Every time I head over to Lake Phalen, I see this ponderously worded sign sitting at the corner of East 7th St and Arcade in St Paul. I'm not sure if I should be baffled by the meandering verbiage or impressed about how they fit it all into the sign. I'm guessing they did run out of letters, though, since the 'A' in "TRAILER" appears to be made from capris Barbie pants. And I need to also point out that their "TACOS" went slightly out of the margins.
"EX OWNERS MADE
ABOUT $5000 EVERY
WEEKEND SELLING TACOS
OUT OF A TR[small pants]ILER HERE"
Five large every fucking weekend? Dude, that's over a quarter of a mill a year! Why would you give that up? Something is fishy here. I call bullshit or at least bullshit by omission. Maybe they made 5k every weekend for about a month in 1994 when some fat taco-craving motherfucker lived across the street. He'd waddle over about once an hour, order a sack of shelled beef, and then slide home on the trail of greasy sweat he left behind. Or maybe they pulled in that amount consistently for years, but the mob's cut was $2500 and a churro. Nobody gives up $5000 a weekend, especially in a cash-based business, unless something went south. Maybe they couldn't make the payments on their taco trailer or the health department caught them putting their beef into used, yellow, crunchy Huggies instead of corn tortillas.
15 comments (leave yours):
It is a trailer...maybe the ex owners are in prison and maybe more than taco were sold...maybe a lil crystal...ya think....
King Shocka Khan
I live in the Phalen area but I don't think I've seen the sign. But there is a taco truck often seen at the corner of Maryland and Forest, in the parking lot of the little corner store. I've never tried the tacos there though. What brings you to my hood?
SK, You don't even get the trailer. Just a narrow strip of paved over land right next to the street. But that would explain the crack vials all over the place.
Kristen, Ang lives within driving distance of Lake Phalen. We go for walks there now and then. I would be hesitant to eat trailer tacos. It sounds too much like some sort of euphemism for piles of scabs left behind by previous occupants. "They left a whole case of beer in the fridge, but I moved the couch and had to vacuum up a pile of trailer tacos."
Hesitant... but you wouldn't outright refuse? Sometimes that scary street vendor food is the best tasting.
Phalen is a nice lake. I am a few blocks away and will sometime walk around it. Apparently there are muskies in it!
Scary street vendor food in a former Soviet republic = adventurous. Scary street vendor food in America = hantavirus.
The tacos were a front...It was the crack that was the money maker.
"I'll take a bean burrito, hold the cheese, extra guac...Oh, and an ounce of the white stuff that makes me want to sell my body in order to support my drug habbit that is consequently spiraling out of control. Thanks."
You ingested nearly every offering at the State Fair... you must of eaten trailer offerings there. HYPOCRITE! :)
But the State Fair has tried and true food-like substances sampled by thousands upon thousands -- no, MILLIONS -- of people, all of whom fully expect to get completely sick and almost die after eating them. No one expects to die from a random internal taco pummeling.
Jenni, asking for "an ounce of the white stuff" at a food stand where the food prep area isn't fully in view is never a good idea.
HAHA. Actually the tacos were great.
As for "Why would you give that up?" The city of Saint Paul has an ordinance where a taco stand can only be in a location for a certain amount of days a year. So they couldn't have the stand on their own property. There was much news about it last year and an effort to get the city to change it's ruling, but Jay Benanav refused.
Trailer tacos aren't half bad, especially when compared to the Taco Bell variety. El Taquito in West St. Paul used to set up on trailer every evening during the summer along Robert St. They eventually bought a storefront, though.
In reality I like tacos. Because to say otherwise means I am a big fat racist. Fill my purse with tacos please!
I wonder if they know the "A" is missing ;)
so has anyone been by it in the last few days to see the changes the owner made to the sign????
Anon, I haven't been by there recently. I may drive by there tonight though. I'll have to keep my camera at the ready!
Post a Comment