Cinnamon Snail Coming to NYC Full Time!

Tofulish · **Posted:** Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:53 pm

No more will the Cinnamon Snail only come in for festivals and fairs! Now you lucky NYCers are going to have constant access to great vegan food - from my favorite the Creole Sub to Tofu Breakfast Burritos to Vanilla Creme Brulee Donuts and Raw Pizza and Raw Chocolate Pudding. Oh and their General Tso's Seitan and Banh Mi are amazeballs!

This is something the folks at Cinnamon Snail have wanted for a long time, and even though we in Jersey are going to miss having constant access to their yummies, its a really happy development.

They expect to be running the truck 4-5 days a week in Manhattan and Brooklyn by the end of November.
http://www.facebook.com/TheCinnamonSnail

ijustdiedinside · **Joined:** Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:43 pm **Posts:** 8518

hey that's awesome! i hope it happens before it gets really cold out!

JillW · **Posted:** Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:24 am

great news. I have been wanting to try them, and obviously it will be much easier now. Jersey, sorry for your loss (I mean that sincerely).

joyfulgirl · **Posted:** Sat Oct 22, 2011 7:39 am

This is the best news. Even though NJ isn't all that far, it's more convenient.

Tofulish · **Posted:** Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:19 am

ijustdiedinside wrote:

hey that's awesome! i hope it happens before it gets really cold out!

Last year they stopped running the truck at the end of November, but it looks like they're going to try and keep it on for as long as possible based on that FB post. I know the mobile food vendor licenses in NYC are insanely expensive, so I wonder if that means they can't afford to stay off the streets for the winter like they did last year.

That said, a hearty hot sandwich or a cup of hot ganache spiked coffee and fresh donut sound like perfect cold weather food!

I love Adam and Seth who are just the sweetest guys too, and I am kind of envious of the folks that get to see them often.

SeitanSaidDance · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:55 am

I was excited about this until I saw the locations on Gawker: Flatiron District, Lower East Side, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint. Would it kill people to bring vegan food to Midtown?

ETA: Sorry, that was really negative. I understand businesses need to go where they think all the vegans are, but at this point, they're almost competing with each other and leaving whole areas untapped. If you're the only vegan game in town, you're probably going to do well.

Tofulish · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:03 pm

I can for certain pass the info on to Adam, or you can post it on their FB! He is happy to take feedback! I wonder if part of the issue with Midtown is parking/licensing? It looks like there are a couple of calls for Midtown: http://www.facebook.com/TheCinnamonSnail

Here is the Gothamist article along with some amazing photos!
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/24/finally ... hp#photo-1

My favorite salad ever:

Adam!

My Zoetrope · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:50 pm

I am SO excited to finally try them!

SeitanSaidDance · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:31 pm

I Tweeted at them and am hoping for the best. I really want to try their stuff again; I've only had it once and am not sure they got a fair shake.

Terry · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:50 am

Yay, excellent! Good for them. I used to work in midtown and would have freaked out if they were there, but I imagine there's a ton of annoying problems with getting a location around to park a truck there since it's so forking hectic.

I've noticed that it seems much easier for food trucks to part even in the Flatiron district than it does in Midtown, which seems more friendly to food carts. And parking in those parts of Brooklyn seems easy enough. Either way I'll be looking for the snail!

Tofulish · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:39 am

They are getting a ton of FB suggestions for LES, Chelsea etc. Basically where all the vegans are.

And I know their menu is a lot more limited at events than it is when they're just serving normally SSD. They are my very favorite place to eat. Any time I make it out there, I bring home food for at least 2 to 3 more meals. I need to get out there before Tofetus gets here!

Audrey · **Joined:** Wed Oct 20, 2010 2:08 pm **Posts:** 1203

eee I work in north Union Square/Gramercy area and there are always several food trucks on Park Ave South but of course no vegan food, so I'm gonna freak with happiness if I finally get to try the Snail in my area!

RandiJM · **Posted:** Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:11 pm

Oh my goodness I am SOOO excited to finally be able to try them! I definitely know where I'm going to try to eat every single time I go to NYC now! Between how incredible the food in the pictures looks, how cute Adam is (!), and Tofulish's consistent raves since the beginning, I think it'll be my favorite.

Tofulish · **Posted:** Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:58 pm

Terry wrote:

Yay, excellent! Good for them. I used to work in midtown and would have freaked out if they were there, but I imagine there's a ton of annoying problems with getting a location around to park a truck there since it's so forking hectic.

I've noticed that it seems much easier for food trucks to part even in the Flatiron district than it does in Midtown, which seems more friendly to food carts. And parking in those parts of Brooklyn seems easy enough. Either way I'll be looking for the snail!

I think that is exactly right, Adam heard about the concern for having a vegan food truck in Midtown and just wanted everyone to know that while he is going to try to set up in Midtown (and any other areas of town that people want him to try), there has been a pattern of the NYPD chasing food trucks out of the area.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/dinin ... .html?_r=1

Quote:

The police “have told us they no longer want food trucks in Midtown,” said Kim Ima, the owner of the Treats Truck, a pioneer of the city’s new-wave food-truck movement, who began cultivating customers on West 45th Street in 2007.

David Weber, president of the New York City Food Truck Association, which represents 24 vendors, said the police activity is a result of a May 24 ruling by Justice Geoffrey D. Wright in New York State Supreme Court. The decision reinforced a city Transportation Department regulation, believed to date from the 1950s, stating that no “vendor, hawker or huckster shall park a vehicle at a metered parking space” to offer “merchandise for sale from the vehicle.”

“Until now this law was very inconsistently enforced,” Mr. Weber said, “but now Judge Wright’s decision is trickling down to the precincts.”

To vendors who have been routed, recovery is often not a simple matter of driving to a new spot nearby. “It takes trucks an hour to set up, so if the police shut them down at noon, by the time they go elsewhere and set up again, they have lost their lunch sales,” Mr. Weber said.

The Cinnamon Snail got a ton of harassment in Hoboken, which is part of the reason why they are leaving that area and moving to NYC. In Hoboken, they would find a spot, park and feed people (and the meter). The local restaurants would complain, and then the cops would make the Snail move, and when that happened, it meant that they had to spend a ton of time looking for a new parking place, only to then be asked to leave again. Apparently some days they spent around 2 hours just hunting for parking.....

So again, please know that the Cinnamon Snail is doing their best to bring everyone delicious vegan food. Seriously, Adam wakes up at 3 am to start making delicious, fresh food and still manages to combine culinary inventiveness with a fantastic wacky sense of humor. Plus the guy donates to all our bake sales and donates a huge tip jar to Farm Sanctuary every week and teaches free drop in yoga at his home. He really is one of the good ones.

SeitanSaidDance · **Posted:** Fri Oct 28, 2011 8:48 am

Dammit! NYPD always ruining stuff. I will have The Snail!

Tofulish · **Posted:** Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:53 pm

And now Jersey City and Hoboken are cracking down on food trucks too. Its kind of sad - it costs SO much to get a license for a food truck, outfit it, and then the minute you start to do well, they crack down on you.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011 ... y_cit.html

In Jersey City, they want food trucks to pay $400 a month just to operate (and even then they have to be 200ft from any permanent eatery, which seriously limits parking downtown or anywhere else there would be customers), and are considering making the fees higher because they don't want to have them compete with brick and mortar restaurants.

Dunebug · **Posted:** Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:19 pm

I work in the LES, this is exciting!!

RandiJM · **Posted:** Fri Oct 28, 2011 7:44 pm

That's so terrible that munis/areas make it so hard for food trucks. It's a small business, people! You're supposed to be all 'we care about the small business person' no matter what political affiliation you are! Lying liars. Let the food trucks roam ffs.

Aubade · **Posted:** Sun Nov 06, 2011 8:04 am

Boo I wish they could park in midtown!! Damn you, NYPD.

alice1drland · **Posted:** Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:16 am

I work in Chelsea, yay! So stoked.

SandyBadlands · **Posted:** Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:25 pm

They were parked within walking distance of my office yesterday and today—best lunch ever! The chipotle seitan burrito was amazing, and I honestly don't remember the last time I ate anything as delicious as that Korean barbecue seitan sandwich. I also got to try some of the best vegan donuts I've ever had (four of them in two days). I'm already planning what to try next time. I am way too excited about this.

RandiJM · **Posted:** Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:34 pm

Are they only there on weekdays or can I look for them this weekend?

SandyBadlands · **Posted:** Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:26 am

I think I saw on Facebook that they're in New Jersey this weekend and back in NYC next week. I'm not sure if that's their set weekly schedule, though (and I'm trying not to get my hopes up about getting lunch there every week...).

Audrey · **Joined:** Wed Oct 20, 2010 2:08 pm **Posts:** 1203

holy crepe they were one block from my office and I didn't know it!! tomorrow hopefully!

SeitanSaidDance · **Posted:** Mon Dec 12, 2011 3:27 pm

It looks like they may be able to cover a good selection of neighborhoods. I had to run 10 blocks to catch them this week, but I did it! Their food is a really good value, too.

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