Fenway-area visitors could soon be able to eat and get gas at the same place
The Board of Appeals yesterday approved a proposal to station a food truck serving Mediterranean-style Halal food at the Sunoco station at 1250 Boylston St. in the Fenway.
Jehad Hamed won approval after telling the board that, in addition to trash and recycling receptacles, he would be willing to work with the Fenway Civic Association on periodic cleanup drives of the neighborhood, in particular the nearby Fens.
Hamed said that while everybody would be welcome at the truck, he is expecting a large business from people from the Gulf region getting treatment at the hospitals of the nearby Longwood Medical Area. People here for extended medical stays - which can last up to a year - "want to have a taste of their food [from] back home," he said.
He said the truck would serve food between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. seven days a week, and that four to six parking spaces at the station - soon to be the last gas station on Boylston Street in the Fenway - would be dedicated to the truck.
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Comments
This seems really unfair to
This seems really unfair to the local restaurants paying hefty rents to operate in the neighborhood.
Why?
There's already plenty of mobile food vendors in that area not paying hefty rents. Unless it costs a lot more to operate a sausage cart than I'm aware.
but are the local restaurants Halal?
Unless a fair number of the local restaurants serve halal food, this is filling an unmet need in the area.
Well, if they think they
Well, if they think they could do better by opening a food truck to save rent, they should be welcome to do it. The city should not be in the business of protecting established restaurants from competition.
Just as long as the signs don't read
"EAT FOOD - GET GAS"
actual road sign I spotted in Upstate New York years ago
Yeah...
Eat and get gas. Possibly true at any restaurant.
When Also A Bait Shop
Or when in Palau
http://www.wildernesseye.com/betel.jpg
or Rural Oregon
GAS
BAIT
ICE
ESPRESSO
And get gas not a rare sign
There was a grocery in Groton with this message on its sign: If you eat it, we've got it."
Then there was the huge billboard just over the NH line that said "Butcher Boy Meat Can't Be Beat"
people from the Gulf region
True, it's a sizable market
Except
Those people from the Gulf region getting medical treatment in the LMA are typically really, really, really well-off. I don't get the sense that "food truck in the parking lot of a gas station," halal or not, would be up to their cultural standards.
When your family member/kid is sick ...
Fast is good.
Also, don't neglect the considerable presence of people who work in the LMA and observe halal dietary restrictions.
LMA workers
would be a more plausible addressable market IMO but then getting from LMA to the corner of Boylston & Ipswich and back is probably not a great choice even with an hour for lunch. The walk is at least 15 minutes each way.
I'd expect the relatives of LMA patients from the Gulf region to just have something delivered. In certain cases I'd expect them to bring their own staff along to prepare meals.
And where would they get it?
Halal options in Boston, while better than Podunk, are still pretty limited, and sometimes people want to eat meat. There are a couple of options on the other side of the Fens, but not really anything else in that area that I know of.
Insert Aramark joke here: ___
Insert Aramark joke here: _________________
Halal is cruel and should not
Halal is cruel and should not be supported nor promoted.
OK, I'll bite ...
Why?
The way the animal is
The way the animal is slaughtered, a quick slice across the throat to bleed out. Not all producers stun the animals. It's enough of a problem that some other countries outlawed this practice unless the animal is stunned.
You can argue about farm factory methods as well, they are cruel.
They both can be cruel.
Don't look now, Patricia...
You may be eating halal meat and not know it, and/or eating meat slaughtered using the exact same methods which have always been legal in America. You just don't know it, because producers are concerned about a reaction from Islamophobic bigots if they label meat "halal".
You're a vegetarian, aren't you, Patricia?
Do tell, Patricia
From the depth of your experience in slaughterhouse and halal practices, why is halal slaughter (which I assume is what you mean, since "halal" simply refers to lawful/permitted food, not necessarily meat) "cruel"? How is it more so than conventional slaughter? And what do you mean by "supported" or "promoted"?
Not all Halal slaughterhouses
Not all Halal slaughterhouses stun the animals first. You probably weren't aware. It's cruel and unnecessary suffering on the animal.
If you're cool with that, great I'm not.
Something tells me you really don't give a fuck, you're just being a prick anyways.
Should be popular with the drug dealers in the neighborhood
Poor residents of Park Drive and Peterborough Street, putting up with living in an entertainment amusement park with drug dealers and homelessness on the increase. #FENWAYFRIDAYS