Food trucks in larger cities sell everything from tacos to gourmet bites and have lit up TV shows and blogs.

Their admirers say, the down economy makes mobile food vending a more attractive option than traditional restaurants right now.

They're cheaper to establish and to patronize.

Some Savannah entrepreneurs want to jump on the national food truck trend but are finding it tough.

City and state rules make it hard to sell street food.

In Georgia, state law says, any mobile food unit must be attached to a licensed, permanent kitchen.

And in Savannah, it's nearly impossible.

Restaurateur April Sanderson originally wanted to start a food truck in Savannah.

She now runs Sammy Greens, a brick-and-mortar restaurant that specializes in food influenced by the culture of global street food.

"What we all think of as mobile vending, you can't do in Savannah because of zoning," Sanderson says. "Somewhere along the way, we were sent a list of ordinances that said that basically we couldn't do it. They're pretty strict."

A coalition of would-be food truck vendors has sprung up to push for easing local rules.

Todd Jones of the Chatham County Health Department's says, the rules are there to protect public health.

State law dictates what has to be in the permanent kitchen, depending on the individual vendor.

"Everything depends on the menu that is wished to be served," Jones says. "The menu itself actually dictates what type of equipment is needed at the base of operation."

Some existing restaurant owners, however, are protecting their more-capitalized turf.

They say, given the fragile state of the economy, right now is not the time for more competition that could put them out of business.

They also doubt that Savannah has the foot traffic and population density to support the kind of food truck culture that exists in cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Portland.

Tags: Savannah, GPB News, food trucks, street food, Sammy Greens, April Sanderson