My girlfriend and I drove down to LA from the Bay Area on Highway 101 last week, and naturally swung by El Ojo de Agua, probably the best truck, on the way out of Oakland. The chicken tacos were, as always, supreme, and about a thousand times better than the bland fish tacos we got at the Splash Cafe, in San Luis Obispo. The tamales we picked up across the street at The Tamale Queen were also excellent (pork more than chicken). If you do happen to be in San Luis Obispo, though, the clam chowder at the Splash Cafe was superb. Apparently it’s also available at Costco. Don’t know if it’s a recommended accompaniment to their famous giant bags of tortilla chips, $3 for 5 lbs. Anyway, point is: tacos from a truck are better than tacos not from a truck.

While I’ve never felt unsafe at a taco truck, I’m sure bad stuff does happen occasionally. Plus, I think that this has more to do with the fact that this was in East Oakland, and not that it was at a truck.

Still, it’s really sad, and I contributed $10 to the guy’s donation fund.

The San Francisco Chronicle:

(01-24) 09:02 PST OAKLAND — A Richmond father of four died early Wednesday, a day after being shot during an attempted robbery as he bought lunch at a taco truck in Oakland, police said. Abel Martinez Mejia, 41, was shot shortly before noon Tuesday at a taco truck parked at the corner of 85th Avenue and San Leandro Street in East Oakland. He died at Highland Hospital in Oakland.

Mejia was buying lunch when four men confronted him, police said. One man had a gun and shot him after demanding money, authorities said.