No more beer or bands? This Boise food truck park ‘needs your love’ to survive season

After serving alcohol for years, Boise’s first dedicated food truck park suddenly went dry last weekend.

But its owner is hoping customers still have an appetite for showing up.

The Switchback at Harris Ranch is no longer able to sell beer, wine and canned cocktails. Owner Courtney Santillan had operated a mobile bar at the park since opening it in 2019.

“We need your love right now,” Santillan posted Aug. 19 on The Switchback’s Facebook page. “After four glorious seasons, we’ve run into a hiccup with Boise city and as of today are no longer allowed to provide alcohol drinks. Not just our drink trailer, any drink trailer. This comes with just eight weeks left in the season.

“For our food truck-loving friends, I’ve always said, ‘If the people come, the trucks will too.’ Let’s rally and show our support for these local businesses and prove that beer or not, we love them!”

The problem involves permitting and on-site power, Santillan said in a phone interview. City officials told her that no mobile bars are allowed at The Switchback because of rules surrounding catering permits. “I — this whole time — apparently did not have the right license,” she explained.

Alcohol sales were Santillan’s income source at the park, so The Switchback now will operate in the red, she said. Santillan hopes to keep it open until closing for the season Oct. 8.

“I’m still paying for bathrooms. I’m still paying for garbage. I still have my own expenses,” Santillan said. “My revenue was the bar. So I now just have money going out. I have no money coming in.

“But really what I want that love for is just for people to support these food trucks. This is about these other local businesses who need people to show up to at least get through the next eight weeks — which, sadly, is the perfect time of year. It’ll start to cool off, and everyone wants to get back outside.”

Santillan was forced to cancel live musicians on weekends, she said, “because I have no revenue coming in.”

“If anybody wants to come play for free, you’re welcome to,” she added.

Located at the corner of Haystack Street and South Millbrook Way, a block from Barber Park, The Switchback is open from 5 to 8-ish p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. It began this season in late April.

In 2023, The Switchback will relocate to a .8-acre permanent site that Santillan purchased behind the Boise fire station. The property is on South Perrault Way between Warm Springs Avenue and Parkcenter Boulevard. “We’ll have great Greenbelt access from Marianne Williams Park,” she said. “That park is, like, across the street from us.”

Alcohol sales will return to The Switchback at that point, she said.

For now, Santillan hopes that Idaho customers will be enticed by food-truck cuisine served with soft drinks or other non-alcoholic beverages.

“Apparently, if I was breaking the rules, at least I got away with it for three years ... ” she quipped. “So I guess there is a bright side.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2022 at 2:14 PM.