News writer

The annual food cart review by the city of Madison’s Vending Oversight Committee is underway this week.

For the currently licensed carts, testing has already started.

“We have five days during the week to hit them all,” said city council president and committee member Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.

The review uses a set of criteria and a points system to determine which carts get licenses for what locations.

The criterion includes the flavor, presentation and size of the food menu and the maintenance, design, visual impact, cleanliness and graphics of the food cart itself. Originality is also a major factor in scoring the carts.

Saturday morning, the new unlicensed carts will congregate on the 200 block of Martin Luther King Drive for their reviews.

A cart must receive at least a 70 out of the available 100 points in order to receive a license.

The highest scoring vendor gets the first choice of location for their cart, with Library Mall usually being the most sought after. This system is a gamble for vendors because it does not guarantee a license or a desirable location.

“[The vendors] literally have to buy or rent a food cart before they can get licensing,” Verveer explained.

This year there are 14 new carts for a total of 36 vying for positions.

“I think there might be some shifting around because there are a lot of new vendors on the horizon,” said Warren Hansen, Street Vending Coordinator for the city of Madison.

Despite the pressures of being judged on their carts and products, vendors seem to operate just as any other day.

“We really just go about our business as usual,” said an employee of the Library Mall cart Loose Juice who wished to remain anonymous.

“We cook just like everyday,” said Megumi Lohrentz, owner and operator of the cart Zen Sushi.

There were some complaints concerning the current review method, though.

“One of the flaws, maybe, in the system is [that] it takes place over the course of a week,” said the Loose Juice employee.

“Its not necessarily a wise idea to come out here on a rainy day because people aren’t going to buy smoothies on a rainy day, but we need to be out here during the week when people are coming to review, less we should miss our chance.”

Eating that much food on one day can be a stomach-wrenching experience for the reviewers.

“We used to judge them all in one day and it was painful,” Verveer described.

Lohrentz spoke of concerns over the reviewers’ personal tastes.

“If they don’t like certain food, how can they score it in a fair way,” Lohrentz said.