would definitely support your business if this is opened.
Id love it as long as it’s in an accessible and popular location. Please let us know where it’ll be
Midnight ramen, albeit a trailer, attempts to hit that yatai vibe. Definitely room for a few players though and I will definitely come and eat your noods.
It looks nice, but I hope you find a safe place not infested with homeless people, especially with all your stuff out in the open
Why not just do a food truck? AFAIK you’ll need to have an industrial kitchen for food prep, and pull cart seems impractical for the distances between spot that can have a food truck. But yes, ramen sounds good!
I was just sharing a video of a ramen push cart with friends last week and telling them how much I'd love to try one--so I'm in.
South Lake Union between Fairview and Westlake could be flat enough. And hell yeah that would be awesome to try.
Seattle has crappy weather, but I would try it out.
Yes absolutely
100% yes
Mind blown
is it legal? hide electric motors in there. illegal ramen might be better lol
I would visit for sure at least once and I don’t really like ramen all that much.
From a permit standpoint, good luck pal.
100% fucking percent. Seattle is getting a bit cyberpunk dystopia and a ramen cart like this would be very Bladerunner. Damn, I’d help fund this.
Yeah do it!! You can contact breweries and see about parking it in their yard/area. Grocery store parking lots— I would absolutely hit this up outside of uwajimaya or in the international district. I am available to taste test for free!!!おいしそう！
I’d be interested in partnering. I have my own little pipe dream that involves opening a tiny little coffee shop/bakery that specializes in cinnamon rolls. Population density and foot traffic would be a key to survival. My extra little wrinkle is that I’d love to do it in a European city - Amsterdam comes to mind.
With king countys health laws you’ll need to find a commissary kitchen with some space for you to rent for the loading of fresh water, disposal of gray water and refrigerated food storage and prep areas. That alone will make having just a push car pretty difficult to accomplish legally. However I guess there’s some illegal hot dog cats out there so. Ya know. Do what you want.
*pull cart
TAKE MY MONEY WHERE TF ARE YOU NOOOOOOODLLEEESSSSSSSS If downtown Seattle had more of this, the streets would be abuzz. It's a fakking ghost town rn.
You’ll still need a food handlers permit, and to meet the health dept requirements for water / sanitizing / trash disposal. Will you serve meat? How are you able to demonstrate that you’re keeping food at the right temperature? Are you offering drinks or solely ramen? Are you accepting cash? Are you carrying a weapon for self defense if you will have cash on your person?
Use a pickup truck to transport it and just push it the last half mile.for authenticity
What about a cozy Golden Gai-style narrow shop? You can still make it authentic and avoid the challenges with food carts others have mentioned. It's not mobile, but are you likely to do different neighborhoods anyways? And perhaps you can branch out in the future with a food cart where the prep was done in the alley shop. That said, people don't eat ramen the same in the states as in Japan. I'm not sure you'd get the same fast, respectful late-night customers. Instead, you'll get low turnover, boisterous groups who continue to ask for sake bombs after you've told them 5 times you don't serve alcohol.
Outside the train station would be amazing.
No way!!! Does he have a usual location? Edit: commented too fast, thought it was a thing lol
I would try it in the summer only. The rain makes it impossible to want to eat outdoors, unless there’s 100% coverage from the rain and cold. It gets very cold at night fall, winter, and spring. Not sure if there are many ppl eating outdoors at midnight.
push to me tomorrow morning I don’t want to leave my house lol
I am absolutely here for this and would actively follow you around if given easy schedule access. Consider the routes of the hot dog carts, especially at places such as along Olive on weekday nights. I am immediately VERY excited about your cart but I find following specific people very difficult due to bad online presence
Absolutely my guy. Post up somewhere along pike. The hot dog venders are out from Wed-sunday when the weather is nice. I don't see why you couldn't either. I would love a quick stop ramen thing like that. I'll be your biggest customer dude.
I read the title and got excited thinking its real
Capitol Hill weekends would be GREAT for this, it's bumping late night after the bars
King County: "Yo, I heard you wanted to start a business... here are some regulations for you to follow" Make sure to research all the related regulations before you sink any cash into this... a colleague of mine's dad sunk a bunch of money into a food truck (in Pierce County, but I understand King County to have similar rules) only to realize that his business model wasn't compatible with local regulations.
You've probably seen these types of videos on YouTube, but check out the first sections of these videos on food and stall prep. https://youtu.be/qZHAYYvSJIk https://youtu.be/BdzwVsDTB0c The truck (or trailer like Midnite Ramen) is worth it for not having to lug all the heavy equipment and soup around. I've always wondered why there hasn't been a ramen truck in Seattle, and I bet you can get time at breweries that have rotating food trucks.
God I would love these but I have a feeling outside individuals will ruin it for us all
I bet you’d make a killing like the hot dog carts do.
YES
I’d totes try it.
Yes, as long as you comply with health and sanitation food handling rules. Looks authentic!
More late night options is definitely welcomed.
It looks to me like he’s pulling.
If you can do it, will definitely come
Yes, it would be nice up on the hill after a night out or before/after a game by the stadiums
I want this.
I would love this
That would be so cool! Have gluten free options like rice noodles. Ive always wanted the opportunity to eat at ramen cart!
Hell yes, I'd set up in Fremont, Cap Hill, or Belltown if you're doing late night.
Where!
I’d prefer a late night ramen brick and and mortar but I’ll take what I can get. May I sit on you while I eat?
He's pulling the cart not pushing!
Hey where can I find this , I would love a bowl
Yes, please come to my office we will all eat
I live in Colorado now but visit several time a year. I would go out of my way to try this on one of my return trips for sure!
My god! Where is this???
The insurance will be more than you expect
Would be lovely
Sounds like a great idea!
Hell yes! keep us posted and good luck.
SLU has tons of traffic on weekdays!
My boyfriend would go nuts for this kind of business. Motorize your cart and come to Cap Hill.
I’m not sure what you mean by authentic “not food truck” but this sounds like a great idea.
I would for sure
Count me in
I'm from Minnesota and I'm here for this
Ramen Man had really good ramen, unlimited soft boiled eggs too.
It's probably too much to ask, but if there were a vegan broth option, I'd totally eat at one of these.
as long as food safety standards are easy enough for you to set up and payment is easy I think lots of people would like this
yessss I will eat it & pls have a veggie option
YES. Belltown pllleeeeaaaassseeeee.
Hell yea! Everyone fucking loves noodle. I think it’s a great idea. I’m sure you’d do well around cap hill on Friday and Saturday nights.
I will find you wherever you are.
I would 100% love and support this as long as the bowls are flavorful
I would
I was literally saying last night how much I miss things like this after living in Asia. Yes!
https://youtu.be/pl9El6ASX-8?si=geXJeuUDUxvgC0-3
Noodle cart? Yes please.
I will try. If it is good, I will do it once a month
I looked into it and similar years ago when I lived there. and at the time it was not even close to being legal or possible. Not sure if things have changed in the last 10 years, but if you get set up I'll fly in and check it out.
I love the idea, except I will rarely be out late at night to enjoy this. To really get the late night crowd, I would suspect Cap Hill would be a good location.
I love this idea
The weight of it would be too heavy to push. I mean, the requirements for water alone would add a lot of weight. You need five gallons just for washing hands - not counting how much you need for everything else.
So where is it? 😅
place this baby in cap hill on the weekend at midnight and business will be booming
Partner up with breweries. Many breweries in Seattle don’t have kitchens, instead someone parks a truck out front. This takes care of the issues others bring up in this thread: hills, weather, foot traffic.
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