BREAKING THE FAST.

Some years, Ramadan coincides with the end of Lent, and of Passover, and one way to help the faithful break their fast is to bring the feast to the faithful.

In honor of the holy month of Ramadan, a new tradition is starting in Milwaukee. For the first time, a food truck festival will be held in the city that specifically caters to the Muslim community.

"I think we’re ready to expand and venture into new things," said festival organizer Bushra Zaibak.

Zaibak, who spearheaded Milwaukee's first halal restaurant week last year, says this won't be your typical food truck festival. It'll start at 10:30 p.m. Friday and will go into the early morning hours, accommodating those fasting for Ramadan.

Serving commences this evening from 10.30 until 1 am Saturday, which is to say, bar time.

But don't roll your food trucks onto Milwaukee's Water Street, unless you snag a spot in front of a bar.

The Common Council's Public Safety and Health Committee has recommended banning food trucks on a stretch of Water Street in downtown Milwaukee from East Knapp Street to East Pleasant Street.

The ban would not allow food trucks to park on a stretch of Water Street that is home primarily to residential apartments and office space. Food trucks are still allowed south of Knapp, where most Water Street bars are.

On Thursday night, only one food truck, Oaxaca Taqueria, was selling food on the part of the street where the ban is being proposed. The operator of the food truck did not want to comment on the proposal.

The presence of food trucks in an entertainment district gives the owners of permanent bars or restaurants plenty of occasion to seek rents.

Bans on food trucks around the city have been handed down one by one, creating sort of a piecemeal approach. That includes a 2017 ban of food trucks on East Brady Street and a 2019 ban on West National Avenue.

East Brady is a few blocks northeast of the stretch of Water Street in question, and West National is near south side, with a cluster of taverns and cantinas.  But the way the rent-seekers operate is predictable, they'll attempt to codify standards and regulations, city-wide.  So it goes, wherever Democrats control the city government, as the idea of selling permits to set up in popular spots isn't technocratic enough.  I wonder if the food trucks that do snag the permissible spots along Water Street ever get accused of price gouging?