Free Chick-Fil-A waffle fries from 2 to 4 p.m,

It’s been a great week for free food: cupcakes, IHOP pancakes, cupcakes, cupcakes, oh sweet cupcakes...but if you’re in need of a little break from the sweetness, Chick-fil-A will be your salty savior today.

The quick service chicken chain will be giving away a free medium order of waffle fries from 2 to 4 p.m. The catch? All you have to do is simply ask to try the new Heinz Dip & Squeeze.

Oh, and you can get a free cupcake today too. Sprinklesmobile will be on Capitol Hill.

Food truck woes

A group of restaurant and business leaders are asking the District to begin charging sales tax on the city’s food trucks. Mobile vendors and traditional vendors (souvenir stands, hot dog carts, etc.) pay an annual $1,500 fee instead of taxes. Some critics say the city is losing money for not charging the 10 percent prepared-food tax that’s in place at traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants. But would it be fair to impose a food tax on all 600-plus vendors in the city? A DCRA spokesperson tells the Georgetown Dish that the agency doesn’t distinguish between the different types of mobile vendors, so basically a standard hot dog cart that serves $2-3 dogs could be required to pay the same amount of taxes as the Red Hook Lobster Truck, which charges $15 a roll and gets five times as much business.
• VIDEO: Sales tax urged for D.C.’s food trucks (ABC-7)

While mobile vendors may not have worry about food taxes just yet, they do have to be concerned about licenses. Apparently, the newly launched SOL Mexican Grill was forced to pack up and roll home yesterday. According to Food Truck Fiesta, the truck, featuring burritos and tacos, is licensed, however the individual who holds the license was not in the truck during service. Oops.

Top Chefs: Food trucks and DCCK

Former Top Chef-All Stars contestant Spike Mendelsohn will be hitting the streets this spring with his own food truck. The Feast reports that Mendelsohn’s newest venture will be a kosher food truck serving traditional Jewish items. The Top Chef star is working in collaboration with the District’s Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. The new set of wheels dubbed 'Sixth & Rye,' will be available only on Fridays for lunch.

Meanwhile, another former Top Chef-All Stars contestant, Carla Hall, has joined D.C. Central Kitchen’s board of directors. Hall’s experience with the organization began when she started leading cooking classes at their Culinary Job Training program. "It is the most moving experience to see these students take that incredible step forward in changing their lives," she says. (h/t DCist)

On the way...

• Rosa Mexicano is opening a new location at 5225 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Friendship Heights, reports the Washington Business Journal. The restaurant, featuring modern and authentic Mexican cuisine, is aiming for a November opening.

• Rita’s H Street location reopens March 11. The Italian ice shop that features a variety of frozen treats will celebrate their reopening with free ice water on the first day of spring -- March 20. (H Street Great Street)

• The Los Angeles-based barbecue joint Baby Blue BBQ is looking to open a location in D.C. (Eater DC)

• Klassy Kakes is opening a location at 705 Kennedy St. NW. (The Brightwoodian, PoP)

In other food and restaurant news...

• Have you voted for the Artisphere cafe's new name? (TBD)

• How Kyle Bailey won Food and Wine’s Mid-Atlantic category (Washington Post)

• Bethesda’s Pizzeria de Marco has delayed their opening from March 28 to mid-April. (Eater DC)

• The political unrest in the Middle East might force us to go on diets. (The Daily Beast)

• Love Nightclub will be hosting a Top Chef style competition to determine the executive chef for the newly managed venue. According to the news release, each contestant will be required to prepare three courses for a panel of three judges and 150 guests. The event takes place tonight at the nightclub, located at 1350 Okie St. NE.

From TBD’s Community Network

• Capitol Bites: Review: ChiDogO’s A-Go-Go
• DC-Wrapped Dates: Review: Estadio
• One Bite at a Time: Review: DC Noodles
• We Love DC: Drinks: Sake at Kushi
• Plum Pie: Recipe: Fig and blue cheese savouries

Plan Ahead -- Upcoming food and drink events

• March 7-13 -- Frederick Restaurant Week
• March 10 -- Dining out for Life

Sweet Deals

• Feb. 28 - March 6 -- Free cupcakes from Sprinkles
• March 4 -- Free waffle fries at Chick-fil-A

Food truck time