Posted on 07/03/2007 11:09:13 PM PDT by BBell
Next step will be citing owners of Jefferson lots
Tacos, burritos, quesadillas and other Latin American fare remained for sale at mobile kitchens in Jefferson Parish on Monday even as inspectors set in motion a crackdown on the rolling restaurants.
Parish officials said five food stands were violating a new law that effectively bans vending trucks. Their next move will be citing the owners of lots where the trucks are parked. The food vendors, meanwhile, said they will try to hang on as long as they can before their landlords, facing possible fines, make them leave.
The showdown follows a June 20 decision by the Parish Council to enact sharp restrictions on the taco trucks that arrived with construction workers after Hurricane Katrina.
Backers of the new law see the trucks as remnants of makeshift conditions in the early Katrina aftermath and impediments to encouraging businesses to commit to Jefferson Parish. Opponents view the trucks as a service to construction workers and welcome additions to the New Orleans area culinary landscape.
On Monday morning, code enforcer Ronald Bicocchi arrived at Taqueria Chilangos, a truck that for months has operated at a former gasoline station at Power and Veterans Memorial boulevards in Metairie. He asked for truck owner David Montes' permits and licensing papers, explained the new law and told Montes he would not shut down the truck immediately but that the parish would send a violation notice to the landlord.
Feeling pressure
"I'm scared," Montes said afterward. He said the crackdown is a threat to his livelihood and that he might have to return to Houston, where he previously operated his food truck, if he must leave Metairie. "The city has a lot of other things to do in other places. Why put the attention on me?"
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
The taco trucks out here (Central CA) make the best burritos! Way better than the restaurants.
Until you see the filth at the home where he cooks it that the food inspectors aren’t allowed to view because they work under the table.
They just haven’t found out whose palms to grease and how much.
You hit the nail on the head. The only way to do business down there is to put a council members son, daughter or other relative on the payroll.
With the Taco Trucks the deal is the same, to force one business out in favor of another, to limit competition.
bttt
When these damn trucks show up around your town you got problems.The invasion is well entrenched by the time the gut trucks show up.
When these damn trucks show up around your town you got problems.The invasion is well entrenched by the time the gut trucks show up.
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Last year a Mexican fellow in LA got a rare brain worm or parasite from those taco trucks. Worm is only found in Mexico. Undoubtedly the taxpayers picked up the tab for the extensive hospitalization
“You hit the nail on the head. The only way to do business down there is to put a council members son, daughter or other relative on the payroll.”
It’s not just here but all over.
Fear the Roach Coach!
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