There are many things I cherish about living in California--In-N-Out, the beach, fog, perfect weather 300 days a year, the color of the hills in August--but one of the benefits of California living about which I'm most vocal is the taqueria/taco truck. What do people do, exactly, who don't have constant access to authentic Mexican food? Now, I'm a little picky (okay, a lot picky) about meat in general, so it's not like I'm even partaking of tongue tacos, but I have a strong belief in the right of all human beings to have good carnitas, or even just solid bean/rice burritos, and I can't help but think that people living in taqueria-less regions aren't quite living full lives.
Which is why I was so utterly excited to see that an elusive legend has returned: TacoTrucks.net, a website listing and rating Oakland taco trucks. It's been offline for quite awhile, much to the dismay of my coworkers and I. The new version isn't quite firing on all cylinders--it only deals with East Oakland and Fruitvale right now--but we're hoping it'll be including our neck of the woods soon. And, actually, the current incarnation may be helpful, since the best Mexican food in Oakland is obviously in Fruitvale, where I never, ever go. Maybe I'll take an exploratory trip down there and come back with something tasty (especially since Day of the Dead is coming up. Wooo, pink-sugar bread!) Welcome back, taco trucks!
6 comments:
You are picky about meat, and yet you are willing to eat off a truck? Even my standards aren't that low!
Teri
When I was in Jersey for those three years I was sans valid Mexican food. It was hell. When the cloeset thing you can get to authentic is Chevy's, you are in a world of hurt. My buddy went to Taco Bell once, and they had run out of beans! At a Taco Bell, that's the main staple, how do you run out of beans? It is crazy. So wheneve I came home I went to Gordo's as quickly as possible.
Teri, it's not like they're running over small animals, scooping them up off the pavement, and throwing them into a pot. Most taco trucks are associated with actual restaurants, so they come from non-rolling locations. Besides, I have not yet died from eating taco-truck food. And it's so delicious!
Also, I have a rigorous routine that I go through with all taquerias: start with something vegetarian; if everything seems okay, move on to the chicken. If the chicken's bad, go back to the veggie burrito. If the chicken's okay, check out the carnitas. There are many places with whom I have a strong relationship based on their bean/rice burritos.
Hee, Taco Bell with no beans. That's awesome. See, I realize that the entire East Coast is without the glory of the taqueria, but I don't think I actually believe it. What do they eat? Chicken parm? Lobster roll? Don't they know that a good burrito covers a multitude of sins?
To my amazement a taco truck appeared a few weeks ago in South Tacoma. I am too scared to try it, though, because it's at a gas station and it's a ghetto taco truck in a not-so-great end of town. They probably don't have enchiladas either.
Yeah, enchiladas are probably a little messy for the taco truck. The ghetto-er, the better, though, I say. Just go during the day, and take Matt with you (heh, or Paul, I guess, but Matt makes me think "taco truck"). I'm so happy that Tacoma is finally becoming taco truck territory! Yum.
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