The Taco Wire: Lonchera Express on the 105; Roy Choi Claps Back; Tacos de Chapulines go to Washington

Welcome to The Taco Wire. Each week, we serve you a roundup of stories on all things tacos and the universe of Mexican food that are making headlines in Los Angeles and beyond. Cuz, it’s never not a good time for tacos.

Lonchera Serves Commuters Stuck on 105 Freeway

[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] food truck caught in a gnarly standstill on the 105 after a fatal accident made the most patriotic of gestures imaginable in Los Angeles Friday morning when it opened up and served hungry commuters. Carlos Chavez, the truck’ owner, gave L.A. Taco an exclusive interview and said that his employees were en route to serve LAX workers inside terminal security when they – like hundreds of other motorists – ended up stuck in gridlock traffic. That’s when they made the ingenuous move to open up for business, serving mostly burritos to their fellow Angelenos. On this Taco Tuesday, we salute loncheras!

Roy Choi’s Revolutionary LocoL Closes Brick-and-Mortar Locations

[dropcap size=big]R[/dropcap]oy Choi, the undisputed godfather of the Kogi Korean bbq taco empire and co-founder of the social enterprise fast-food experiment Locol, took to Twitter this weekend to set the record straight about the closure of the chain’s last brick-and-mortar locations. Following several breaking-news reports that Locol’s two remaining locations in Watts and San Jose would shutter, Choi blasted unspecified media outlets, for what he classified as “clickbait headlines.”

“Calming down as each day passes but still mad & dumbfounded at the presumptive nature of many of the recent LocoL articles & how there is a passive aggressive secret desire that they wanted it to fail b/c of the names involved & the power to say I told you so,” he says in an Aug. 25 tweet, a few days after news broke. Instead, he tells his followers that his crew is “regrouping and transitioning to the next stage.”

Tacos de Chapulines Featured in New Smithsonian Series

[dropcap size=big]M[/dropcap]exicanos have been incorporating insects into our diets for centuries (hello, chapulines). But over the last several years chefs in the Estados Unidos have been catching onto what we’ve always known and are adding bugs to their culinary repertoire. In the new Smithsonian web series Bug Bites, Seattle native chef David George Gordon introduces viewers to the many ways insects are used in food, including the grasshopper tacos served at DC’s Oyamel under head chef Omar Rodriguez.

Man Finds Cockroach in Burrito

[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] Mexican restaurant in South Sacramento has been shut down after a man found a cockroach in his burrito. The Sacramento health department responded to the man’s complaint at Carolina’s Mexican Food and found dozens of cockroaches and a mouse upon inspection,CBS-13 reports.

O Canada, O Cinnabon Delights

[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]aco Bell’s wildly popular Cinnabon Delights (like a churro in cream-filled ball form) have crossed the northern border and are now available in Canada. Canadians, you’ll no longer have to cross through the Windsor Tunnel to get your fix. If that’s what you’re into.