Eight Ball Tavern Wins Approval For Food Truck

ROHNERT PARK-COTATI, CA — The 8 Ball Tavern is known for keeping things simple: pool tables, televisions, and a steady flow of regulars — except when it came to food trucks.

The mobile eateries added another draw to the longtime Cotati tavern, but they also brought a layer of red tape, culminating in a public hearing Monday.

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The nearly 90-year-old tavern relaunched under new management earlier this year. Operators Julie LaMalfa Black, Jenafer Keys, and Audrey De Vere Hunt welcomed food trucks into the parking lot, and customers embraced them.

So the announcement of the hearing on Facebook caught some supporters by surprise. The tavern had a place for food trucks and customers ready to buy from them. But some Cotati residents were less enthusiastic.

Today Cotati officials approved a plan allowing food trucks and food carts to serve customers from the parking lot of the Eight Ball Tavern at 8 Charles St., creating a new downtown dining option that city officials say supports their vision for a vibrant mix of community-serving businesses.

"The planning commission agreed that having food trucks at the 8-ball is good for the community at large as well as for the patrons of the 8-ball Tavern," according to a note on the bar's Facebook page. "Thank you, Cotati."

Until this year, Cotati lacked a clear regulatory framework for food trucks and other mobile food businesses, leaving the downtown tavern without a straightforward path to host them.

That changed when city officials adopted new mobile food standards and approved a permit allowing food trucks and food carts to operate from the tavern's parking lot under rules governing safety, sanitation, parking, and operating hours.

The Planning Commission recommended adoption of that broader ordinance on March 16, and the City Council introduced it on April 14 before later adopting it on April 28. The law took effect 30 days later, which was in time for Dino’s Greek Food Truck at the 8 Ball on Sunday.

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