Quaker Shaker food truck to leave Locust Walk after 20 years

For the last 20 years, food and drinks have been available just steps off Locust Walk -- making the Quaker Shaker food truck almost a University landmark. But after tomorrow the popular truck now located on 37th Street and Locust Walk will be forced to battle for customers on the street or close its business altogether -- over the summer the University informed owners Tim Dever and Mark Gosik they had to leave their spot. But the owners said they won't leave quietly. University officials said the move is necessary due to construction and a future master plan to reorganize vendors in the campus area. The current construction near the food truck is at the former Theta Xi fraternity house -- now the site of the Penn Women's Center at 3643 Locust Walk. But Gosik said he believes the sudden change is unnecessary and will disturb many students and faculty. "I have always felt as if the Quaker Shaker was an ambassador for Penn," Gosik said. "We don't deserve to be forced out after serving the University for so long." The owners of the food truck said they received a letter on July 15 that terminated their monthly lease. Gosik said the letter was the first information the Quaker Shaker received about moving. But Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman said the University told the Quaker Shaker about the lease termination "many months ago." "I'm not sure why this came as a surprise to the vendor," Scheman said. "The University had planned to reclaim this space as a staging area for adjacent construction." Scheman added that the food truck would be included in a future plan for vendors in the campus area. Gosik said the University is not considering how the termination will affect the Quaker Shaker and its employees. "I have three kids to take care of and many other families will also be affected," Gosik explained. "We will be out of business for three months before the new vendor plan is completed." The owners of the Quaker Shaker said they do not plan on competing with street vendors, especially since they have been stationed on campus since 1976. Gosik said many students, faculty and workers will miss the food truck's presence on campus. "They can't take away the Quaker Shaker," said 1996 College graduate Paul Pimentel. "The people in Annenberg won't have anything to eat!" Several signs announcing the departure, as well as a petition that already has a long list of signatures, are posted on the truck. Gosik said he believes that once the full student body and professors return to campus, the administration will receive complaints about the move. To facilitate that, Quaker Shaker employees are handing out Scheman's office number and will begin to distribute form letters within the week. "On September 1, the Wharton professors that we serve donuts and coffee to every day are going to be looking for us," Gosik said. "We also donate a significant amount of food and money to the University in various functions." The Quaker Shaker regularly caters for the Penn Crew team and various Wharton School functions. Gosik said he believes that an additional reason for the truck's closure is the pretzel stand across the street from them. He claims the stand was violating health regulations and was previously forced to close by the University. "The pretzel stand owned by former State Senator Milton Street was really shaky," Gosik said. "They had several propane tanks and had no running water for example." Gosik said Street and his brother John, a city councilman, influenced the University to ban the Quaker Shaker, since it is the only other vendor on campus. "The University decided to essentially shut down a business which employs a few people because they did not want political problems," said 1996 Wharton graduate Eric Sachs in response to Gosik's claims. But Scheman said the lease termination had nothing to do with the pretzel vendor operated by Street.