Coffee Truck Showdown Ends In Charitable Coexistence

Regular patrons of Hub Bub might have noticed the presence of a new  truck on the block this past week. Mojo, a coffee truck with roasting roots in the Big Easy (more here), opened up shop on the same stretch of 38th street as Penn alum Andrew Crockett's beloved Stumptown-serving standby. From an outside point of view, this looked like it had all the makings of a supremely competitive coffee truck rivalry. This could have been fun (maybe even resulting in a sabotage mystery?), but sadly, both proprietors are extremely polite and considerate of Philadelphia's obtuse commercial zoning laws. Snore.

According to City Paper, the city's department of Licenses and Inspections decides which neighborhoods and spaces are viable for food trucks. Since placement pretty much operates on a lottery system, neither owner had much say in deciding where Mojo would end up, resulting in the weird, excessive number of coffee trucks on the block over the past week. However, after the owners of the two trucks described the situation to the L&I department, they were able to get a little more space, and voila - we coffee consumers are left with a wealth of options and no feelings of ill will between the owners. Too bad coffee truck owners are so diplomatic - a healthy rivalry might've added some interesting drama to the summer food truck doldrums.