For crying out loud.

I have to fly 12,000 miles to visit my family in my former home of New York. Every time I do, I drop my bags off at their place near Union Square; get on the subway; head uptown on the 2-3 express; and buy 2 tacos and a tamarind soda at the taco truck on the corner of 96th and Broadway.

Ultimately, the 12,000 mile trip is worth it. Plus I get to see my family.

Toronto needs em too, badly. Maybe I'll propose a taco truck amnesty program to the Ontario government.

I guess you're too good for Taco Bell.

Filthy elitists!

I ordered a Cheesy Bean & Rice Burrito at Taco Bell this week, but they mixed up my order and gave me the Cheesy Beefy Melt. I took one big bite and got a mouthful of Taco Bell beef. Even in the days when I ate factory-farmed meats, I knew to stay away from the beef of Taco Bell, and now I fully experienced its horrendous horrendousness.

I was afraid to eat for a while after that. Eventually I got a Potbelly's sandwich and felt better. And yes, I loves the peppers.

The real crime is living in DC and never having eaten at Burrito Brothers.

Try it out Ezra.

Be interesting to know which side R or D that is promoting this legislation. Doesnt really sounds like something dems would be for.. but then again Rs are always spouting off about the virtues of the 'free market'. ..that is until they're actually expected to compete in one.

I own/operate a small brick and mortar coffeeshop/restaurant. Those people are just whiners. Ive seen other shops come and go around here, some portable, others brick and mortar. The trick is to offer products, or an atmosphere that the others dont.

..but that takes work, and most people dont actually want to contribute to their business. They just want to copy someone elses business model, have corps like FSA deliver all their product pre-made and brag about all the money 'they' are making.

Go TacoTrucks! ..may the best of both worlds survive.

Neil, It's been over a decade since I've eaten a beef product at Taco Bell, so I get where you're coming from. I stick to the Chalupas.
I don't really like the taste of red meat anyway (I know, Unamerican.).

The only taco truck we EVER have in this little town is when the track is in season. Sometimes you can find one then, but you can find just about anything then. It'll be a couple of months, but when it opens I'll check it out and try to formulate an opinion.

If the version of WP available at post time is accurate, Ezra is from Irvine in Orange County (I'm going to guess at least 45 minutes from downtown L.A.) and went to UCLA on L.A.'s Westside (the one where the money is and not too many taco trucks are).

I've had a couple of people from "back East" tell me that they don't like tortillas. I'm like, how can you not like tortillas? That's like not liking bread!

But I have to say L.A. (so-called) "Mexican" fast food sucks in comparison to that of San Diego. All the L.A. fast food places mix beans and rice into everything; in S.D. you get those on the side, plus better salsa.

Some of the best food in India is available via Hand Cart Vendors.
Be a pity if these carts were outlawed.

They are NOT trying to ban taco trucks. They are trying to ban taco trucks that stay in the same place 24 hrs a day, becoming unlicensed restaurants in violation of the local zoning laws. The proposed law only requires taco trucks to move every couple of hours.

Some of the best food in India is available via Hand Cart Vendors.

The best food I had in Singapore was from the street. Fresh, delicious, imaginative.

I'm from Chicago, and so have had good mexican food a lot. Am in NYC now, and had dinner at a mid-range place called 'Cilantro'. Good quality ingredients, but...just slop. Wads and wads of slop. Some carne asada *is* a crime, if only a misdimeanor.

It's unspeakably stupid that we are having an anti-immigrant backlash right now. In ways large and small, immigrants contribute enormously to the quality of life in this country. Immigrants are our glory, our economic ace in the hole, our engine, our blood. We'd be little more than merely a slightly extra-pretentious banana republic without immigrants. The latter kind of republic is what we've been turning into in recent years, so I guess it fits.

At the moment, in this little agricultural outpost in the middle of Nowheresville, Florida, we have a good-sized community of Mexican immigrants who work in the farms--the few remaining ones, that is. So we get to enjoy fantastic Mexican lunches, too, courtesy of the town taco truck.

High real estate prices--until recently, anyway--drove most of the farmers to sell to developers, and the town began to look like every other faux-Mediterranean "little boxes" suburb in America. I was worried about our town losing its multicultural character altogether, along with the taco truck and the Spanish grocery store, a must-stop for coconut and tamarind sodas, tembleque mix, and super-cheap herbs and spices. In recent months, though, a lot of these razed farms have been abandoned by the developers, so perhaps they'll be replanted with the tomatoes and strawberries of yesterday. For now, thank goodness, the taco truck remains in business and so does the little grocery shop.

It's the standard combination of NIMBYism ("they're a blight!") and economic self-interest (brick-and-mortar restaurants don't much like them).

FWIW, I had a much longer, somewhat more coherent comment last night, but it got eaten....

My oritinal point was that there is no excuse for eating bad Mexican food. Home made is the best, of course, which is why the stuff small vendors sell is often so good. The obvious way around the problem of bad mexican restaurants where you are is to make your own! Mexican cuisine is deep and sophisticated, but it's not necessarily very diifficult!

Ezra,
Wikipedia, that fountain of truly miscellaneous information, defines this situation as: NAMBI (Not Against My Business/Industry).
Also, having seen the problems with places that shut down too early (Oxford England closes at 11pm, for example) with a large number of late-night students/youths, you want them to have predictable traffic flows/patterns in order to keep them from spreading out and being harder to manage/watch.

"Some of the best food in India is available via Hand Cart Vendors. "

I'd take that a little farther. ALL of the best food in India is available at hand cart vendors. There are fabulous restaurants in India, but the street food seems to always be the best. Half the time, I don't even know what I'm eating, but it's damn good, whatever it is.

jonnybutter opines: It's unspeakably stupid that we are having an anti-immigrant backlash right now.

The backlash is to involuntary mass immigration and illegal immigration, largely from one country. It's not against immigration itself.

You and litbrit might want to consider how your comments reveal your psychological issues.

the proposed legislation

If you were to read the NYT article, you'd see that this is not proposed legislation, this is newly and duly enacted legislation, which goes into effect in the coming week. It applies only to unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, such as East LA, highlighted in the Times story.

They're not attacking hot dog trucks.

Actually, they are hassling the bacon-wrapped-hot-dog cart guys lately - some "health code" piffle. But those tend to be mexicans, too, so that washes out.

The backlash is to involuntary mass immigration and illegal immigration, largely from one country. It's not against immigration itself.

You and litbrit might want to consider how your comments reveal your psychological issues.

MY psychological issues? I think anyone who thinks they can, over time, really stop large migration of people across borders - here or anywhere - with a *fence* has some issues as well, like ignorance issues. Willy nilly migration *can* be a problem, has often been a problem over the centuries. I'd say that it takes something a little more subtle and effective than a (very very very long) wall to address it.

This country thrives on and attracts cheap labor. I notiice that the vast majority of Mexican immigrants have jobs (and families) so somebody obviously loves it that they're here.

And I would suggest than there's a feeling of anxiety about immigrants other than just Mexicans. Many of the same people who are flipped out about Mexicans want to plant bugs in Mosques, etc. I think Romney pandered to that sentiment, didn't he?

My point is that, even including now with big latino immigration, we as a whole nation have gotten more out of immigration than we've 'put in', so to speak, if you count everything we've gotten, including cultural flavor and wholesomeness. That doesn't mean that the population can grow indefinitely, but people need to check the reasons they think iimmigration is a 'criisis' right now. And rather than blame the immigrants - even if they're here illiegally - they need to ask their 'business leaders' and the politicians (like Bush) those leaders buy, what the plan is. There is no plan, of course, just line-of-least-resistance, rube goldberg meandering. Snatch as much money as you possibly can at all times for tomorrow we shall die - that's the plan.

BTW, what do you mean by 'involuntary mass immigration'?

The most important thing America has gotten out of mass illegal immigration is the ability to tell young underclass blacks to f@ck off. No one wants to hire them, not even progressives. I bet Obama has some hard-working and civil Mexican illegals mowing his lawn in Kenwood right now (just as Romney did) rather than the gangbangers from a few blocks away.

As problematic as mass illegal immigration is, it sure beats having to hire from the ghetto. That's why there will be no stopping the illegals—they're the Man's answer to America's race problem.

1. I realize the key to solving this issue lies in discrediting those publicly-facing persons who are behind it or support it: politicians, pundits, etc. Once their careers start to suffer, things will change, and no fence will be needed.

2. Regarding "country thrives on and attracts cheap labor", different countries have different types of economies, and just because some think we should import the hacienda system doesn't mean they're thinking of the best interests of the U.S.

3. The immigration over the past few decades has been brought about without the consent of and against the wishes of the majority of Americans, and largely through deceit. Thus, it's been involuntary (in regards to us).

Yeah, California Tortilla can pretty much suck it. Any place that puts lettuce on their burritos is not a place I want to eat at.

I have been told to try Taqueria Nacionale at 400 North Cap Street, but haven't made it there yet.

Sorry to divert this nice food thread a little, but..

There is obvious cultural/racial fear out there, and it's not just about Mexicans. If TLB is saying that the illegal immigration issue and the backlash-as-political-fact issue are separate, then that's a different story.

Once again, Arl/Alex benefit at the expense of DC. 2 taco/pupusa trucks can be found every day, all year, on 28th St S in Arlington, behind the Shirley Park Giant. (There are always folks using the soccer fields there.) Highly recommended.

Bonus: In summer, there's an ice cream truck making the rounds too!

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