Taco Truckin'

I tasted my first taco truck burrito the other day, from a taqueria-on-wheels on Harrison between 19th and 20th. El Tonayense had two occupants when we arrived - an older portly guy who greeted us with a gruff but friendly "Hola!" before taking our orders; and a cook in a plain white T. who smoked up the joint with some intense sautéeing soon after acknowledging our requests.

My al pastor (shredded roast pork) burrito infused with hot sauce was handed to me as a dense roll tightly wrapped in aluminum foil. The spicy juices and aroma poured out eagerly when I peeled back the silver lining. I thought I had landed the best item on the menu,...until I snuck a taste of the carnitas quesadilla that my guy picked. Never expected those rich flavors to come out of a mobile kitchen!

Our mid-afternoon snack companions included three others, a well-dressed Caucasian couple who emerged from a white Audi, and a loner Hispanic male who pulled up in a lime green Oldsmobile. As we munched on our portable eats, we leaned carelessly against the adjacent schoolyard fence while intermittent cheers of Superbowl fans roared through loft windows across the street.