Freddie Wong posts a very insightful observation of Yelp on his blog.  The reasons he lists are part of why I haven’t relied on that site for quite a while.

If you haven’t yet seen Food Inc., I’ve got a DVD for you. Just send an email to goodgoings@gmail.com with the subject line “Food Inc. Please!” The first two emails I get will receive a copy. I was half expecting a graphic expose showing all the horrible things that happens in between getting our food from farm to the table. Granted, there is still some graphic footage that is needed to help get the point across, but it was such a small percentage of the documentary.

Just north of the most excellent El Taquito truck on Fair Oaks in Pasadena, there exists the El Gallito taco truck. This truck draws a decent crowd and and the following is getting larger by the day. It offers the standard taco fare of asada, al pastor, and pollo along with cabeza, lengua and some nice greasy chorizo for $1.25 per taco. For the non-purist, this truck also serves up burritos and quesadillas.

American Public Media’s Marketplace does a piece on Los Angeles tamale vendors: Selling tamales on the streets of Los Angeles is a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. Tamale vendors, or “Tamaleros,” have to avoid obstacles like gangs, traffic, police and health inspectors to make only about $30 a day. Devin Browne talks to one Tamalero whose found ways to stay in business.

An exhibition displaying the various methods people use to make and sell food on the street: “Global Street Food” is dedicated to the fascination with improvised kitchens in public places. Urban fast food stations navigating the contrast between pragmatic dilettantism and complexity in the smallest of spaces. Mike Meiré will be presenting several objects and street kitchens from different parts of the world in the Buckmneister Fuller Dome. An exhibition depicting the sculptural quality of authentic objects and their cultural identity.

OCWeekly does a article on taco trucks: “Then one day, some cholo comes up to my lonchera and points a gun. It was during the day, but he didn’t care. I was by myself—my wife, who usually helps me, had the day off. I thought I was going to die. I was scared. I mentioned the name of the guy whose route I bought—said he was my boss. The cholo smiled and put away the gun.

Love it or hate it, people are using Twitter. (Hell, we might be getting a GoodGoings twitter account for meet ups and such…) The Los Angeles Times travel blog does an article about some NorCal street food vendors using twitter to alert customers of their location (the Kogi Truck of course gets a mention), and Serious Eats has a list of street food vendors who use twitter by region of the country.

I plan on eating tacos that day anyway, maybe I’ll do it in the LBC. When: July 18-19, 2009 Saturday, July 18: 12pm to 11pm Sunday, July 19: 12pm to 10PM Where: Rainbow Lagoon Park, downtown Long Beach Click on the pic below for more details.

Molotov cocktails to the Taco zone truck? http://laist.com/2009/06/06/taco_zone_truck_set_on_fire_last_ni.php We haven’t been able to make it up there, but word is they are back up and running.