A Seattle hot dog with everything — but not all the permits

Tyrone Slack’s hot dog cart doesn’t look like most food stands. It kind of looks like an old upright piano.

“It's just an old-school box hot dog stand, and it’s made out of wood,” he said, rapping against the side of it with his knuckles.

Slack was set up in a good spot next to Alki Beach in West Seattle: close to the commercial core but a few blocks away from the row of brick-and-mortar restaurants.

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The grill was heating up, he had about 50 different sauces arranged on a table for the hot dogs.

Slack has a permit from Public Health Seattle & King County to be there. But he doesn't have a permit from the city of Seattle's parks department and many other vendors lack these permits.

Mobile food carts like Slack's are popping up at more Seattle parks and beaches this summer. They can be a fun spot to grab a quick bite — but many aren’t supposed to be open. Public health officials are reaching out to vendors after a number of such stands have been closed.

Besides having a health department permit, Slack's hot dog stand also has a hand washing sink.

“Keep your stations clean,” Slack said. “Keep your hands clean. You're serving food. You're serving the people, you know? People need to see that.”

You can find mobile food vendors like him in the south end near Rainier Beach, others along the waterfront, and many at Alki. They're often under bright blue tents.

“I think a generic increase has happened as we went into the post-Covid era,” said Greg McKnight, who oversees mobile food vendors for Public Health – Seattle and King County. “There's a lot of folks out there trying to make a living.”

And it’s not just in Seattle, he said.

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Cities along the West Coast are seeing more people, many who are immigrants, open pop-up food stands without the permits.

“I just attended a national environmental health conference, and it’s almost like it's happening all across the country right now,” McKnight said.

Vendors on Alki told KUOW there are a few reasons why they aren’t going through the process of legally opening a stand.

The first reason: the process itself.

“Everybody looks at the vendors that have the tents as they're deliberately doing something wrong,” said Mac Owen, who works at El Corre Camino, a legal, fully permitted food truck close to Tyrone Slack’s hot dog stand. “But, I mean, if they went through the process of getting a permit and everything themselves, they would understand how much of a headache it is.”

Some restaurant and food truck owners in Alki have complained about the illegal vendors for either blocking their spot on the street or selling similar food.

But Owen sees value in his permit-less colleagues. He said the small vendors bring diverse flavors to the beach.

“When vendors like us or the other tents aren't here, then [customers are] forced to eat burgers and fries and fish,” he said. “Maybe they want something with a little bit of culture in it.”

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But bringing some culture to the area's options comes at a cost — the next big hurdle for small vendors like Slack.

He said he needs about $1,500 for all types of permits, not counting those he'd has to renew annually.

But from the the health department's perspective, there’s a reason people have to jump through so many hoops. Preventing the spread of foodborne illness is their top priority, McKnight said.

“We might be viewed as a barrier, but reality is we have no idea whether a person's going to the bathroom or how they're washing their fruit,” McKnight explained, “or even if they don't have the ability to wash their hands.”

In June, seven unpermitted fruit carts and other stands were shut down along Alki on the same day. At least six more pop-up-style vendors were closed throughout the county last month. So far, at least nine others have closed in July.

McKnight said they try to educate vendors when this happens, and the county tells vendors how they can apply for the right paperwork. Informational pamphlets in multiple languages are provided by the health department.

“Trying to give them some sort of ways to actually come into the fold, I guess, to be able to serve safe food,” McKnight said.

Tyrone Slack said he likes being able to set up anywhere along the beach — and he said he's not planning to get his papers.

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“That's why you have a lot of people that are impatient that just pop up along the way,” he said, throwing the first hot dogs onto the grill. “They're out here trying to fight the struggle, eating a struggle plate, trying to make some money.”

Last week the health department hosted a presentation in Alki on how to apply for proper permits. It was one of the first meetings of its kind to reach out to food vendors there.

Correction notice, 12:21 p.m. on Wednesday, 7/31/2024: This story was updated to clarify Slack does own a health permit from Public Health Seattle & King County. A previous version implied he did not have his health permit. He does not have a permit from the city of Seattle's parks department. The headline has also been updated.