Houston area taco trucks? (buying, inspection, restaurants)

[glorplaxy]

Taqueria Los Premos! On Durham!

Has anyone seen that truck that sells tacos and Indian food on Shepherd in front of Ace Hardware, right by Washington?

I think the taco trucks are GREAT and I really hope that it becomes a defining factor of Houston's food scene. The food is fresh, delicious, and cheap. What the hell is wrong with that? It's bad because some yuppies think it's an eyesore? They can back to the Olive Garden if they want.

I only wish there were MORE. I would love Houston to get to the point where nearly every single gas station or convenience store has a food truck parked outside. There are so many areas of Houston that suffer from a overwhelming lack of diversity in dining options (my area being one of them)...where there is nothing but the same chains over and over again. Taco trucks make it so much easier for people to bring their own delicious food to the dining scene.

I don't think we'll ever be like Mexico. Mexico, by far, has the absolute BEST street food scene of any country I've ever been to, and I this is partly because of the vast variety of food vendors, making fresh, delicious food by hand. We will never have as much variety in our cheap, highly accessible delicious food as even a small Mexican city, but we can at least do it our way with the trucks if we try.

Honestly, I have seriously been considering getting a small school bus or something and turning into a taco truck because it is such a cheap and effective way to run a business. Of course you won't be a millionaire but it'd be great. I want to very badly.

[recuerdeme]

The best EVER is TaconMadre

There used to be several but now I think there are only 2.

One is on 45 and Bellfort next to Sonoic

The other is on I-10 and S. Wayside next to Jack in the Crack.

omg their tacos are good.

[glorplaxy]

Oh, I've seen Taconmadre many times! It's open 24 hours and ther eare ALWAYS people outside, even in the wee hours of the morning (3am on a Tuesday). Never tried it though, unfortunately.

[Mr. Krinkle]

Ultimate Taco is on the SW corner of Long Point and Antoine. It's in the same parking lot as a car wash.

[elnina]

Originally Posted by caliking

I'm not sure I understand the point of this rant?

Me either! When you click on the links I provided you will read many awesome reviews written by regular folks and professional people.
The food is great in most of the places. It is cheap and fast. With today's economy it does not hurt to eat at places like that, is good for your soul and wallet. The food contains probably less chemicals and fillers than the one from fast food chains and is fresh, not frozen. I would love to see reports about how many people got sick from eating at a taco wagon. I never was. But I got occasionally sick from eating in some higher end establishments.
"Houston health department spokeswoman Kathy Barton said last year there were 108 violations issued to mobile food vendors, compared to 800 overall for other food establishments inspected by the city. And the most cited violation was operating without a permit, for which inspectors issued 21 citations during the past year.
"I don't recall that we've ever gotten a report of illness from a mobile food unit," Barton said. "The complaints we get are almost universally that they do not move. It's mostly neighbors."
Taco truck owners sue over stricter rules | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Of course, you can choose to eat breakfast in McDonalds. But what did you get?: ( I am not picking on McDonalds here, it just happens that I have some data on hand. I am sure other fast food places are not far behind)
"The egg’s reputation is recovering, but scrambled eggs as a part of McDonald’s breakfast include much more than egg. Their pasteurized whole eggs have sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, and monosodium phosphate (all added to preserve color), and nisin, a preservative. To top it off, the eggs are prepared with liquid margarine: liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils (trans fats), salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil (trans fat), soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, and beta carotene (color).

For coffee drinkers, it would seem fairly safe to just grab a quick cup of coffee at McDonald's on the way to work. But many health conscious people would object to it also including this list of ingredients: sodium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, Di-Acetyl Tartrate Ester of Monoglyceride, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium citrate, and carrageenan. Do health nuts still drink coffee?

Several salads have either cilantro lime glaze, or orange glaze added. Along with many of McDonald’s sauces, both the cilantro lime glaze and the orange glaze contain propylene glycol alginate. While propylene glycol is considered "GRAS" for human consumption, it is not legal for use in cat food because the safety hasn't been proven yet. Propylene glycol is also used "As the killing and preserving agent in pitfall traps, usually used to capture ground beetles" .
You want to know more? - read here Fast Food Secrets but I will say "no, thanks" to fast food and get me a much healthier mom&pop style cooked food from a taco truck.

[glorplaxy]

Funny. People love to eat the McDonald's chemical cocktail burgers but as soon as people start making things fresh with human hands, everyone complains. It's like Americans have to have food that is frozen, wrapped in plastic, and doused with chemicals for it to be acceptable.

[Oildog]

But it keeps those of us employed who make chemicals

There is a truck near where I live, Mi-Timos but there seems to be vagrants hanging out there so Ive never stopped in.

[tstone]

McDonalds, blah. Breakfast is a complete ripoff.

Fries are good though.

[glorplaxy]

Originally Posted by Oildog

There is a truck near where I live, Mi-Timos but there seems to be vagrants hanging out there so Ive never stopped in.

Wuss.

[modster]

Originally Posted by recuerdeme

The best EVER is TaconMadre

There used to be several but now I think there are only 2.

One is on 45 and Bellfort next to Sonoic

The other is on I-10 and S. Wayside next to Jack in the Crack.

omg their tacos are good.

Oh hell yes. I second the green TacoMadre bus on Bellfort. I am the last person that I would have EVER expected to eat at a taco truck. I was always scared of them, what are they made of? Chicken fried cat or something? But people in the neighborhood kept talking about the green taco bus and one day I tried it. They were very good, in fact, they were in the latest edition of My Table magazine.