A City Ordinance Might Drive Animales Barbecue and Boomin Barbecue to the Suburbs | Eater Twin Cities

"Running a similar setup of massive, barrel-like offset smokers outside the truck, I observed that Boomin Barbecue—owned by Dylan Boerboom—relies on those smokers for most of its product (around 70 percent, per an Animales Instagram post) and was ordered by Minneapolis to stop using them by October 1 because food-truck rules prohibit equipment outside the vehicle. Officials also cited the smokers for lacking NSF certification; Boerboom argued that traditional, large-scale pits with that certification are essentially unavailable and that many health departments elsewhere work with restaurants because this is classic Americana. While Boomin does have a 200-gallon pit inside the truck, Boerboom says it’s like a backyard pit compared with the offset smokers and cannot reproduce the nuanced smoky flavors or the volume needed to sustain the business—leading him to warn the enforcement is effectively shutting them down. He and other owners met with Mayor Jacob Frey and council members, hoped to run through the season into late November, and after negotiations the city allowed the offset smokers through November while they pursue ordinance changes this winter; Boerboom also said relocation to suburbs or Wisconsin remains a possible option if changes fail." - Justine Jones