Kennyz wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

Santander wrote:I'm with Jim and Ravi - love eating at these places, care little about the code and legislation. What I do care about is the journalistic choices involved in the coy sharing / concealing of the information. There are just barely enough details between the article and Gary's post to get some people in trouble they may or may not deserve.

The information seems necessarily well-concealed to me. I don't see how the info in article and post could be triangulated to locate this place (I've been there and even I'm not sure I could find it again...but I've got a directional learning disability).

Really? Seems pretty easy to me: you go to Zaragoza and you ask.

The only people who are being kept from this information are law enforcement and related entities. My guess, you go to Zaragoza in a dark-colored Ford with a whip antenna but without hubcaps, and easy answers may not be forthcoming.

jimswside wrote:

Mike G wrote:
some people are! very! concerned! about such things, much more than they're interested in the culinary or cultural aspects, clearly.

the great looking food, and eating outside the cultural box is what interests me. The legal, and alleged ethical debate is what does not interest me.

bottom line if you had a business in the food industry it might interest you more ..i pay a lot of money for proper health permits and liability insurance to be within the guidelines ..but god forbid those guidelines get in the way of someones culture..
and the comparison of this guys operation ( i know that one wasnt your comment Jim) to a mom cooking for her own kids is ludicrous beyond belief

Interesting debate. The legality of this little business is between the owners, the law, and maybe whoever is mad enough at the idea ( I assume they don't know much about "Sr. Garage Taqueria" the man) to raise a stink. And it looks like the law is already well aware this is happening, insomuch as the law is enjoying the tacos from what I've read.

As for all the salutary and salubrious aims of government and insurance requirements and whatnot, get real. The average food-slinging weekend warrior with the correct paperwork is quite unlikely to have enough insurance or cash to pay my medical bills or my survivors if something serious befalls me. The more sophisticated among the above-board hash-hawkers have set up corporations or other legal fictions to shield the home, car, investors and bank accounts from judgment should botulism be on the menu. In contrast, this humble vendor puts his financial life on the line every day by selling tacos outside the constraints of the law. Little does he know, probably. If he could take a small portion of his weekly revenue and pay for paperwork, he'd be insulated. But he doesn't, and that really pisses some people off. OK. Fair enough. There are reasons for the laws, and the laws apply to everyone. What matter if the reasons for the laws (protecting the health of a public with limited access to information, as opposed to, say, protecting competition among food sellers) happen to be irrelevant in this given case based on the information we have (a clean, well lighted place and no Moctezuma's revenge has been described)?

JeffB -- Loving the law since '94.

Exactly why I never bothered getting a driver's license. Who needs that scam? I'm a very good driver as it is.

Exactly. A better analogy would be hard to find. So, if Cilantro stops at reds, drives the speed limit and signals turns correctly, but I find out Cilantro didn't have the intellect, drive, and/or plain good sense to take and pass Illinois' demanding motor vehicle operator requirements (or pay someone off at the DMV), then by gosh, I should be pissed. And if Cilantro runs over my cat, while it's at my feet in the living room, the first thing I'll think is: "I sure hope he's licensed to drive that car."

Edited to add

65 posts and not one question/comment about the food. Not even the morcilla taco.

sigh

G Wiv wrote:65 posts and not one question/comment about the food. Not even the morcilla taco.

sigh

Sorry Gary. I'm withholding comments/questions until this place is fully insured, licensed, bonded, and accepts reservations on Opentable.

Seriously though, this place looks awesome. Thanks for the post and the pics.

Wow! I never intended for my comments to spark such a useless debate (I think it was my comments, although the useless debate was probably inevitable). I was merely trying to express my mixed feelings about a business like this one. It'd be very cool to eat there or at a similar spot (hint, hint) but I'd never do what they're doing. I'm not going to distill it down to black and white because for me, it just isn't black and white. It's very gray, just like some of the unlicensed 'falafel' sandwiches I've eaten in the parking lots at Grateful Dead shows.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Wow! I never intended for my comments to spark such a useless debate (I think it was my comments, although the useless debate was probably inevitable). I was merely trying to express my mixed feelings about a business like this one. It'd be very cool to eat there or at a similar spot (hint, hint) but I'd never do what they're doing. I'm not going to distill it down to black and white because for me, it just isn't black and white. It's very gray, just like some of the unlicensed 'falafel' sandwiches I've eaten in the parking lots at Grateful Dead shows.

=R=

Ronnie, you and I are almost always in alignment on so many issues, but here we differ. If people are interested in talking about it and thinking about it then it's not useless.

There are people -- probably MANY people -- who would consider most of the topics discussed on most forums -- food or otherwise -- as useless, because they're not all that interested in it themselves. But if people want to talk, the discussion serves a purpose. It may not be the purpose intended by the OP, but then again, it frequently isn't.

G Wiv wrote:65 posts and not one question/comment about the food. Not even the morcilla taco.

sigh

How was the morcilla taco? And did you speed on the way home? What's the expiration date on your operator's license?

David Hammond wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Wow! I never intended for my comments to spark such a useless debate (I think it was my comments, although the useless debate was probably inevitable). I was merely trying to express my mixed feelings about a business like this one. It'd be very cool to eat there or at a similar spot (hint, hint) but I'd never do what they're doing. I'm not going to distill it down to black and white because for me, it just isn't black and white. It's very gray, just like some of the unlicensed 'falafel' sandwiches I've eaten in the parking lots at Grateful Dead shows.

=R=

Ronnie, you and I are almost always in alignment on so many issues, but here we differ. If people are interested in talking about it and thinking about it then it's not useless.

There are people -- probably MANY people -- who would consider most of the topics discussed on most forums -- food or otherwise -- as useless, because they're not all that interested in it themselves. But if people want to talk, the discussion serves a purpose. It may not be the purpose intended by the OP, but then again, it frequently isn't.

I agree. It's not useless. I just feel bad that the discussion slipped so easily into 'emotional debate' mode and I feel partially responsible for the fact that it did.

I mentioned Dead Show falafel sandwiches somewhat tongue-in-cheek but for me, that's the most comparable food situation to this one. In those situations, there was something genuinely exciting about buying food from someone selling it out of the back of their car; cooking it on a propane-fueled griddle set on the asphalt, pulling it out of a mysterious cooler, etc. You never knew exactly what you were going to get and that made it so much more appealing than buying a crappy hotdog or giant pretzel at the 'official' concession stands. Sometimes it was great, other times I got sick as hell. But it was always an adventure. Of course, in those instances, it was tough to know exactly what got me sick (rarely ate only 1 thing) and it would have been even tougher to track down the guilty vendors, who had no real homebases. Selling tacos out of one's own house doesn't appear to provide the same escapability. Even if someone wrongly believes you got them sick, there's nothing stopping them from blowing the whistle. But I can totally see the appeal of the garage taqueria. And to the person who sold me that apple pie at the Oakland New Year's show in 1987 -- the one that had me puking for days -- fuck you!

=R=

G Wiv wrote:65 posts and not one question/comment about the food. Not even the morcilla taco.

sigh

I said the food looked great, and I had a question about the Modelo(byob status) that wasnt answered.

jimswside wrote:I said the food looked great, and I had a question about the Modelo(byob status) that wasnt answered.

Not BYOB, beer, soda and water are available for, I think, a buck a go.

I'm going to hit a Mexican butcher for morcilla and experiment with duplicating the Garage Tacos morcilla tacos. Sauteed onion and pepper and mix with steamed decased morcilla as my starting point.

Rice based blood sausage served on tacos, starch on starch, reminded me of the time I had boudin with live from the bayou Cajuns. They squeezed hot from the steamer boudin on Ritz crackers with a liberal douse of hot sauce.

Thinking about it now, I am a real fan of blood sausage be it German, Polish, French Boudin Noir, Korean Soondae or the hard to find, even in Cajun country, Boudin Rouge.

Enjoy,
Gary

As someone who spends hours on end just cruising the city and looking around for food and just exploring in general let me say this...I can guarantee that this isn't the only garage taco stand in town and it wont be the last. Ive seen them before and they seem to be a part of the weekends of many of the neighborhoods where they rest.

Obviously this guy cant afford a property, insurance and everything else that comes with opening your own business. Hes not stealing away customers from anyone place that follows the law and the popo got bigger stuff to worry about than some taco stand. What would piss me off would be if the police were making a huge stink about it and had officers wasting their time with dragging this guy to jail and fining him etc...

As far as the possibility of getting sick, yes its there, as much so as it is or was at the LTH picnic or any other backyard BBQ/Tailgate or licensed restaurant for that matter. Its your choice whether or not you want to eat there. I got sick as Ive ever been when I was 12 and bought some tamales around Humboldt park from a cart. I was in the hospital and all and it didnt faze me one bit. I still love the street vendors and I still eat from them no matter where I am.

So if its the uncleanliness, possibility of getting sick or the fact that he inst registered or whatever it is that irks you about this. Then you should cross off the Caribbean, Asia and Mexico as well as many other spots as possible food travel destinations and move Orlando up the list.

There's no adventure in going to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville or even that fancy 5 star joint in Cancun. I make it a point to eat like a local and the locals of whatever hood this taco stand is in obviously eat there and enjoy it very much.

If someone does this in Wilmette, Lincoln Park, downtown then ya, I could see people throwing a big fit, I still wouldn't care, but I could see why. Who cares? its in some little neighborhood half of the people here have probably never been or will never get to.

and for all this "the law is the law" talk, nah the law was meant to be broken. J.K. But lets be real, some laws are just plain dumb and some aren't even enforced b/c even the law-men know its not all that big of a deal.

G Wiv wrote:65 posts and not one question/comment about the food. Not even the morcilla taco.

sigh

Well, beyond saying we're glad you enjoyed it, what's the point of talking about the food if we're never going to get to eat there? When you can't even tell us where it is?

So we moved on to talking about the issues of places that we hear have good food but that we're not allowed to know the location of. Not what you intended the discussion to be about when you started the thread, but I truly don't understand what else is left to us. Turns out this other discussion is interesting too, at least to some.

Perhaps we should turn this into an activism thread: "Can't we all just lobby for legal street food?"

Katie wrote:what's the point of talking about the food if we're never going to get to eat there? When you can't even tell us where it is?

Please see this post on page two of this thread.

G Wiv wrote:65 posts and not one question/comment about the food. Not even the morcilla taco.

sigh

The morcilla taco looks great. Xni-pec has it on their Sunday brunch menu (at least they did on their inaugural brunch--I'd call to check), in the form of taco, gordita, or pacharela, for those interested in trying it and not wanting to scour the near southwest burbs looking for open garages serving food.

G Wiv wrote:

Katie wrote:what's the point of talking about the food if we're never going to get to eat there? When you can't even tell us where it is?

Please see this post on page two of this thread.

LTHForum is filled with interesting posts about places and restaurants I will never be, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Hoi An and Hue, Rao's, and Cleveland, to name a few. That in no way diminishes my enjoyment in reading posts, looking at pictures and sharing the experience my fellow LTHers were kind enough to take the time to share.

You left out the first part of what I said:

Well, beyond saying we're glad you enjoyed it,

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your taco at the mystery taco place. I'm happy for you. I am happy to hear about people enjoying their food experiences in Bulgaria and Slovenia as well. But after that, what else is there to say? Please give me more mouth-watering details of the taco you had that I can't have?

Katie wrote:But after that, what else is there to say?

Not directed at you specifically, but I am surprised at the myopia exhibited in this thread.

....furthermore, consider the fact that this particular type of pirate taquerista removes 99% of the risky uncertainty that underlies the food laws many here apparently consider sacred. There's a range of risk here, and I posit that Don Pirata de Tacos is on the safe end of it.

It's one thing to buy samosas out of a 5 gallon bucket from a shoeless child at a police roadblock in Arusha (maybe the stupidest food travel risk I've taken -- tasty and no problemo, BTW); another to buy "falafel" and "brownies" from that one guy at the Dead show, wink, as Ronnie did; another to buy raw seafood from a shanty or cart on a dusty Mexican street -- but one that has an established reputation, branches in Chicago, and raves on this site (Mariscos Veneno -- double yum); another to do the same in Chicago from a van that's associated with a church and sits on the same corner every weekend for years in plain view of the CPD; and then there's Don Pirata de Tacos, swashbuckling anti-establishment underground guisado man. Where does he sell his shady meats and stews? From his own neat clean home, where he lives, amongst his neighbors. How will he ever be held accountable for his crimes against digestion and society if something goes wrong? Oh yeah, we know where to find him pretty well. In fact, if everyone who sold tacos, Rolexes or personal services did so from their own home, there'd be less need for licensing. If the garage is a pigsty, and the folding chairs aren't packed with neighbors, walk down to the next one.

I've convinced myself. I'm playing it double safe from now on: I only eat on the premises of the chef after checking his or her paperwork. This might limit my options, but I'm worth it.

G Wiv wrote:

Katie wrote:But after that, what else is there to say?

Not directed at you specifically, but I am surprised at the myopia exhibited in this thread.

Says the man wearing glasses.

Why is it that for 24 hours, "I do not agree with what you say, but I will die fighting for your right to say it" has turned into "see it my way, or be called useless and myopic?"

This, to me, is more consternating than either the concept that we can "necessarily conceal" something "only from law enforcement" - are we food supervillains? and, can't they use Google? - or that there is no difference between posting about a private place here, and a public place with an address in a foreign country or city.

To me, the closest analogue for this garage is a backyard barbecue. Describe it in Shopping and Cooking (or Other Culinary Chat) as I suggested on page one and I guarantee 60% fewer posts, since that's your goal. LTHForum - minimize discussion! This ends my interest in this thread; if I have any energy left over I'll write the Reader. I'm pleased everyone's full and look forward to dining with you under other roofs soon.

There's plenty left to say. You may not eat that particular taco, but it might push you to find that particular style of taco. While I haven't eaten (and probably won't eat at) many of the places mentioned here, I still learn so much about different ways and means of consuming both food and culture. At least now I know there are such taco garages--I didn't before this thread blew up.

Two things:

1) Does anyone on LTH know enough Spanish to convince this fellow to open a restaurant?
2) Why does this city not like taco trucks/food stands a la NY/LA? That needs to change, as it definitely holds Chicago back from what would undeniably be the number 1 spot on the list of great food cities.

I love the spirit that drives places like these. So many great food and drink phenomena started out of people's garages like Siracha and Bell's beer.

Probably the best Yucatecan (?) food I have tasted this side of the Yucatan was in SF. I worked at a hotel with someone whose mother ran a very traditional Yucatecan (?) "restaurant" out of her apartment in the Mission. Every day, at the same time, people showed up and she would have a selection of fresh food for those in the know. This is where I tasted "brasa de reina" for the first time. This was a tamale where the masa was made with ground pumpkin seeds and had a pumpkin seed type mole on the inside and it was steamed in a banana leaf. Very popular during lent.

I guess there is a certain danger for these garage band cooks if the media gives them too much exposure which would include their name and address. I'm wondering if it would be a good idea for the ones that have gotten a lot of exposure to file for some sort of tax ID number just in case?

As far as media coverage goes, I like the idea of keeping the location details out of it. This way it protects the operator to a certain degree and keeps it clandestine except for word of mouth--adding to the sense of adventure. The "Check Please" effect is obviously good for legit restaurants but probably not for the garageria.

Maybe they should put up a big banner
“¡Felicitaciones Señor Garaje!” and just
call it a family gathering/open house.
Have a box and envelopes for well-wishers
to drop off “cards” (with suggested donations).
¡Fight the power!
Too many f’n busy-bodies.

Santander wrote:Why is it that for 24 hours, "I do not agree with what you say, but I will die fighting for your right to say it" has turned into "see it my way, or be called useless and myopic?"

Am I not entitled to my opinion?

1 post about matters culinary, 75 posts about the legality/inaccessibility of the GT seems ridiculously skewed to me.

If not for a garage operation such as the GT wonderful thriving delicious businesses would never be, Zaragoza for example.

Long live the enterprising man with a garage, be it tacos, bands, wine or computers named after fruit.

Enjoy,
Gary

I've convinced myself. I'm playing it double safe from now on: I only eat on the premises of the chef after checking his or her paperwork. This might limit my options, but I'm worth it.

I find that walking into a taqueria and shouting "Papers! I demand to see everyone's papers, now!" is always the best way to get good service.

"Mirgras" works as well... Or you could call in advance and ask the homeowner to cook for you since you write for a local blog.

Two things:

1) Does anyone on LTH know enough Spanish to convince this fellow to open a restaurant?
2) Why does this city not like taco trucks/food stands a la NY/LA? That needs to change, as it definitely holds Chicago back from what would undeniably be the number 1 spot on the list of great food cities.

I feel compelled to respond to your queries mtgl.

Regarding your first question, I've found that there are a lot of people who are perfectly happy flying under the radar. Many immigrants who may not have all of their papers in order employ different types of survival mechanisms, many of them to our benefit. But I've also come across a lot of people who are just happy cooking for others and making some spending money on the side. I think of all the surbuban and city garages out there on game day when guys are simmering big pots of chili on the turkey fryer burner and selling cups of beer. Of course, none of this is technically legit but I leave that end of it up to the people that have jobs enforcing that kind of stuff (and hope they have bigger fish to fry).

As far as the second question goes, it is very unfortunate that we do not allow food trucks like those in other cities. The law that requires hot food to be pre-prepared, pre-packaged and held at 140 degrees stifles that fresh on the spot creativity that makes things like the Kogi Truck or the Burger Truck so good and so much fun. In my opinion, there is no motivation on the part of the city to have to open their minds to different ways of doing things. It's kind of ridiculous though when I see a place like Maxwell street--if those setups were placed on top of a flatbed trailer would they then be considered illegal? Perhaps now is a good time for a few ambitious folks to petition the city and make a case for a new kind of mobile food business. After all, it will be a new source of revenue for the city in licensing and ridiculous violations.

ronnie_suburban wrote:And to the person who sold me that apple pie at the Oakland New Year's show in 1987 -- the one that had me puking for days -- fuck you!

Duuuuuuuuuuude. That was thorn apple pie.

Is it too late to add the Taco Garage to the GNR nominations? Three pages, 87 replies (now 88) and 1976 views in about 48 hours. That's the criteria, right? It gets my vote!