It continues to be hard times for street food folks of all stripes, as Downtown’s White Boy Tacos got their stuff confiscated right off the street this week.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, chef Bryan McMillan videotaped health department personnel rifling through his belongings and ultimately taking off with his food and grill. It’s a setback for the fledgeling street vendor startup, which had started to make a name for itself after getting profiled by LA Weekly and a few other publications around town.
Of course, the sudden disruption of one’s livelihood is certainly nothing new for street vendors in Los Angeles. For more than 100 years street food has been marginalized by the city of Los Angeles, with intense confiscation efforts ebbing and flowing over the years. If anything, this current political climate makes the future of the street vendor more uncertain than ever, though advocates and city officials remain committed to trying to find a legal pathway forward.
As for White Boy Tacos, the plan is to regroup after the service hiccup and get back out on Broadway, possibly as early as this evening. In the meantime, take a read through this awesome LA Weekly piece about what it means to use the label “white guy” when cooking the cuisines of other cultures in Los Angeles.