2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumI, for one, welcome all the taco trucks. Immigrants bring us their cuisine.
Look around. Over there is an Italian restaurant. It's across the street from another one, and down the block from three Chinese restaurants, one a very good Hunan eatery. There are a couple of Indian restaurants, a Vietnamese restaurant and even a new East African place that just opened nearby. The Mexican restaurants are a couple of blocks away, with the sushi bar and teppanyaki place a short walk from where we're standing. The old German restaurant in town will soon have some competition from yet another Irish pub, too.
Taco trucks? Bring 'em on. Our lives are enriched by immigration, which brings the cuisines of the world to our neighborhood, along with many other cultural benefits.
Sorry Herr Drumpf. We all like international food. Go find something else to do, won't you?
Soxfan58
(3,479 posts)A nice variety of tacos ect. would be great. Another reason for Hillary 2016
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)Taco Bell isn't really Mexican food. It's OK for a quick lunch. Taco trucks are way better, though.
stonecutter357
(12,697 posts)MineralMan
(146,311 posts)TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Bluzmann57
(12,336 posts)Sort of a hole in the wall place, a place in which a person can have a cheap beer or two after work if they want. But man oh man the food is good. That's what we Americans like, good ethnic food. Decent Chinese place a few miles away, one heckuva rib joint right across the river...well, you get the idea, it takes all kinds of people to make this country great. And that includes their food. Bring 'em on. Yum!
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)We forget that sometimes, I guess...
Leontius
(2,270 posts)They didn't just pop out of the ground one day.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)Didn't displace and kill indigenous people who were already here. That had to wait for Europeans to show up. Gotta love Christian precedence, eh...
Leontius
(2,270 posts)I feel sure they would have had a warm and fuzzy attitude to any humans they would have met if there had been any. Anti-Christian bigotry has no place on a progressive site by the way.
First Speaker
(4,858 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)displacedtexan
(15,696 posts)I'd like to have a Tex-Mex taco truck at the corner of 8th Ave and Fulton Street in San Francisco, please. That's an entrance to Golden Gate Park, where there are lots of tourists and locals all day long. I'm starving to death for Mexican food that isn't piled high with cilantro and bland to the taste buds.
Thanks in advance, y'all.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)Sorry.
dbackjon
(6,578 posts)dbackjon
(6,578 posts)Xithras
(16,191 posts)Sophiegirl
(2,338 posts)I need a good laugh while nodding my TX-born noggin' like a bobblehead.
Il_Coniglietto
(373 posts)FLOUR?!
nadine_mn
(3,702 posts)I am not sure what part of Mexico my family is from - but they settled in Iowa in the 20's (railroad work). Every family reunion my great aunt would make stacks and stacks of flour tortillas - the most amazing thing ever created in her tiny hands.
The first time I had a corn tortilla, I almost cried. I can't do it.
Il_Coniglietto
(373 posts)Corn tastes like heaven and flour is pure disappointment. It's so funny how polarizing variations of recipes can be. Food is such a huge part of culture.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)Tex Mex is NOT Mexican food, but Californian's love their fajitas, queso and nachos, all of which originated in Tex-Mex kitchens. A Tex-Mex food truck claiming to be a "taco truck" would find its tires slashed in 10 minutes in most of this state, but Tex-Mex food trucks that simply sold that food on its own merits would do fine.
Except for those nasty crunchy tacos. Those things are just disgusting, and are rightfully rejected by all normal-thinking Californians. Freaking Texans thinking they have to deep fry EVERYTHING....
kimbutgar
(21,152 posts)Delicious shrimp taco bowls are my favorite.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)taco trucks aren't hard to find. There's one that parks most days on a major street near me. Yummy!
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)And they're authentically Mexican and Central American establishments. Delicioso!
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)I usually stick to St. Paul, though. Still, I occasionally cross over on the Marshall Ave. bridge to hit the Lake Street places. There are so many opportunities to eat well in the Twin Cities. It's hard to know where to even start.
What a wonderful problem to have, eh?
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)I'm in Minneapolis, so I tend toward the west side of the river, but St. Paul has so many great restaurants. I particularly like Ruam Mit (sp?)
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)but I've been there. Very nice, indeed.
geardaddy
(24,931 posts)In fact, there are no true Chinese places within several miles of me. Thai restaurants open here all the time. We're inundated with them, but I'll take that problem.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)are out in the suburbs, it seems. We have a couple of generic ones nearby, but nothing to write home about. I order to-go from one of them, though, when people crave a big, varied Chinese feast. The food's OK, is ready quickly, and doesn't cost a fortune. I'm still looking for a great Hunan place that isn't too far away. The nearest one to me is Hunan in name only. It's not wonderful, but will do in a pinch.
There are some Hmong restaurants that are sort of pan-Asian. They're good.
IronLionZion
(45,442 posts)Mandarin Kitchen or something similar. It's been 8 years since I lived there. They have dim sum on weekends
That's the case most everywhere I think. I live in DC and the decent Chinese or Indian spots are out in the burbs but there is decent Thai on every corner. The Chinese or Indian spots in the city are just nasty.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,704 posts)though you have to be careful because when they make it hot they make it really hot.
Yallow
(1,926 posts)I put in a post yesterday.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)Frank Cannon
(7,570 posts)Carne asada, here I come!
This is going to do wonders for small business taco truck vendors around the country. Maybe that was the plan all along.
allan01
(1,950 posts)good op and great satire .
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)I used to buy donuts from it whenever I could. Like most of my friends in the 1950s, we'd collect soft drink bottles around town and take them to the local grocery store and collect the deposit that was charged when they were sold. That paid for those donuts, most of the time.
I had a regular route for finding those bottles, and rode my bicycle around almost every day doing my recycling. I wasn't alone, either, in doing that. It was a source of a small amount of income for kids back then.
Sancho
(9,070 posts)TACO TRUCKS ON EVERY CORNER!!
neeksgeek
(1,214 posts)Within two or three miles of my home near Charlotte's Southpark Mall are any number of Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Italian, and yes, Mexican restaurants, not to mention other cuisines such as Thai or Lebanese. Go just a little further over to South Boulevard, and there are the dreaded "taco trucks," plus even more restaurants. There are even a few places where you can get "American" food - whatever that is, exactly. Why anybody would point to the availability of a particular type of food as a problem is just mind-bending. What's he afraid of, his shares in McDonald's losing value???
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)There are more ethnic restaurants in most cities than any other type. Americans love food from other places, and those restaurants do very well, offering a change from our own blandish food.
Calling out taco trucks is just silly. Small business entrepreneurs own all of them, and they are good for the economy.
Silliest thing of all is some Hispanic guy warning us about a proliferation of taco trucks.
yardwork
(61,619 posts)By definition, white supremacists think that white people - whatever that means - are better than anybody else. They fear a multicultural society. They literally fear having to interact with anybody who is different from them. They are consumed with fear, so yes, "taco trucks on every corner" is a deeply frightening thought to these people.
Normal, well-adjusted people don't view the world this way. To us, it's laughable.
Trump's election strategy is to scare enough racist white people to the polls while suppressing everybody else's vote.
Richard D
(8,754 posts)MineralMan
(146,311 posts)underpants
(182,807 posts)Maru Kitteh
(28,340 posts)SCVDem
(5,103 posts)Elotes, tepache, tejuino and jugos y frutas.
The Mexican diet is healthier than the crap Americans eat.
I had to Google some of those.
Fridays is my burrito day. Pura Carne asada, no rice or beans. Chips and radishes included.
Remember Taco Bell in the 60s? They had pronunciation under the item. Tah Ko, boo ree to.
I saw one being built in DF. (Mexico City, Distrito Federal)
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)My favorite Vietnamese restaurant (in Eden Prairie) changed ownership and now it's just an average Asian restaurant. I haven't found anything to satisfy my taste for Vietnamese food. IIRC, I'm not that far away from you, to your west in Fridley. Fridley is mostly national or regional chain stores.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)are nearby. Google will find the brick-and-mortar ethnic restaurants, and you can search by cuisine type. If I crave tacos, there's a great small truck usually parked on White Bear Avenue, near County Road B, in a liquor store parking lot. If I want to sit down and eat, I head for the intersection of Robert Street and Cesar Chaves Blvd, across the river from Downtown St. Paul. Asian restaurants are all over town, really, in every neighborhood. There's an East African restaurant or two on West Seventh St.
Food trucks, of course, are where you find them, but there are usually several in downtown St. Paul during the lunch hour.
We have a wealth of wonderful food to eat throughout the Twin Cities, but the best are in the cities, rather than the suburbs, which lean toward more generic ethnic food. To find more authentic places, head for neighborhoods where people who have immigrated here live.
Lifelong Protester
(8,421 posts)cojoel
(957 posts)He would pull in before 11 and stay until at least 3, with a nearly constant line at least 3 deep all day, and longer during the core lunch times. He was a very nice Lebanese man with very good Falafel and Gyros, so it was worth the wait. He probably made a good living at it too.
MFM008
(19,814 posts)Taco trucks..
hibbing
(10,098 posts)You just have go out there and go for it. There is a Korean Taco truck in my town that is excellent. I go to a little authentic Mexican place and a little family Pho place. The best part about it is the mix of customers. The Mexican place always has a great vibe and a mix of a lot of Hispanic laborers and other people, same with the Pho place, half Vietnamese, half others. But gosh darn the food is great and the owners are so friendly.
Oh yeah, and the Mexican bakery that is located next to another Pho place. This is my America.
Like MineralMan said, they bring much more than just their cuisines.
Peace
Peace
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)It's really hard for me to pass up a food vendor I haven't tried. I really have to stop and get something, even if I don't really know what to expect. I'm rarely disappointed, either.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)MineralMan
(146,311 posts)maveric56
(137 posts)A taco truck festival. Forty bucks to get in and you could sample from dozens of truck vendors. The more taco trucks and shops the better. MMMM!
appleannie1
(5,067 posts)as well as a wide varieties of international restaurants. Foodies get to sample dishes from all over the world. Good food is something we all can relate to.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)I love the idea.
think
(11,641 posts)workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)Only know nothing knuckle dragging nativist racists AKA republicans see that as a bad thing.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)own ancestry and find the people who immigrated here. The only non-immigrants in the USA are Native Americans. All the rest of us came here originally from somewhere else. We are all immigrants here.
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)It must be bitterly ironic for Native Americans to hear the garbage that spews out of Trumps mouth about building walls etc.
mountain grammy
(26,621 posts)Colorado's pretty good, but I dream about the Mexican cuisine in New Mexico.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)It's fun to see what individual restaurants offer in different parts of the country. Here in Minnesota, most of the Mexican restaurants are more or less central Mexico in their offerings. In California, it's Baja California style for the most part.
The best test is how they do tamales. Very different, depending on the region of Mexico.
mountain grammy
(26,621 posts)and a strong American Indian influence as well. Whatever it is, it's unique and delicious.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)mountain grammy
(26,621 posts)Sophiegirl
(2,338 posts)The food truck scene in DC is awesome! My favorite place to go when in the city is L'Enfant Plaza. This triangular block is chock full of food trucks. The diversity is what makes it so great.
Simply scanning the list of DC food trucks gives you an idea of how ethic favors (many trucks owned by immigrants) make life more interesting and tummies very happy!
http://foodtruckfiesta.com/?wptouch_page_template=wptouch-links
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)Just about everywhere has food trucks now. It used to be very difficult to launch a food truck, but cities have figured out that they're popular and bring people into the heart of the city. Regular restaurants don't like them much, but some of them are creating their own food trucks to join in on the fun.
I'm excited by the whole thing!
Sophiegirl
(2,338 posts)Started with a truck in DC. The just opened a brick and mortar location in VA, just a mile from me. Those are some tasty. Tacos.
littlebit
(1,728 posts)so I would be able to stop at my favorite taco trucks. I am all for more of them.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)Even if I'm just going to the supermarket, I can take different routes to different markets in the area. Food trucks are often why I choose one or another.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)It's the American way.
Some of the best tasting food I've eaten has come out of a taco truck. We have one at work that has better carnitas than many restaurants!
Hekate
(90,690 posts)My San Diego cousins moved far and wide, but when I got together with them back in San Diego for my aunt's memorial service, one and all they were driven to find favorite very authentic Mexican restaurants and discover some new ones.
As Joy Reed commented of her crazy guest: "It sounds like a delicious option."
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)That's the beauty of this nation. We need more diversity, not less.
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)I'm Italian and from NY. My family has always cooked with saffron. Very expensive, under lock and key IF you can find it. Here in South Florida with Hispanic cuisine it's right on supermarket shelves, cheap, and plentiful. So, so many chili peppers which when I ask up North for them they look at me like I am crazy. I do a lot of cooking and from all difference ethnic cultures.
Indian (Country) Restaurants and shops. Never knew that cuisine used Saffron too. Daughter took me to one to buy saffron in NY since she likes Indian food. Very cheap and the best I have ever had. Never knew they used it too.
Better get rid of all this ethnic food? Only good old American Hot Dogs (wursts) and Hamburgers, which are from Germany. Yes, there are Pizza (Italian) places on every corner. French Fries is obvious. Look at the popularity of Sushi? American? If these morons think it should be ONLY American culture (???) and food, we will just be left with Native Corn Pudding and Wild Game, everything else from the "good old days" is British, including our ENGLISH Language.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)Of Louisiana is often called the only cuisine that originated here post European colonialization. Nothing like those dishes in Europe or Asia. But even it is a mish-mash of multiple food cultures- French, Spanish, African, English and Native American.
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)Last edited Fri Sep 2, 2016, 04:35 PM - Edit history (1)
since living in South Florida have experienced it also. Cajun and Creole is a blend of various cultures. As Andrew Zimmern says, "If it tastes good, EAT IT". I'll go with that whatever culture it comes from.
BTW, after 9/11, I thought the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of was
"Freedom Fries". Gimme a break.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)Started when the French would not support the Iraq invasion.
They were 100% correct!
Have a great day. And I made gumbo last night
niyad
(113,315 posts)french one, a delightful cuban one, a small asian one, and, alas, a not-so-great mexican one (the best is a couple of miles from me). and that is just in my small neighborhood.
scaring us with taco trucks? really? the stupid. . .it burns. . .
Brother Buzz
(36,434 posts)They are all legal and operating under an umbrella of a licensed restaurant. The genuine edgy immigrant foods are purchased for the unlicensed street vendors that set up business with not a whole lot more than a propane griddle and a table. You haven't lived (or died) until you have experienced an illegal street vendor's Danger Dog.
Hell, even the passé legal Taco Trucks are starting to take it back to the street and cash in:
ArchTeryx
(221 posts)I've been quoted as saying that if a Syrian refugee moved to my neighborhood, I'd look up a nice Syrian (or north African) dessert, make them a platter of it, and offer it to them as a little taste of home, and a welcoming gift to the neighborhood.
I'm an amateur chef with an interest in fusion cuisine. Food is what unites us all - we all need to eat and everyone likes eating decent food. And few things say "welcome to the neighborhood" better then a little taste of home.
anamandujano
(7,004 posts)Richard D
(8,754 posts)Someone needs to make . . .
"A chicken in every pot (1928) is not a taco truck on every corner."
ismnotwasm
(41,984 posts)Last edited Fri Sep 2, 2016, 09:30 PM - Edit history (1)
One of which sells the best Corn on the Cob EVER (RIP BartCop) The VERY good El-Salvadorian bakery--just a great variety of food.
ailsagirl
(22,897 posts)MineralMan
(146,311 posts)NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)We have mostly hot dog trucks, no taco trucks that I know of, and there are lots of Latinos here. I'd LOVE to see some even if they're not on "every corner."
I can't imagine the kind of thinking that hates the idea of taco trucks!
Pakid
(478 posts)I'm looking forward to them
Response to MineralMan (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
nadine_mn
(3,702 posts)Ok that is just my dream - mmmm
I agree with you - whenever I am downtown Minneapolis I am amazed at the variety of cuisines that can be found...so many wonderful smells and flavors coming out of all the little trucks.
Food is also a great way to bring people together - we celebrate with food, we mourn with food, we comfort with food.
Food and music are the gateways into our cultures and you see the myriad of influences everywhere and it is beautiful.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)nadine_mn
(3,702 posts)their brick and mortar restaurant. Mounds View just opened up a place called Arepa Bite that I can't wait to try.
There is a restaurant in Osseo that is Louisianan Cajun - alligator on the menu (!) [when I lived in Louisiana I don't remember ever seeing alligator on a menu, but I was just a kid]
It is fantastic to see not just international but regional cuisines popping up way out in the 'burbs.
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)Yes, we do.
yuiyoshida
(41,831 posts)GIVE ME SUSHI TRUCKS!
MineralMan
(146,311 posts)Frankfurters. A hot dog truck on every corner? Nein, bitte...
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,704 posts)In Falcon Heights, in fact - the suburb where Phil Castile was shot. It's still pretty white but it was very white and homogeneous in those days. The only "ethnic" restaurants I ever went to as a kid were an "Italian" restaurant called the Lido (it's not there any more), which made the Olive Garden look exotic by comparison -but we thought going there was really fun and exciting (going out for dinner was a very rare treat for most people then, especially for kids), and there was also a "Chinese" restaurant that featured chow mein and chop suey with white rice, soggy celery and mystery meat. Over the years pizza restaurants started appearing, then Mexican restaurants, which at first weren't very Mexican. During the '70s, though, a lot of Vietnamese and other southeast Asian immigrants started settling in St. Paul and Minneapolis, and they brought their cuisine with them. Soon there were Thai restaurants, followed by Afghani, Ethiopian, Greek, Indian, Sri Lankan, Tibetan (I tried the yak meat), as well as real Italian, real Mexican and real Chinese. Not too far from me there's a Cuban restaurant, a Mexican-Caribbean fusion restaurant and a panaderia. I love it that we have all of these choices. Bring on the taco trucks!
DemocraticWing
(1,290 posts)Lithos
(26,403 posts)It's genocide
They wish to make us over-eat and die from obesity!
%3Fw%3D406%26h%3D295
</sarcasm>
Lunabell
(6,080 posts)Whether Mexican, Honduran, Syrian, Libyan? The flavor of the foods are fantastic and the diversity and culture of their people are enriching and fascinating!!!!!!
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)The Arizona Democratic Party is heralding the possibilities of Mexican food on every corner: On Saturday, it will host a taco truck at its headquarters at the intersection of Central Avenue and Thomas Road in Phoenix.
Party officials are using the opportunity to phone bank for candidates and register voters ......... For lunch on Friday, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, tweeted a photo while standing in line at La Frontera #1 taco truck in Phoenix at 16th Street and Van Buren. He was waiting for his three tacos de carne asada.
"About to assert my cultural dominance," he wrote, adding "#TacoTrucks"
shenmue
(38,506 posts)grubbs
(356 posts)I went there last night. The people were super friendly and the food was awesome. I was intending to savor each bite and give a review on Yelp. Instead,after a taste of each item on the tour platter I began to shovel it in indiscriminately. I then inhaled some empanadas.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)Coyotl
(15,262 posts)Eric English @EricEnglish777
...and in other news, #Denver democrat city councilman Lopez calls in a taco truck to set up across from #Trump HQ.
Delilah AghoOtoghile ?@delilah_agho
Registering voters at #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner because we are #StrongerTogether ! @gsanchofl @hfa072016
RogelioGarcia Lawyer ?@LawyerRogelio
Taco truck battalion ready to Seize our corners right after the election!
Abraham White ?@abwhite7 5 minutes ago
America's newest national holiday is just around the corner. #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner
CC ?@Ashcat_Fla 19 minutes ago
#TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner
Scott Wooledge @Clarknt67
#TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner is currently the most popular policy proposal of #Elections2016. Game change?! @chrislhayes
#TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner - #TacoTrucks - #TacosForAll
Sara Spector ?@Miriam2626 Midland, TX
Trump banning shredded cheese to make America grate again! #TacosForAll
Steven Alvarez ?@Chastitellez 16 minutes ago
A course on taco literacy at the University of Kentucky http://po.st/ZltD2d via @SmithsonianMag #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner #TacosForAll
AgadorSparticus
(7,963 posts)I thought about moving to another country (temporarily) & the thought of not having access to tacos, enchiladas, pho, banh mi, thit bo luc lac, bun bo hue, Korean bbq, chinese bbq, kimchi soup, Ramen, dim sum, menudo, caldo de pollo, pozole, pad thai, chicken Tikka masala, dosas, Baja fish tacos, cerviche, sushi, lamb shwarma, lamb kebobs, teppanyaki, anticucho, lomo saltado, aji de gallina, bratwurst, lasagna, cafe sau da, jerk chicken, oyster po boys, crawfish etoufee, gumbo....did I miss anything? I can't imagine not having all this. These are some of my favorites. Hell, we even have a food truck that does cheeseburgers from homemade Ramen noodles as buns. There are some other fusion food trucks too that are really good. We kick some gastronomic ass here in the ol pueblo. And we take great pride in it.
A food truck on every corner would be a dream come true. It would sure save me a lot of drive time--especially during my lunch hour.