Brawley restaurant owner is against homemade meals sold on the street

A Brawley restaurant owner is upset over what he calls unfair competition.

Brownie’s Diner owner Gabriel Rebollar said, “It’s not really fair. No. It’s not fair.”

He was referring to the proposed AB 626 bill by Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia which would legalize street homemade food sales.

“It’s not fair, really because it takes sales from us, and we’re trying to survive as a business here. Things are more costly. I don’t think it’s fair, but, if they pay for the permits and stuff,” Rebollar said.

The bill would make it legal for people to prepare meals at home and sell them on the street.

“Here we pay permits for the health department, we have health cards. We pay sales tax, insurance,” Rebollar said.

He said street sellers would have no overhead costs or restrictions like his business has.

“These people that sell food out there, they don’t pay no insurance, no workman’s comp, no taxes. Every time an inspector comes they charge one hundred twenty-five dollars for each inspection,” Rebollar said.
He said it all adds up to playing on an unfair field. But Garcia said the bill does place restrictions on street sellers.

“The goal of this bill is not to turn a house small business into a restaurant business. There will be very clear and defined restrictions in the amount and the type of food that will be allowed through the public health and safety law,” Garcia said.

The assembly member said he plans a series of workshops to explain the bill more fully. He added that recently a Sacramento single mother of six kids was arrested for selling homemade food outside her home. He said that wasn’t fair to people striving to survive, either.

In the meantime, one local restaurant owner is not happy about it.

“They should pay for a permit, report their sales tax, have the health department check where they’re cooking at. Check their house,” Rebollar said.