It was only a matter of time before the traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants started getting their napkin rings in a twist over all the new taco trucks. The first area to complain? West Los Angeles’ Mid-Wilshire district, where such fine eating establishments like Toshi’s Fresh Asian, Koo Koo Roo, Baja Fresh and Johnnie’s New York Pizzeria have banded together to complain.

Last Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department arrived to dish out tickets to many of the trucks. And they didn’t come with a side of friendliness, either.

“They don’t have city and health department permits,” said Lt. Dan Hudson, watch commander at the Los Angeles Police Department Wilshire Division, who was quoted by the LA Times. “Restaurants complain because the lunch trucks are taking their business, and they don’t have [proper] permits.”

The paper added:

Sumant Pardal said the truck he leases to operate India Jones food catering [pictured] was impounded after police told him that “businesses don’t want you guys here.”

Pardal, who said he recently moved from Arizona and had been operating India Jones for a little more than a week, said he was cited for failing to have a California driver’s license and vehicle tags.

“They were trying to find any reason to cite me,” said Pardal, who said he’s been a chef for more than three decades.

[Note: We'll have an email interview with Sumant Pardal coming soon.]

Interestingly, the article noted that these vendors were seeking advice for the first time from the newly formed Asociación de Loncheros La Familia Unida de California. This represents the first significant crossover between these nouveau food trucks and the existing Latino trucks around the Southland.

According to LAist, the local restauranteurs are upset:

“They’re only picking on us apparently,” said Toshi’s General Manager, Fred Williams, who thinks all the recent criticism has been unfair. “We’re actually not the ones who called the police [on Wednesday]. All the restaurants here have been complaining about the trucks. We gave up on it a long time ago. We really haven’t been doing anything about it.”

And that’s true. Jose Ceja, the manager over at Johnnie’s New York Pizzaria, says all the restaurant managers in the area, including Koo Koo Roo, Baja Fresh and Organic to Go, have been meeting over the issue. “We’re all trying to work together getting rid of these things,” explained Ceja. “I’ve cut employees left and right because we don’t have enough income to keep everyone here. The economy has been bad and I had to cut, and then these trucks show up and had to cut more. We all average $15,000 to $18,000 in rent, have to pay employee taxes and alcohol licenses.”

I also checked in with LA taco truck lawyer extraordinaire Phil Greenwald, who said that this enforcement might not hold water in court.

He emailed me with the following reaction:

LAMC 80.73b2f (Time limit parking of catering trucks on the streets of Los Angeles) was considered by Superior Court Commissioner Barry D. Kohn on June 10, 2009. He dismissed the citation against the driver of the truck on the grounds that the ordinance was not in conformity with the California Vehicle Code. He held that the time limits were not rationally related to “public safety” as required by applicable Vehicle Code Sections. The “one day” sweep of catering trucks along Wilshire Blvd. appears to have been applied in a discriminatory manner since all vehicles parked along that street were not treated similarly. California Appellate Court Decisions do not permit discriminatory enforcement.

For the record, here’s the language of LAMC 80.73b2f:

F. (Amended by Ord. No. 177,620, Eff. 7/23/06.) No catering truck shall remain parked at any residential location for the purpose of dispensing victuals, or at any residential location within a half mile radius of that location, for a period of time, adding together all time parked at each residential location, which exceeds 30 minutes. Upon the elapse of that period of time, any catering truck that continues to be used for the purpose of dispensing victuals must be parked at a location more than half a mile distant, as measured in a straight line, from the location where the vehicle was parked at the beginning of the 30-minute period, and the vehicle shall not return to that location for at least another 30 minutes from the time of departure or relocation. The requirement that a vehicle must be parked one-half mile distant shall only apply if the new parking location is in a residential area.

No catering truck shall remain parked at any commercial location for the purpose of dispensing victuals, or at any commercial location within a half mile radius of that location, for a period of time, adding together all times parked at each commercial location, which exceeds one hour. Upon the elapse of that period of time, any catering truck that continues to be used for the purpose of dispensing victuals must be parked at a location more than half a mile distant, as measured in a straight line, from the location where the vehicle was parked at the beginning of the one hour period, and the vehicle shall not return to that location for at least another 60 minutes from the time of departure or relocation.

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So after following the Twitterverse for new food trucks, I came across Marked5, which fires up “Japanese Style Burgers.” I sent them an email to get the inside flip. The photo above is of Marked5’s general manager, David Ly. Answers were provided by the company’s marketing guy, Wayne Chang.

1) What’s Marked 5 all about? How’d it get started? And what does the name mean? Who is behind it and what’s with the Japanese-ish burgers?

Marked 5 is a gourmet food truck with the mission of creating high quality burger/sandwiches with innovation and care. By focusing on three very important key points, quality, innovation, and convenience, we strive to provide the best experience for all of our patrons.

The name Marked5 actually is a literally description when a person is experiencing our burger, the rice patty imprints all five fingers as the patron making his or her own mark/claim on the burger!

David Ly is the founder of Marked5, who traveled extensively in Asia and decided to come up with this burger concept with a spin on our Asian American heritage and started his own Burger Revolution. In fact, the only Japanese-ish influence is showcased by the Katsu Pork Sandwich, and you will find that all four of our main items are really awesome in their own rights.

2) What’s the most expensive thing on the menu? How did you determine what’s on the menu?

All four main items are priced at $5 each, and we created the menu with the thought of being able to offer something for everyone! In experimenting with the menu, we had three criteria; unique, withstands the test of time, and transcend between all borders. We hired a chef consultant to come up with all our sauce. We didn’t want any store brought sauce. Everything is from scratch. We started with the (Torraku Beef) angus beef which we thought to be the most symbolic of the asian and american. Then we had (torraku) veggie which is a tofu patty mixed with egg, cheese and veggies. We had to do a Katsu pork. Lastly was our Chicken Curry which turns out be one of our best sellers. We do have occasional specials (burgers) ham & egg, Torraku Salmon and Spicy Tuna. Special prices varies.

3) How much of an influence was Kogi or other existing taco trucks? How long did it take you to get from concept to road?

Marked5 is really the only few trucks on the road that is completely original in its food offerings, you will not find any tacos near our truck Its all about the Burger Revolution!!

The pain staking process of developing Marked5 was a six-month journey from concept to road, and we have been officially in business for a little over three months. We are still actively searching for new ways to improve our items, and we will not rest until perfection is achieved; unlike most of the trucks out there we also operate out of a central kitchen to ensure the quality of our food.

4) What is your route and how did you determine it? What did you have to do to convert an existing truck to the Marked5? Did anything surprise you about this process?

Routes were a trial and learn process. It took a long time to figure out which location works. And some locations works sometimes and not others. We are still in the process of figuring that out. If you or anyone else have any suggestions on additional routes, PLEASE email me. We had to do so much to convert the truck. When we first saw the truck, it had no engine (it was just being tune, i didn’t know you had to remove it to do that). We had to add a fryer and fix the compressor. But riding on it, brings a sense of history. We are reminded everyday, of what this truck use to sell and how long it has come to be Marked5. we appreciate and give it a little kiss goodnight every morning before we head home for four hour sleep, then back to the kitchen to prepare for the day.

5) Asahi or Sapporo?

Asahi

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I’ve never heard of a shaved ice truck before, so I pinged Get Shaved for the inside scoop. Kristin Roskowick, a co-founder, responded to my queries.

1) Why shaved ice from a truck? Aren’t trucks hot, with like griddles and burners and stuff? How do you keep it cold enough? Why not a pushcart?

When my husband and I were brainstorming ideas for our first business, we decided we wanted to do a shave ice and ice cream store because one, I’m a frozen dessert fanatic, and two, it is hard to find authentic Hawaiian style shave ice around here. We had two issues that we came across. One: we did not have enough money saved up to do the store the way we wanted to and it was nearly impossible for us to get a small business loan to cover the difference since we had no prior experience with owning a business (banks require a minimum of two years being in business before they will give you a loan — we couldn’t even get a business credit card!!) and, two, at that time (about two years ago), commercial leases were, what my husband and I considered, unreasonably high and we were concerned that we would be setting ourselves up for failure if we took on that kind of overhead. I think we were right for the most part because since then so many small businesses have gone under, due in part to their unaffordable leases.

Thus, we decided instead to create a mobile shave ice and ice cream store which required lower startup costs. Also, we believed it was less risky than a store because we would be able to go where the customers are.

Our truck was custom made specifically for shave ice and ice cream so there are no griddles and burners and stuff. We have a freezer that fits about 350 lbs. of block ice, an ice cream dipping cabinet which fits about 4 3-gallon tubs of ice cream, and a condiment refrigerator where we store our backup syrups, condensed milk, et cetera.

I think it’s obvious when you see the picture of our van that there is much more of a wow factor to our van than a pushcart which allows us to reach a much broader clientele. Also, we wanted a store on wheels and a pushcart did not give us sufficient storage space for ice cream, all of our syrup flavors (most pushcarts offer 4 or 5 flavors maximum, we offer over 20 flavors), and ice. We would also have to tow a pushcart which is much more of a hassle to park and unload versus driving up with our van.

2) What’s your background? When did you start?

I have a B.A. in Economics and my husband has a B.S. in Physical Education and Health. Before starting our business, I was working as a contract administrator for the Exposition Light Rail Transit Line in Los Angeles, and my husband was a property manager in LA. When we met over ten years ago, we always knew we wanted our own business but we never had the means (i.e. funding) until about two years ago. Planning started about two years ago but our actual operations did not start until October 2008.

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In what is a surprisingly peaceful solution to a series of armed robberies against 22 taco trucks in East Los Angeles, Nery Perez (right), 21, walked into the sheriff’s East Los Angeles station at about 5 pm yesterday afternoon and was taken into custody. He was booked on charges of robbery.

On Thursday, he had been announced as the fifth suspect in a bunch of taco truck armed robberies, most of which took place late in the evening between April 5 and June 27, 2009. The targeted trucks were mainly along Olympic Boulevard, Cesar Chavez Avenue and Whittier Boulevard, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Spanish-language channel Telemundo noted that they were suspected of taking an estimated $7,000.

All five were part of the Fearless Kings (FLK) tagger crew, who, according to La Opinión, had been hoping to use the robbery as a way to “elevate” their status from mere taggers.

At least four other members of the crew have been arrested Thursday in connection with the robberies: Samuel Razo, 20; Miguel Torres, 21, Julio Osuna, 21; and Jesse Moreno, 18.

But what’s most interested about this case is that it relied heavily on the cooperation of the new Associación de Loncheros, the Times adds.

[The Association's Alfredo] Magallanes said the truck vendors did not report the crimes right away because they were under the false impression that a county ordinance prohibiting catering trucks from parking in one spot for more than an hour was still in effect. The ordinance, however, was overturned only months after it was passed in April by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

But Magallanes said some police officers are still implementing the former ordinance. Fearing further problems with police and possibly retaliations from members of the tagging crew, the truck vendors instead did not initially report the crimes.

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Move over Dennis Ross, and meet Los Angeles Councilmember for District 13, and City Council President, Eric Garcetti.

The Eastsider blog points out what may be the world’s first case of taco truck diplomacy as mediated by local public officials.

Here’s the issue: The Tacos Arizas taco truck has apparently been parked at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Logan St. for years. Each night it welcomes all kinds of folks who want to get their taco on. However, the local residents say that many of these people don’t seem to know how to keep the noise down, nor how to adequately dispose of their basura. Before, when the City of Los Angeles had a one-hour parking limit, the cops could just hit them with tickets all the time. But that law was struck down in June, making it impossible to compel the truck to move.

Garcetti set up a meeting between the Loncheros Association, the LAPD, and his own Council District 13.

The result? The Eastsider reports:

After the discussions, the owners of Arizas agreed to move the truck about a block north to the other side of Sunset Boulevard next to the Sav-A-Lot market and away from apartments and homes. “This was the first time we worked with a taco truck to have them voluntarily move to a location to address concerns of local residents,” said Garcetti’s spokeswoman, Julie Wong.

The taco truck owners are happy with the new location – and not having to contest $158 parking tickets, said Magallenes. “It was a good approach,” he said of the negotiations with the city. “We got good results.”

However, the Arizas truck is now closer to some restaurants but merchants were not involved in the negotiations over the new location, Magallenes said. One resident, who lives nearby, has also noticed that the Arizas truck sometimes parks closer to Sunset Boulevard than called for in the deal with the city.

Hrm. Maybe the new residents can be bought off with free pastor?

[via LA Daily blog]

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Elina Shatkin is the LA Times’ content producer for The Guide. Most importantly, she’s been keeping close tabs on what she calls “nouveau food trucks,” the likes of which we’ve been covering here on the blog.

I checked in with her for a fiver, and she replies:

“Let me just state up front, that these are strictly my personal opinions. I don’t claim to speak for anyone but myself. I don’t claim to be an expert about food or about taco trucks. I’m just someone who like to eat. A lot.”

With that aside, here we go:

1) So, what’s with your obsession with new LA food trucks? How do you find out about new ones? Why is LA obsessed with them all of a sudden?

1. When I moved to L.A. from the sheltered suburb of my youth and discovered street meat, I was in love. It was probably my one experience with love at first sight. I find out about new food trucks the same way most people do: from friends and food blogs. I have the added bonus of receiving tips and press releases because I write about food.

I think there are probably lots of reasons L.A. is currently so obsessed with what I call the Nouveau Food Trucks. They’re new. They’re inexpensive as compared with even the cheapest sit-down restaurant. (In a bad economy, they’re an affordable indulgence). Food and the discussion around it is a super-hot trend right now. (I suspect that desire was latent in the gen pop for a long time, but it’s been fueled by review sites like Yelp & Citysearch, by food blogs, by Twitter and other social networking apps. Basically, all of these avenues give “ordinary people” an avenue to express and argue their opinions.) And, not to be underestimated, NFTs represent a cultural fusion that’s a perfect fit for L.A.

2) Do you worry about the hipsterization/gentrification of taco trucks at all?

2. Nope. There are about 2 dozen Nouveau Food Trucks roaming L.A. In contrast, there are roughly 7,000 taco trucks in the city of L.A. (This number comes from Erin Glenn, CEO of the Asociación de Loncheros L.A. Familia Unida de California. I interviewed but didn’t quote her in my story about L.A. food trucks. She warns that this is a VERY rough estimate. The actual numbers may be much higher.) It’s not like these two dozen Nouveau Food Trucks are pushing out the thousands of traditional taco trucks. If anything, these Nouveau Food Trucks are really competing against each other for the same market segment.

Cultural influence is very fluid and hard to track, but it rarely occurs in a linear fashion. Rather, it’s an octopus-like creature that reaches out in all direction, sucking in and expelling matter. (Is that what octopi do? I wish I was a cephalopod expert so I’d know if my analogy was apt.)

Territorialism is another issue, but I haven’t seen the kind of food truck vs. food truck turf wars in L.A. that have occurred in N.Y. That may yet come to pass.

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