So, every 59 minutes, start the truck, and pull forward one inch.
Technically not the same spot as the previous 59 minutes.

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As a business owner myself, I watch the guys who own brick and mortar restaurants struggle throughout the slow times, only to see the non-local mobile vendors swoop in during the hot times and hoover up much of the money. The mobiles pay no or few taxes, and aren't here for we the locals when we need them, they are basically parasites on our parades, summer beach days, and such, taking but leaving nothing of value, and not supporting the town.

A few years ago our town began reqiring a $500 yearly license on mobiles (it had been $10), since then the mobiles have quit coming to our events, leaving more money for the restaurants, and in fact at least three new restaurants have opened in the last three years, bringing more money into the town center and helping the town. Also several of the older restaurants have been able to remodel and elevate their menus.

The mobiles go to construction and industrial sites so that the workers can buy hot fresh food during breaks. When I was a cement finisher, I bought many meals at the "roach coaches."

The next town over has a large hospital zone (Yale) with no restaurants in easy walking distance, they allow a number of mobiles to congregate on a local street in the center of the zone. These mobiles serve very high quality food, including several ethnic styles that are well thought of. The alternative is the hospital cafeterias; when my father-in-law was a patient, he would send family members out to the mobiles for something tasty instead of the bland hospital food, which I was given to know by some of the staff is a problem for some patients on restricted diets.

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Here is a great Taco tool:

http://yumtacos.com/

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Atlas Shrugged anyone?

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I love Taco Trucks.
Did you know some are going 'green', too -
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/food_coach&id=5996608

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Taco trucks are as much a part of the melting pot that is L.A. as are pho joints and sushi bars. I understand the concerns restaurant-owners have, but I think there's enough hungry people out there for every food peddler to make a living. Besides, when you're coming home from a late evening, the restaurants are closed, but the taco trunks aren't. And I defy you to find a better carne asada taco than at Tacos La Fonda, my fave taco truck that can often be found on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood. It's L.A. comfort food, plain and simple. Check out the taco truck blog here: http://tacohunt.blogspot.com/
The very last word about Taco trucks in Los Angeles. Buen Provecho!

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I think its not fair because all they are doing its trying 2 support their families, how its that bad????
THey could be out there being part of the crime on the st. of los angeles would that be better?
I think they need to stop making excuses and let the Latinos grow on this country.

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Exactly when did taco trucks become part of East L.A. culture dipped in a melting pot? I've lived right off Whittier Blvd near Atlantic for the last 13 years and I'm guessing that for non-residents cruising down the Blvd. and pulling over for a quick taco off a truck is cheap cultural chic. And for residents, hell it beats Jumbo Jacks every other night. That's cool, but I do have flip side concerns that drive-by visitors and residents who don't happen to live within two blocks of a parked taco truck that I and other residents who do have to deal with on a daily basis and twice on weekends. Trash, bottles, cans, vomit, noise, double parking, cars peeling away from the trucks down our side streets, drunks (local and imported) eating on the curb in front of our homes and apartments at 2 a.m., did I mention vomit, lound music, singing, (unrequested), fights that carry down the side streets, drug sales that originate around the taco trucks and finalize down the side streets in front of our homes and apartments. Hey, it may be cheap food for some and I really don't see the cultural connection but what I do see is the side of taco trucks that maybe need to move on down the road. Maybe to your neigborhood. What do you say for about an hour?
As for the restaurant owners. Many of the ones I've spoken to told me they dreamed of one day having their own business and being part of the neighborhood. I asked three taco truck operators on the Blvd. if this was their dream of having a taco truck on Whittier Blvd? They pretty much told me, "estas' loco?"
But taco lovers, fear not. As Supervisor Gloria Molina said, "We did our job. We passed the ordinance, it's up to the authorities to enforce it.
Let's see...taco trucks, cops...right.
Taco, taco.

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where are my comments from yesterday?

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i resubmitted them????

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Yesterday I wrote that a student of mine bought a house from one of these taco truck owners and when escrow closed and he finally got the keys to the garage where the previous owner housed his trucks....my student found it full of cockroaches and vermin. Bon apetite Los Angeles!

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MY GRANDPARENTS HAVE A LUNCH TRUCK.
RIGHT KNOW ITS SO HARD FOR THEM,THATS THE ONLY THING THATS FEEDING THEM AND THATS KEEPING THEM UP.WE DONT BRING ANY HARM WE JUST WANT TO WORK AND BRING MONEY AND FOOD TO THE HOUSE AND FEED OTHER'S....YES WE UNDERSTAND THAT SOME RESTAURANT ARE LOSING BUSINESS BUT EVERYONE HAS THERE UPS AND DOWN,LIKE RIGHT KNOW WE HAVE TO MOVE EVERY HOUR,ITS HARD!!!SO MANY PEOPLE DONT HAVE THE MONEY TO GO TO A RESTAURANT,WHAT U BUY IN A RESTAURANT U COULD BUY MUCH MORE IN A LUNCH TRUCK,BUT SEE SOME PEOPLE JUST DONT GET IT!!!
SO PLEASE DONT CLOSE US HOW ARE WE GOING TO EAT AND PAY BILL'S!!!!!:(

SAVE OUR TACS!!!!!!!PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S
OUR LUNCH TRUCK IS VERY CLEAN..IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE OWNERS.

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As a business owner in East Los Angeles since 1971 I have seen many of these trucks come into our community, make our streets dirty, park in front of restaurants, take up the limited parking spaces available for hours at a time, useing public trash cans as dumping grounds for rotting food, drain their dirty water tanks on public streets and into the sewers and not put back a single dollar into East LA in the form of taxes.

Its very unfair competition for local restaurants trying to compete when they are faced with high rents, property taxes, workers compensation etc. New restaurants think long and hard before coming into the community because of this. These trucks where made to move from one location to the next, not to be fixtures on commercial streets. Some of these trucks even receive deliveries from their vendors, in essence using a parking space as a permanent place of business.

Theses trucks are forcing restaurants that provide local jobs to close. Why is it that all the surrounding communities like Montebello, Pico Rivera, Monterey Park, and Commerce to name a few, don’t have this problem? Why should East Los Angeles be the place where “anything goes”?

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The idea that ‘taco trucks’ take business away from brick-and-mortar establishments is the same kind of fallacy as believing that fake purses in Sante Alley are depriving Louis Vuitton of profits. The average ‘taco truck’ customer is no more likely to go into a nearby restaurant for lunch than the average Sante Alley shopper is to drop $2,000 on a purse. It’s called market differentiation: different products selling to different audiences. There is no competition. If the ‘taco trucks’ were to be removed from our streets, their customers would not suddenly start frequenting local restaurants. They would do as I would do – start making my own sandwiches.

As for the littering and noise, aren't there ordinances to deal with these nuisnaces already? We should encourage the enforcement of existing laws before clamoring to create even more.

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