Several food carts in Bend close down due to heat wave

(Update: adding video, new info, comments from food truck & lot owners)

On Tap, Midtown Yacht Club and River's Place all closed Tuesday

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- While some restaurants in Central Oregon are finding ways to beat the heat, with misters and air conditioning, others don't have that same luxury - specifically, food trucks.

In fact, the owners of at least three food cart lots in Bend made the decision to close.

That included the On Tap food cart lot on Northeast Cushing Drive in Bend. All six trucks there, along with the tap room, were locked up Tuesday.

Josh Duda, a co-owner of Jackaroo Pies, one of the food trucks at On Tap, explained to NewsChannel 21 what it was like to be inside the truck on Monday.

"It pretty much felt like working with the oven door open for the whole day," he said. "The little air conditioner was really just a gimmick."

In the middle of the day, Josh sent a picture from inside the truck to his wife and co-owner Amy of a thermometer reading 109 degrees, which climbed to 112 later in the day.

So the On Tap owners made the call to close, and Amy wasn't complaining.

“After it being like 110 degrees in the truck yesterday, I think it was a smart move,” she said.

Meanwhile, River's Place on Northeast Purcell Boulevard has been closed for the last two days. Even though he doesn't work in the trucks himself, co-owner Paul Shorey said it was an easy decision to make, when thinking about the cooks.

“I've heard anywhere from 15 to 20 degrees hotter inside the trucks,” Shorey said. “It depends. A couple of our trucks have air-conditioning in them, but the ones that don't, I think it jumps up 15-20 degrees, with all those hot tables in there, all the ovens and stuff."

To beat the heat, Shorey said some of the food truck employees would come take breaks in the walk-in beer cooler in the back of the house at River’s Place, where it's only 40 degrees, compared to triple digit temperatures outside.

Overall, the closures are a temporary measure to avoid a lingering, even permanent tragedy.

All of those food carts expect to reopen Wednesday -- if the thermometer cooperates.