Warning: Gourmet taco truck vs hole-in-the-wall taqueria, the fancy one lost hard

I dropped $14 on two fancy fusion tacos from a shiny truck downtown and they were dry and overstuffed, while the $2.50 street tacos from a beat-up old trailer in East LA blew them away with actual flavor, why do people keep hyping those overpriced trucks?

3 comments

3 Comments

scott.drew1mo agoMost Upvoted

Exactly. The fancy truck is paying for that custom wrap and the lighting setup for photos. That $14 taco has to cover the cost of the truck itself plus whatever trendy ingredient they bought in bulk from a distributor. The hole in the wall spot is using pork shoulder they bought whole from a local market and breaking it down themselves. My go to spot does lengua that melts because they simmer it all day in nothing but garlic and bay leaves. Meanwhile those fusion trucks are throwing kimchi or pickled onions on a taco trying to be clever while the meat dries out under a heat lamp.

jordan1081mo ago

I saw this food writer on YouTube break down the same thing... she said a lot of those gourmet trucks are just chasing trends instead of nailing the basics. The trailer spot probably uses a simple salsa and fresh tortillas made in-house, not some fancy aioli that dries out as soon as it hits the heat. For $14 you're paying for the vibe and the Instagram shot, not for someone who's been perfecting their carne asada for 20 years. The little hole-in-the-wall places just trust their ingredients more and don't try to overcomplicate everything.

jana_scott1mo ago

But were the fancy ones actually trying to do something new, or just piling on random stuff to justify the price? I'm curious what was in them that made them so dry.