I recently came across this fantastic collection of paper taco trucks. I contacted Will Guy, the man behind the magic, for the inside story.

How did you first get exposed to taco trucks? What’s your favorite one? What do you order?

I remember my first taco truck visit when I was in art school, which saved my wallet more than a few times. I wondered ‘Why havent I seen these before?”. Maybe it was a rite of passage, like graduating from ice cream trucks or something. Living in the Bay Area, I often check Google Maps for taco trucks or check Yelp and save the bookmark. Theres also a great blog called yumtacos.com which I designed the logo for.

I like El Tonayense trucks in the Mission district in SF; the cooks are friendly and quick and the food tastes fresh. I usually have a staple order which is a couple of carnitas tacos and a horchata. Once in a while I order a burrito and an agua fresca if they have ‘em. Sometimes I’ll get a torta or a tostada when I want something different.

How did you come to create the paper dolls? Have you printed out and made them? If so, can you send photos of what they look like?

I’ve been wanting to do some kind of papercraft for a while and taco trucks popped into my head since you see different trucks with different shapes and logos. I also wanted to keep the cartoony aspect as opposed to an exact model. I have printed all of them out and made my own, though I havent yet made photos with them. If you search on Flickr for ‘paper taco trucks‘ you can see other peoples models which is a blast.

Why make paper doll versions of taco trucks? What do you hope people will get out of it?

For one its the idea of a ‘toy’ paper taco truck one can simply download and make. There’s the toy/keepsake aspect, the craft aspect, and the cartoonyness aspect of it. All those combined makes for a fun experience. It’s also a little reminder of the joy people get from visiting these traveling wagons of tastiness. I hope people enjoy them as much as I had designing them!

Have you shown them to any taco truck owners? If so, what was their reaction? If not, when will you?

I have not shown any paper taco trucks yet to any real taco trucks, maybe I should to get a free discount! I’m printing out and making a few to show off when I get a spare moment!

What’s next for you in the taco truck department?

Right now people are still discovering the paper taco trucks, and enjoy making them. I hope to make a few more variations in the future, stay tuned! I’ll continue visiting my fave loncheritas for the occasional taco or two. (or six . . . heh)

Goopymart is a one man (Will Guy) design studio specializing in bright, colorful lumpy illustrations. A wide variety of artwork is made for the delight and wonder of the world’s population. All this and more is available at www.goopymart.com.

Share on Facebook

Driving back to the Bay Area from Sonoma, Cyrus, Dallas, and I made a series of pit stops at a number of Sonoma’s and Vallejo’s best taco trucks.

Energy levels ran high as we pulled off Route 12 on to the gravel parking lot where the Tacos El Gitano truck was parked. Digging in to our six tacos (‘cos) al pastor we were pleasantly surprised by the grilled onions and spicy salsa verde that almost made up for the luke warm meat stuffs. The sope de carnitas proved more interesting with heaps of lettuce, pinto beans, salsa, cheese on its slightly toasted tortilla. All in all, Tacos El Gitano was nothing phenomenal but a good beginning to our dining experience.

Our second stop, Tacos Dos Hermanos, offered much more in the way of tacos al pastor. We also enjoyed an array of well done carnitas cos dripping with a sauce of the combined runoff of freshly squeezed limes, salsa verde and spicy meat juices. Over an unremarkable ceviche tostada livened up by some ripe avocado and a round of horchatas, our crew compared this truck to the last and found the comida of Dos Hermanos to be unequivocally more tasty than those of El Gitano. Still, the location–off busy Route 29 in Vallejo in the Vallejo Furniture parking lot — left a fair deal to be desired. The horchata was also pretty watery.

The gang’s last stop, also off of Route 29 in Vallejo, was Tacos Guadalajara. Having read that Guadalajara’s ‘cos al pastor are not to be missed (and our bellies nearly replete) we ordered two a piece and dug in. Guadalajara’s ‘cos were slightly less salty than those of the previous stops but equally crispy as those of Dos Hermanos. Furthermore, Guadalajara had the added appeal of offering great salsa rojo, rich horchata, and a more appealing ambiance than either of the previous two stops–a pair of benches set under a shady tree just of route 29.

Bellies full, piling back into our old, grey Corolla, mouths burning from the pickled peppers we’d just eaten, we resumed our journey towards the Bay Area, and a wedding!

Tacos El Gitano
21040 Broadway (Route 12)
Sonoma (in front of Sonoma Materials)

Tacos Dos Hermanos
Corner of Sereno & Sonoma Blvd (Hwy 29)
Vallejo

Tacos Guadalajara
Corner of Ohio & Sonoma Blvd (Hwy 29)
Vallejo

Share on Facebook