The tacos and burritos are served by a vendor on the sidewalk entering Santa Barbara’s La Cumbre Plaza under a canopy of lights and steam lifting into the cool night air.

On a normal night, the line of customers can stretch down the sidewalk with 10 or more people looking for a late meal.

Kevin Ruano has been working as a street vendor for his family’s business for four years. His family has been operating the stand for about 10 years and moved to Santa Barbara from Los Angeles 10 months ago.

The family began selling an assortment of Mexican food, from tacos to burritos, and different flavors of Fresca.

On this night, a line of customers waits patiently as Ruano and his coworkers throw tortillas and carne asada on the flat-top grill. On the other end, customers gather around the condiments, adding salsa, onions, radish and other toppings to their food.

Anyone walking could smell sizzling meats and hear the sound of customers chatting over their plates of food.

Ruano’s family business is one of many street vendors that have popped up in Santa Barbara County in the past few years. He said the job is a way for vendors to survive and make an income, even if they don’t have the proper paperwork.

“We just make money and we don’t do anything bad,” Ruano said. “I know we don’t always have permits, but we try to supervise. A lot of people come here and they look for a job like this.”

He said that one of the things he likes about his job is the opportunity to meet new people and introduce people from different backgrounds to their food. The stand also has built a dedicated following of repeat customers he gets to know over time.

“It’s a Mexican style and we’re Mexican. So, a lot of people from different countries come to taste our food,” Ruano said.

Despite street vendors’ popularity with the public, their presence has caused tension with restaurant owners who say the stands create unfair competition and pose a health risk.

Bachir Ramadan is the owner of Casa Comal Cocina on State Street in Santa Barbara. He opened his business four years ago, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic started.  

He said the rise of street vendors has affected his business by taking away customers who used to visit his shop, primarily on weekends.

The late-night crowd was a major source of income for the Mexican restaurant as students and other residents looked for food after an evening of celebrating on State Street.

Ramadam said that changed when food stands and carts began selling more food along his portion of downtown State Street.

“As a business owner, I’m waiting for the weekend to be busy and to make sales because the rent is not easy to pay here. The rent, electricity, (or our) utility bills,” Ramadam said.

Since the carts started appearing in 2021, he said he has called the city about 30 times, but nothing has been done.

He said that for many restaurants that struggled to survive the pandemic, the new competition is a hurdle.

Caught in the middle of the conflict are the county and local cities. Elected officials and health departments have been called upon to address the issue but must balance local outcry with state laws that protect food vendors.

The backlash from restaurant owners and residents was so intense that the issue was heard during a meeting of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments in October.

In the months leading up to the meeting, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann and Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse repeatedly shared their concerns.

Public speakers gathered at the meeting to ask the county to crack down on street vendors and pass stricter health codes.

Some speakers included business owners who claimed that the presence of food vendors creates unfair competition. Some complained that the street pop-ups set up outside their restaurants or in their neighborhood, drawing away customers.

One of the main issues raised by owners was that many of the pop-ups do not pay for food licenses, which restaurants are required to obtain. While some food stands go through the proper channels to obtain a license, some vendors set up their stands without applying for them.

County staff laid out the issues found at local outdoor food stands and the challenges of regulating them.

Lars Seifert, the director of Environmental Health Services, said many stands had health code violations, such as a lack of proper sanitation measures or refrigeration. Other violations included meats and perishable food items stored in dirty buckets or other containers.

“We don’t know where the food has been prepared or whether it was done safely to begin with, but then it’s not held within a temperature that prevents bacteria from growing,” Seifert told the board.

He also mentioned a lack of restrooms for workers and clean cooking utensils, illegal grease dumping that clogs up storm drains, and dirty sidewalks and streets.

Other issues include safety concerns, such as propane tanks, open flames and roadside safety. Santa Barbara’s fire code prohibits the use of open flames.

Some stands are set up near the road, where they are not always visible in the dark.

Even though some stands can be found regularly on the weekend near La Cumbre Plaza or along State Street, health officials can have trouble keeping track of them. Some booths move around or are in an out-of-the-way location.

Even though officials may cite a food stand for violating health codes, it can easily return later or move to a new area.

Other issues come from laws passed by the State of California to protect street vendors. Even though cities and counties can pass laws to regulate street vendors, they cannot criminalize the act itself.

Cities are allowed to require vendors to obtain a permit before they can begin selling food to the public. The City of Santa Barbara requires vendors to obtain a seller’s permit and a business tax certificate.

The permit comes with guidelines that dictate where a vendor can sell food, when, and the size of their cart or tent.

Even though the SBCAG board did not take any action at that meeting, members wanted to petition the state to modify laws protecting food vendors or grant counties more power to address them.

Despite the backlash from restaurant owners and segments of the population, some residents say they want the food stands to remain.

On the corner of East Ortega and State streets, Jessica Novoa and her friend stop to buy a plate of food from a food stand.

Novoa said she is happy to support street vendors, whether they are selling food, flowers or anything else, adding that she sees how hard they work and how some vendors bring their kids to help them.  

“If I have cash, I’ll try to buy something off them even if I don’t need it,” Novoa said. “They’re out here in the cold, (so) you know they need it.”

As far as food safety is concerned, Novoa said she thinks public health is important. However, she believes many stalls do try to be clean, and many restaurants are more worried about competition than cleanliness.

She added that she has worked in different restaurants and coffee shops, which are not always as clean as people think.

“This stand was cleaner than any of the restaurants I’ve worked at,” Novoa said. “It’s out in the open, you can see them visibly make the food, you see how it’s packaged, (and) you know it’s clean. In the restaurant, you can’t see anything back there.”