- February 10, 2026
Palm Coast is ending its traditional Food Truck Tuesday in favor of a new event, mixing food and entertainment, called Beats & Eats.
The announcement of the new event series came as Palm Coast finalized a new ordinance that will allow food truck vendors to operate in Palm Coast outside of special events. The ordinance, finalized on Feb. 3, will allow food trucks to work on commercial properties with permission from the property owners.
Cool Beans Barbeque and Catering owners Keith and Tanya Derstine were among the food vendors providing feedback to Palm Coast staff, helping to iron out the details of the new ordinance.
For now, Cool Beans will remain at their regular location in Bunnell Tuesday through Friday, but they’re looking forward to trying out new locations in Palm Coast.
“We have people that like our food, that live on the northeast side,” Keith Derstine said. “If we did find a place in the center of town that would be happy to have us, we'd be happy to go there.”
The ordinance also requires food vendors meet state licensing requirements — which they had to do before to serve at special events. That means all their food and serving has to meet health and safety codes, Keith Derstine said, something most people may not be aware of.
Food trucks are not like they used to be, he said.
“The community needs to know that we're under those guidelines,” Derstine said. “If you came by and looked at our trailer and looked in it, you would say, ‘Wow, this is clean.’ And that's how it's supposed to be.”
Tanya Derstine said the council took the time to listen to the vendors’ concerns and input.
“They respected what the food trucks had to say as far as getting this moving forward and implementing it,” she said.
Beats & Eats will launch in May 2026, according to a Palm Coast press release. Working on the framework established in the city’s newly-approved food truck ordinance, Palm Coast is building a dedicated food truck pad that will have space for eight food trucks, with room for another four in the grass.
These improvements are funded through a $55,000 donation made to Palm Coast on Feb. 3 from the Town Center at Palm Coast Community Development District.
The intent behind Beats & Eats is to combine the food truck lineup residents enjoy on Food Truck Tuesdays with the Palm Coast Concert series, taking place monthly from May through October.
Parks & Recreation Director James Hirst and Marketing Director Brittany Kershaw, in an email to the Observer, said the response from food vendors has been overall positive. Feedback from residents over the years has been to request more community events with entertainment, Hirst wrote.
Depending on the weather and band organized for the concert series, attendance at the concerts and Food Truck Tuesdays typically ranges between 800-1,000 people, Hirst wrote.
The Derstines were concerned, though. Food Truck Tuesdays has built a strong reputation after almost a decade in operation, Derstine said, and draws a larger crowd than they have experienced at the concerts.
“People really like the Food Truck Tuesday event,” he said.
During the events for Food Truck Tuesday from March to October, Tanya Derstine said, they earned between $12,000 and $18,000 on average, depending on the weather.
The Beats & Eats events will be an hour shorter, with two less event days. That’s not accounting for any event dates that could be cancelled because of weather.
“We're taking a huge financial loss this year without Food Truck Tuesday,” she said.
Keith Derstine encouraged residents and vendors who also had concerns about the merging events to reach out to the city. Ideally, he said, they would like to have both events available.
“We're just really trying to enhance the abilities for the food trucks that are available in the city of Palm Coast,” he said.
Beats & Eats will occur on the following dates: May 28, June 25, July 30, Aug. 27, Sept. 24 and Oct. 22. All the dates are on Thursdays, except Oct. 22, to avoid conflicts with Halloween and the Palm Coast Fire Department’s Hall of Terror events.
