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Almost 10 Weimar residents, almost all women, in support of local businesses called for Weimar City Council to enable The Weimar Tavern to operate a kitchen and to loosen tight restrictions on food trucks during the council meeting, Thursday, March 12.
The council reviewed but ultimately took no action on The Tavern’s request for electrical service connection and an ordinance on mobile food units. Citizens in public comment emphasized a need for new and different food options in town.
“The most common things I hear from residents, visitors and business owners is that Weimar needs more food options, a coffee place, and it comes up again and again and again,” Weimar Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tiffany Hougardy said. “…I know everyone here, y’all want to support small businesses that’s obviously why everyone is here tonight. We don’t need business leaving our town or selling because things aren’t happening fast enough.”
The Tavern
The city will offer The Weimar Tavern a reimbursement of the funds spent on installing an additional power box under city advisement that was later discovered to be not allowed. Owners Debbie Manchaca and Laurie Anderson said the additional 200-amp power box was to allow The Tavern to introduce a small kitchen needed for their success. Mayor Carlton Tucker said The Tavern and its service are “intrical to a community like Weimar.”
“…We felt like the only thing that was fair to Debbie and to John and to the family that put so much into this, that we make them whole, so that the monies that they’ve expended toward where we are at the moment, which doesn’t ultimately get us where we want to be, that we can…provide those funds to them so that we can start back at square one and move accordingly,” Tucker said.
City Manager David Mason recently notified the owners that the additional power box is not allowed under the National Electric Code, which the city adopted as its regulatory law. After spending $10,000 and committing another $15,000 on electrical work and a vent and fire system, Manchaca said the city left them with no clear answer on how to proceed.
“We don’t know at this point to sell it and move on, which would just about break us, or to stick with it and try to make it work,” Manchaca said.
Mason said the city would review the transformer and electrical connection again the next morning. The next afternoon, Manchaca posted on The Weimar Tavern’s Facebook page that they would be starting over in pursuit of a 320-amp service box instead of a second 200amp box.
“I think we are on the same page now…We are sti l l looking at about $25,000 but we will get there,” she wrote. “God is good. So many young people came in last night…all wanting us to stay. So good. We people are like family…Laurie and I really feel loved.”
Manchaca and Anderson moved to Weimar in May 2025 and, at Anderson’s behest, purchased and opened The Weimar Tavern at the historic location on North Mechanic Street built in 1951. The Tavern hosts dominoes, board games, darts, pool, music, dancing and more for its patrons of mostly middle-aged and retired women. The bar has also engaged in community service with the local Lions Club and other organizations.
Cindy Villarreal, former executive director of Senior Connections and former regional service director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, said the bar is a rare safe space for women over retirement age to socialize.
“I feel like a light has been turned on here in Weimar,” Villarreal said. “…I see due diligence by these ladies. I also see stewardship by these ladies and an investment that they’ve made in our community, and so I’d like to see that continue.”
Food trucks
Hougardy led the fight to amend city ordinances on food trucks to encourage business retention and prevent the imminent loss of a local business and its future expansions.
“At this point, we have a small business owner whose livelihood is directly affected by the delay and updating this ordinance,” Hougardy said. “This is someone who has invested a significant amount of money into starting a business here in Weimar after being told this ordinance was in the process of being updated. We are now roughly six months into that process, and nothing has been finalized, and they are at a standstill.”
Current city ordinances prohibit mobile food units from being left overnight at any location except for no more than three consecutive nights for long-cooking meats for special events. The ordinance also limits regular operational hours to 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and business operation to only one mobile unit. Hougardy said a revised ordinance would give small businesses the opportunity to open without having the capital needed to rent or construct a building in the l imited spaces across town.
“Right now, Weimar has one of the strictest food truck ordinances in the area. It makes it extremely difficult to attract food trucks, and it doesn’t allow for types of permanent food trucks permanently,” Hougardy said. “Meanwhile, every single town around us allows them, and people from our town are going outside of Weimar and spending their money. We need to keep that here and we need to attract outside money to our businesses.”
Hougardy said the ordinance has been under discussion since she started in her role around two years ago, but Weimar Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Gary Cernoch said he only learned of the effort six weeks ago. Cernoch said all zoning and permitting changes have to be presented to the council through the commission. Cernoch said he doesn’t want to present a “half-baked” ordinance that will later require amendments and create grandfathering complications.
“As far as locat ing these things and restricting location of food trucks and etcetera, that falls into the zoning, and so we have to get something written up to handle that,” Cernoch said. “We are working on it now, and we’ll try to get it out as quickly as possible.”
