Solving the modern street food dilemma: New app helps users find open vendors

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Few things are more disappointing than arriving with an appetite for doubles or barbecue, only to find the stand closed for the day.

If you’re a street-food enthusiast, that frustration is probably familiar.

Thirty-one-year-old software developer Ishmael Moreno is hoping to solve this dilemma with his new app, Bara, which allows users to check whether food vendors are open and discover nearby options.

“Sometimes you go for doubles and the doubles vendor isn’t there. That’s what kind of inspired the idea. When I went to a doubles vendor last week, I asked him what day he’s usually there, and he told me, every day. However, I know there are some days when I go there and he’s not there. So, the problem I’m trying to solve with Bara is to inform people on whether a place is open or not,” he shared.

Moreno said he and his team— Shanice O’Brien and Kafra Morris— were inspired by a tweet last year in which someone asked about having an app to easily locate nearby vendors and rate them. They began developing the concept earlier this year and launched Bara in April.

“Bara is a community-powered app that focuses on food discovery for people to find food nearby. It’s a similar concept to Waze where people report police and speed traps, et cetera. The app allows that sort of community check-in for food vendors so others will know if it’s open or closed,” Moreno explained.

Originally created for doubles vendors, Moreno said he knew people would want a wider variety of options, such as barbecue joints, pholourie vendors and other local favourites.

Current categories include doubles, gyro, pholourie, bake and shark, burgers, chow, ice cream and souse.

Users can also add vendors directly through the app by pinpointing their location on a map and entering details such as opening hours, price range, accessibility and parking information.

Moreno said the feature not only helps users discover new food spots but also gives smaller vendors greater visibility.

“The core of the app is basically for small businesses, but it’s for discovery for small businesses that are unknown compared to popular ones like KFC and Subway. We have around 315 vendors all over Trinidad and Tobago, with doubles, barbecue and roti vendors being the most popular,” he noted.

Currently, the app has more than 600 users, but Moreno is hoping to expand and possibly add new features. While Bara is now focused on helping users discover food vendors, the team said future updates could include delivery options and other features as the platform grows.