The opening day for Battle Ground Station, the first food cart pod of its kind, was delayed from an expected March 4 opening.
Brunch’d, a local food cart planning to operate in Battle Ground Station, said in a Feb. 28 Facebook post that the delay was because the city had not yet granted an occupancy license for the food cart pod.
Brunch’d owners Jonathan and Isabel Betts said last week they had expected the food cart pod to open in July last year, but the site experienced construction delays. The next opening date, Jan. 1, was pushed back due to an electrical box needing to be moved after a city inspection, Isabel Betts said.
“I think there’s been a little bit of a lack of thorough communication on a couple of fronts where we’ve been told ‘hey, we’re good to go,’ when really the knowledge to say that wasn’t there,” Isabel Betts said. “So then we go ahead and go Ok, we’re good,’ and then we find out ‘oh wait, we still need a little more for the food pod to legally do that.’”
Isabel Betts said they are optimistic about the site’s future opening despite the hiccup. Jonathan said that they attended a meeting between the land owner and the city after the recent delay, and both parties are looking toward an opening in two or four weeks once both parties have everything in order.
“It’s not necessarily anyone’s fault I guess. Things take time. We just thought it would be a lot earlier,” Jonathan said. “...The community has been very supportive on social media and patient.”
As a food cart pod, Battle Ground Station will be the first of its kind in the city. According to Jonathan Betts, the owner wants the site to feature fire pits for comfort at each table.
“As it stands, he said he has six or seven slots,” Jonathan Betts said. “People signed contracts to show up, so it’ll be exciting. We know that there’s going to be a coffee place, a boba place, a sushi burrito [cart]...”
Jonathan and Isabel are looking forward to serving their on-the-go breakfast items once the pod is opened.
Alkesh and Bindiya Patel, the owners of Battle Ground Station, were not available for comment at press time.
