An Outpouring of Taco Truck Love

La Estrella from Great Taco Hunt, Flickr

The blogosphere is abuzz with news of the taco truck wars---YorkBlvd even launched a letter writing campaign directed at Supervisor Gloria Molina who penned the ordinance that will essentially run the trucks out of town---but one of the city's biggest fans of street vendors, a veritable King of Taco Trucks, Jonathan Gold, finally has his say:

Why would an ordinarily sensible woman wait 45 minutes outside a truck to secure the same plate of food she could nab in one-tenth that time at the related taquería next door? Sure, it’s the communal experience, the great brotherhood of the taco-eaters, but it is also the food. In tacos as in love, timing is everything, and if you’ve ever inhaled a taco of pork al pastor moments after the slivers of dripping meat have been hacked from the spit, you know: At that moment, desire and fulfillment are one. A great street taco is happiness translated into the language of warm tortillas, finely chopped onion and a hot sauce that bring you to your knees.

Gold doesn't editorialize much on whether Molina's law is wrong, but it's obvious where his loyalties lie. And really, if the taco trucks were obsolete, where would the man eat half the time? As for that letter writing campaign, an update: "The petition is working and your thousands of signatures are getting some serious attention. We’re receiving support from all over Los Angeles and all across the world...But we need to keep going, especially in the areas most affected...Let's shoot for 5,000 signatures by May 1st."
· Saving the Taco Trucks [~ELA~]
· Keep on (Taco) Trucking [LA Weekly]
· Good News Everyone [SaveOurTacoTrucks.org]