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Parkside and Best Wurst in a sidewalk turf dispute
A sidewalk turf dispute is creating a gulf between two East Sixth Street food businesses that operate within feet of each other.
The fine-dining restaurant Parkside is opposing the renewal of a permit allowing the Best Wurst food cart to operate on the sidewalk outside Parkside.
Jon Notarthomas has owned Best Wurst since the mid-’90s. “We had a great relationship with Dan McClusky’s,” he said of the steakhouse that preceded Parkside, which opened in 2008. “We did know that (Parkside) didn’t want us there from the get-go. But I figured over time, they’d see that we’re good neighbors,” he said.
Notarthomas’ permit, which expired in mid-June, is being extended until the city investigates Parkside’s complaints, said Jason Redfern, manager of the city division that governs right-of-way usage. He didn’t have an estimate for when that process would be completed.
Those complaints are enumerated in letters to the city by Parkside chef-owner Shawn Cirkiel and his parents, Martin and Pamela Cirkiel, who own the building at 301 E. Sixth St.
Their complaints include contentions that the cart violates space restrictions, sells similar products, attracts crowds that leave debris and block the sidewalk and that it will conflict with Parkside’s balcony, construction of which is scheduled to begin later this month. Notarthomas disagrees with those contentions.
Shawn Cirkiel said the dispute is about property rights. “Am I out to close Jon’s business? No. Do I want Jon to move? Yes,” he said.
Simply moving the cart isn’t a comfortable option for Notarthomas. “People say, ‘Why don’t you just go work in one of the trailer-park eateries or why don’t you go to South Congress?’ ” he said. “I feel like our brand is Sixth Street.”
For now, the cart will remain outside Parkside, but during balcony construction, it will have to move. Notarthomas said he arranged with the city and the nightclub Vice across the street to operate outside the club last week, when construction was originally planned.
Noise from the club made it difficult to take orders, he said, calling the drop in business “disastrous.”
The Best Wurst operates a second cart at East Sixth and Red River streets, but Notarthomas said 85 to 90 percent of his business comes from the cart outside Parkside.
Shawn Cirkiel said he respects his neighbor’s business, but “if your neighbor had a party every night, and every night they left trash at your front door and smeared mustard and sauerkraut and ketchup on your door and windows, what would you do?” Parkside also has applied for a sidewalk cafe permit that would make the space in front unavailable for vendors.
More than 1,200 people have joined a “Save the Best Wurst” group on Facebook. People posting on the site have called Cirkiel a bully and a snob. Cirkiel said e-mails have included boycott threats and personal attacks.
“It’s like when people talk about how I can go back to New York,” he said. “It’s just funny. My family’s been in Austin since ’43,” he said.
(American-Statesman photo by Thao Nguyen)
From the archives: Food in the SXSW Zone: Best Wurst
From the archives: Three courses at Parkside
Comments
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By evd
July 9, 2010 12:04 PM | Link to this
Hmmm. Maybe Cirkiel should have thought about all that before he put an “upscale” restaurant smack in the middle of 6th Street? I mean, it’s not about Best Wurst, it’s the 6th Street crowd.
By Pleepa!
July 9, 2010 12:15 PM | Link to this
“Waaaaahh!! My mommie and daddie gave me a restaurant, and I have to smell sauerkraut while charging my customers $50 for braised buffalo turds!! It’s not fair WAHWAHWAH HELP ME MOMMIE AND DADDIE!!!”
By CP Parent
July 9, 2010 12:39 PM | Link to this
Darn and I had wanted to try out Parkside. But if the owner is that big of a spoiled jerk I think I will go elsewhere.
By DC
July 9, 2010 1:01 PM | Link to this
I really hope Parkside wins out. Austin was okay, but it would be a lot better if we got rid of all of those weird things around town. We need more businesses like The Phoenix, Parkside, and PUR and fewer Alamo Drafthouses, Best Wursts, and Broken Spokes.
By Flaco
July 9, 2010 1:16 PM | Link to this
What a crybaby. It was there before you were. So, from the second you took over you wanted to run off a vendor that was there long before you were?
Also, your claim that mustard and sauerkraut is on your doors and windows every day. Ya right. Your over-exaggerations are what makes me think your trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Find something else to obsess on. It’s your character flaws that are the issue here.
For the record, I’ve never been to either businesses.
By dinop
July 9, 2010 1:18 PM | Link to this
gosh i hate Austin, the thought of having to move back there in 4 weeks is making me sick. What a dump.
By TitoP
July 9, 2010 1:28 PM | Link to this
Parkside is trying to bring some diversity and class to 6th St with respectability and a lovely menu. That doesn’t constitute snobbery. There is room for all of it and more in Austin (The Phoenix, Parkside, PUR, Alamo Drafthouses, and Broken Spokes).
By j. ewing
July 9, 2010 1:36 PM | Link to this
i’ve eaten at both establishments, and i have to admit the food at parkside is much better than bestwurst. the service is better at parkside, and the beverage selection is better. parkside is also a lot more expensive. a sidewalk patio is a great idea on 6th street. i’d like to see more fancy stuff on 6th street - Ritz theater, white tablecloth restaurants, less jello shots. whats the big deal about moving a cart a few feet one way or another? isn’t that the beauty of the food cart concept?
By Dale
July 9, 2010 1:37 PM | Link to this
His parents. That’s hilarious. He got his parents.
I’m going out of my way to get Best Wurst this weekend.
By Austin
July 9, 2010 1:48 PM | Link to this
Food trailers and kiosks should be a lower priority for the City than traditional restaurant vendors. Traditional restaurants rquire greater investment from owners and pay and collect more taxes for governmental en****** than the trailer businesses.
By Joseph
July 9, 2010 1:59 PM | Link to this
Wurst does not have to pay rent, etc.. so they can move their bandwagon whereever the city wants them or whoever allows them at their front porch.. The business that is in the bldg. deserves to tell Wurst to move it.. if their wurst is as good as they claim.. people will have no problem finding them!! Now git..!
By mike
July 9, 2010 2:14 PM | Link to this
What a wuss. I can see the conversation now:
Shawn: Hello, Mommy, is that you?
Pamela: Yes dear, what’s the matter? Are you crying?
Shawn: [sniffle, snob] Mommy, there’s this bully food cart that’s selling sausages outside my restaurant. It smells like sauerkraut and some people spilled mustard all over the sidewalk.
Pamela: That’s terrible baby. You mean the restaurant that daddy and I let you run?
Shawn: Well, yeah [sniffle, sniffle] I know the guy has been in this location for 15 years, but I want him to move. Is there anything you can do?
Pamela: Honey, I’ll see what I can do. Maybe I can call the City for you. Would that make you feel better snookems?
Shawn: Yes mommy [sniffle]. Are you going to read me a bedtime story tonight?
Pamela: Of course dear.
By The Monkey
July 9, 2010 2:15 PM | Link to this
People who own a million and a half dollar building v. sidewalk vendor. It will be interesting to see how the City handles this one.
By Dale
July 9, 2010 2:20 PM | Link to this
Parkside is like the guy who buys a house on your south Austin street and immediately tries to start a HOA.
By Henri Sprine
July 9, 2010 2:33 PM | Link to this
What park is Parkside beside anyway?
Maybe they should change their name to Cartside and everyone would be happy.
This is just another example of fanciness ruining Austin.
I don’t mean to be one of those old timey Austin complainers, but we were doing just fine before all the bistros and boutique shops and wine bars and Ferrari dealerships showed up. Why couldn’t you have stayed in Dallas?
By Johnny Logic
July 9, 2010 2:41 PM | Link to this
I have to say, that picture above makes the sidewalk and windows appear very clean. No mustard, sausage chunks, fire ants, puke, or sauerkraut anywhere to be seen.
I wonder if the Cirkiel’s (and I agree by the way that it’s hilarious that this guy has had his mommy and daddy complain for him) are exaggerating their complaints.
It seems to me that with the thousands of young, drunk, and disrespectful people walking by that exact location every Friday and Saturday night, it’s a little disingenuous to blame any and all messes on the sausage vendor.
By WWHambulance...
July 9, 2010 2:46 PM | Link to this
I have heard of Best Wurst. I have never heard of Parkside. Does that sum it up?
It’s not like he doesn’t have a $6/hr. Mexican National to clean the sidewalk for him….
By Austinite
July 9, 2010 3:24 PM | Link to this
LOL! Have to say- the comment about him going back to New York came from my FB posting!
Go check out Parkside’s website, browse and you shall find numerous New York references. It directly states- Parkside’s name is derived from the public housing unit where the Chef’s father grew up in the Bronx section of New York.
True Texans <3 Beer & Brats! So overall, yes Shawn, I think alot of us agree you can take your overpriced menu back to New York. Sorry you can’t seem to get away from the street vendors, lol!
By Easypeasy
July 9, 2010 3:41 PM | Link to this
This could be so easy for the City… kill the street parking space in front of the T-shirt shop and license the Best Wurst cart to set up there. It’s all of 10 ft from where they currently set up, it gets them off the sidewalk, and it gets them away from the slimeballs at Pukeside.
By keep it weird, bra
July 9, 2010 4:31 PM | Link to this
These comments are hilarious. More misplaced “keep it weird” bs from people who got here two years ago from Dallas and Cali. Eating weiners at a cart isn’t weird or in any manner unique. It’s just an indication of inebriation.
Real Austinites who are invested in this city enjoy seeing progress here, rather than more mediocrity passing as quaint culture, served up for tourists. It’s pretty obvious which party here deeply invested (with more than just daddy’s money) in the location and tried to make something valuable out of it.
By angered Austinite
July 9, 2010 4:34 PM | Link to this
Nothing drives me more crazy more than someone with some distant Austin connection claiming that they’re an “Austinite.”
He claims to be a 4th generation Austinite, yet his dad was born in New York so I don’t quite get that. Also, don’t his parents live in Round Rock or Georgetown. Because if he’s claiming Austinite status because he lived up there, that’s pretty weak.
I was born here, lived in San Antonio for 3 years, but other than that it’s been all Austin baby. Shawn, I know you wish you could be like me, but your attitude proves you’re not an Austinite.
By allison
July 9, 2010 5:02 PM | Link to this
My husband owned Dan McKlusky’s restaurant, the previous owner to Parkside. We loved having Best Wurst in front of our restaurant. They provided a wonderful street show for our patrons each night. We had a wonderful relationship with John as well. After we closed for the night, John would watch after our building, protecting it from vandalism. John had our home number on speed dial, if something should come up in the late hours of the evening. Many nights, after our restaurant was closed, the whole Dan McKlusky staff would dine on Best Wurst. After all, you can only eat so much steak. John would often send business our way if people on the street were looking for upscale dining. In short, Best Wurst and John made a wonderful partnership with our restaurant. We wish John the very best.
By deeza
July 9, 2010 5:33 PM | Link to this
just because you own a building don’t mean you own the sidewalk!what kind of a-whole would think of putting tables and chairs on the sidewalk on 6th?VIVA LA BEST WURST!The city should subsidize a place for the just like they were for las monitias……..
By Buddy
July 9, 2010 5:36 PM | Link to this
LOVE BESTWURST! I’m Hungry! Don’t worry, Jon if you have to move temporarily. Parkside will likely be closed within a year.
By jay
July 9, 2010 9:56 PM | Link to this
i will definitely never eat at parkside and it was on my list. sounds like a spolied brat. cmon, parents own the building? and wasnt best wurst there first???? thats austin., not some upscale place!
By Richard
July 10, 2010 8:52 AM | Link to this
I miss Dan McKlusky’s.
By yoyo
July 11, 2010 2:23 AM | Link to this
tis truly a dog eat dog world
By Laurel
July 16, 2010 4:49 PM | Link to this
I love both these places and I trust that like reasonable adults they can work something out together.
By Jardin
July 16, 2010 5:48 PM | Link to this
I’ve been to Parkside numerous times, and I have had nothing but excellent service from this restaurant. If Best Wurst has been in Austin for the past 20 years, why haven’t they just opened up a store of their own yet…? It seems like that would make sense if they’ve been here for so long. I see absolutely no reason for Best Wurst to complain in moving spots, especially if it’s just right across the street….you’d think that they’d get more business with drunk people coming out of a club then from families/people coming out to eat sausage. I think that the whole Parkside vs. Best Wurst dispute is ridiculous, and Best Wurst should understand where Parkside is coming from in asking them to simply move across the street.
By Maria Gurrola
July 17, 2010 11:23 AM | Link to this
Right-of-way (sidewalk) permits for mobile food vending are site specific and have defined space requirements and limitations – a mobile food vendor cannot simply “roll down the street,” and locations are very difficult to acquire. Currently, there are no other locations available for The Best Wurst to move to from 6th and San Jacinto.
In an agreement to accommodate Parkside’s balcony build, The Best Wurst has worked with the City to TEMPORARILY move across the street with the permission of that location’s vending permit holder, the owner of Vice. Notarthomas states, “it’s a temporary fix and the location is not only unavailable, but unworkable because it does create a right-of-way (sidewalk) obstruction.”
By Nick E.
August 9, 2010 1:15 AM | Link to this
We can argue back and forth about what’s “better for austin” or “more Austin” but that is not only subjective, but idiotic at best. The point is simple: Cirkiel owns the building and has freedom and right to do what he wishes with it, including his front porch, and Best Wurst has wheels, they roll that thing into position all week long, they can easily roll elsewhere. If Jon was so dedicated to his location, he should have found a way to move those wheels inside a structure. It’s unfortunate, but life isn’t always a box of chocolates; operating a trailer has it’s risks and rewards, they pay no property taxes or rent, etc, just a couple hundred bucks a year for a permit, very low overhead, and a boatload of profit. I’ve nothing against best wurst, Jon may be a swell guy, he may not, but it’s neither here nor there. Chef Cirkiel does amazing work, if you’re reasonable enough to try, and has a long history of doing so in some of Austin’s most celebrated establishments. It goes no further than this and those few unfortunate souls small enough to make such infantile personal attacks on anyone, much less a stranger, should find avenues toward intelligence.