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If you're leaving the bar hungry in Denver, you might have to keep walking for a bite to eat now. The city has temporarily banned food trucks from serving late-night food in certain areas of downtown Denver, according to Axios.
Food trucks aren't allowed to operate between 19th and 20th streets along Blake Street, 19th and 21st on Market Street, and 20th and 21st on Larimer Street, reporters say. A spokesperson for Denver Police told the website it could be a "permanent change," too.
City leaders say the move is meant to crack down on LoDo crime by pushing people to leave the area after closing time and discouraging large gatherings. The decision comes weeks after Denver police officers shot an armed man but injured six bystanders in the downtown area.
Food truck owners and business owners are angry about the decision, arguing they did nothing to spur this decision.
"The police and the city, they don't want us to be working," Mohammad Alissa, who runs Gyros Town on Larimer Street, told KUSA. "It affects us big time — this is our life, our income."
Colorado Restaurant Association's spokesperson Denise Mickelsen also provided a statement about the ban to Axios:
"After two-plus years of ... pandemic-related restrictions, and now skyrocketing food and labor costs, these foodservice operators do not deserve to be shut out of viable marketplaces where they are simply trying to ... earn a living."