Taco Stand Tacos

We are very fortunate to have a great little place for fresh take-out Mexican food near our house. It's called Zumba, not to be confused with an exercise fad. It was started up a few years ago in a hole-in-the-wall type location by a guy whose father used to run a restaurant in Detroit's famed Mexican Town. And the food is real, not the Tex-Mex so many Americans are fond of. The menu consists of fish tacos, tacons (a conical shaped fried tortilla filled with pork and cheese and black beans) and made to order burritos. It is simple, and cozy - the place has about 20 stools and a few outside tables that are utilized in warm weather. Oh, and did I mention the fresh salsa bar? In other words, it was perfect. I say "was" because they recently announced that they are moving to new location, in a new construction condo "loft" building's first floor strip mall type space. (I probably should have seen this coming because a year or so ago they opened a second location in an upscale shopping district a few miles north - that went against everything I believe in, but I did my best to ignore it, seeing as nothing changed at our location.)  This latest "progress"  is enough to make my skin crawl. I am sure it is good for business, they will be adjacent to a newly constructed movie theater/bowling alley, so I am sure business will be brisk. In short, just want you don't want from your secret neighborhood spot. It can't possibly have soul, like the original. I am afraid the food will suffer. There might be lines. We may as well go to Chipoltle. So, we savored our last visit to the original.

When I think of taco stands, I think of one thing - TV shows filmed in California. While Jim Rockford often met up with his buddy Angel for a fish taco to discuss the latest murder case he was hired to investigate, the most memorable is The Partridge Family. Nobody spent more time at the local taco stand than Keith Partridge. Whenever he had a hot date and it was daytime (because we know when the sun went down he was at the drive-in movies), to the taco stand they went. Now, it takes a lot of confidence to eat a hard shell taco on a date, if you think about it. But Keith was a rock star hunk with a Mondrian-like painted school bus to boot, despite the "Nervous Mother Driving" warnings. Even when a skunk got on the bus and the whole family stunk, Keith came out smelling like a rose (with a tinge of tomato juice) to me. All I can say is, Keith, I think I love you, please invite me to your taco stand.

The Recipe (for success):

1 cup passion
2 tbsp hard work
1/2 pound dedication

Mix well. Commit yourself to good customer service and delicious product. Sell out.
Serves billions and billions.