Today marks the end of an era in the world of Comida. When I tell you that there has been no shortage of tears, I tell you the truth. Jovee signed on with me as my right hand man on March 23, 2010. Since that day, he has been beside Tina and I. He has been what every owner would ever want in a right hand. He has gone above and behind the call of duty so many times I could not possibly share it all here. There are simply not words to express my gratitude for this man. The guy I called the Dude, my buddy, my confident, my backbone, my friend. Sometimes the pain in my ass I simply could’t shake. Here a just a few snippets of the crazy and hilarious times we experienced as we started Comida, together.

- First day out/ Terri Cox’s party/ turned Tina on and she burned my ponytails and singed my eyelashes. Service began… we put out better food than people ever imagined.

-Driving to Aspen/ white knuckle driving by yourself, 2 times (4 if you count each way) you, hand out the window, offering people tacos on the way up I-70.

-Learning that we always need the ladder, we always need the cooler, we always need a lighter, we always need the cover on jenny! (door is close for generator…., window falling out of casing just as I said, ” Gosh Jovee, I’m not sure that window is secure.” “We can see it all from way up here” “I taught english in Jamaica man…” “Peaches falling out the back of Tina, slow motion… it took and hour” “offering an orange in a time of need” “The dirts, the garbage dumpster, the wind, the snow, the rain, the heat, the cold, the frozen toes, hands, burned eyelashes, burned corneas, situation DOWN! Situation Overnight….

-I go out of town and Jenny breaks. You spend all day underneath her, fixing her.

-countless runs for propane.

-the coldest night after Thanksgiving.

-Same thing every day…

-1000 tacos, 200 people, 45 minutes. I have to sing.

-The cops, the douche bags, the good ones. City council meetings. Being illegal for a year. The guy that pretended to be a security guard. Figuring out how to make lemonade from lemons so many times… and we did it. Together.

For you… Jovee. I will miss you. Please don’t be a stranger. May you find all the joy you are seeking. May you find warmth on snowy mornings, a cold pool at the end or middle of any hot day, time with your wife you may not have had due to Tina’s needs, and mine, and may you keep on living the dream. I was sure honored to be a part of that for the time we had. All my love.

Rayme

I find myself saying this a lot lately, but where did our friend Summer go? We live for summer, but after 1 1/2 years in business, I can gratefully say, we do not die by her when she leaves. My favorite and most asked question is still “Is it hot in there?” followed quickly by “Do you have air conditioning?” Both are funny to all of us. “Yes, it’s really hot. We love it!” and “No, definitely no to the AC question”. My friend Drew has AC on his Sweet Cow truck. So trick and fly and I am more than a little jealous, but Tina, she’s just hot. And so we sweat, and laugh and sing and holler and shout and sell tacos. And make friends. We’re still doing that. Thanks so much to all of you who keep coming out to us, waiting in line, sitting on the ground, all of it. There were more than a few new trucks that opened this summer and it has been great to build this community of mobile vending with them. And lately, once again, there has been a surge of people calling and writing and asking….. hey, who’d you do it? Can you give me your business plan? How much did you spend? How did you know how to build your truck? How did you make your route? find places to go? decide on your menu? pick your outfit this morning? I am floored each time I open one up. Honestly, I respond to some. Always to friends, sometimes because they ask really nicely. But for real!? In my experience of opening restaurants and now Comida, I asked some questions,but mostly I went to work. I worked for people who were smart, and I listened and took notes. But I worked. And I made mistakes. Mistakes that cost me so much money I frequently want to throw up in my mouth when I think about them. But that is what you do. People that think that opening a restaurant is fun and seems like a great idea almost never really know WTF is up. It is fun, and maybe like one Sunday every 5 months it’s easy, but most, as in like 85% of restaurants fail. In the first year. I know this because as I try to grow my business and I go to banks and ask for lines of credit, SBA loans, 10 extra dollars for whatever, they remind me of it.

But whatevs…. business is business, and life has a funny way of throwing curve balls and getting your attention. And so here we are, and for today, all we have to do is sell tacos. Make Comida, sell Comida, love Comida. And so that is what we will do. Today, September 19, 2011. Make, sell, love.

Have a good one! And as always…

Be well, stay tuned and eat more truck food!

Rayme

Dear Diary, Tina Here.

It’s been a while since I last wrote. I have to admit and am grateful to say, I have been busy.  Rayme (the blond one) and the Comida Crew have been working me hard.  It is summer after all. And hot!  I am feeling like I may need a pedicure, or some new shoes. Something. Anyway, just to get get a little attention the other day I threw a fit when we got to our LASP stop at CU. (I don’t mean to talk in code, that’s just where we were). My generator shut down and I forced Jovee and Serena to pack me up and call it a day before they even served their first taco. Thankfully Jovee (who I think I may have mentioned…. is the DUDE!) spent about 5 hours lying on the ground underneath me in the rain. Don’t get any fresh ideas. He was just trying to help. It’s really no wonder I needed a little tuneup. We just recently took our  2nd annual trip to Aspen. That is a long, steep drive and hard on me, even with the Dude driving me so well. Everyone had a blast though. We had been hired for 3 evening parties with Young’s Market (a group we served last year for the first time at the Little Red Ski Haus). In addition, we had also been asked to be a part of a Seminar on Top Wines For Tacos with friend Richard Betts. Like an actual seminar, and for Food and Wine. As in… if you aren’t catching my drift, the biggest deal EVER and something this taco truck never thought she’d never be a part of. The crew was beside themselves, and the blond one worried and wondered about how it would go right up until she was singing, out loud, on stage with Richard.  Nothing like a good old fashioned sing along and some Sombra to ease the nerves. But really, from one big pink truck’s perspective, they rocked it. 1000 tacos served in 45 minutes to 200 people. I am proud of them. And I know how grateful they are to the 30 something volunteers from Food and Wine that helped assemble and serve the 200. Thank you doesn’t even begin to cover how our crew felt.

In general though, things have been pretty exciting. We are still waiting for our permit from the city of Boulder to come in the mail. The blond one reckons it will be here any day. With that, Comida will finally be legal, no longer “going rogue” as people liked to call it.  And just because certain folks don’t like what mobile vending is or think it’s unfair will no longer be a good enough reason to call the cops when we  and others pull up downtown (150 feet away from a bricks and mortar restaurant, on private property with the property owner’s permission blah biddy blah blah blah) and serve the people who want us there. It does not go lost on us however that another food truck has stopped it’s roll.  That makes 2 in the city of Boulder in the last year.   I know it makes the Comida crew sad, and maybe even a little scared. I mean honestly, what does it say about the business you have started when the 2 that start after you both stop after 6 months on the road? Hopefully not that the blond is totally nuts. Cuz’ between us girls, that’s what she’s worried about.

But really, there’s little time to ponder one’s nuttiness. We have parties to roll to and Truck Stops to make and food to cook and people to feed. I know the blond has said it here before, no one is getting rich (except maybe Roy Choi) with food truck ownership. But we are building something. We are making friends and putting ourselves out there and growing every month. The blond knew she had to start somewhere, and this pink taco truck knows that this somewhere was the right place. I hope you are having as much fun as we are.  Even through the hard work and long hours, there’s nothing the blond would rather be doing. And no group of 4 she’d rather be doing it with.

And with that, I’m out. It’s a beautiful rainy afternoon and all the dust from the last week has been washed off me and I am ready to start fresh again tomorrow.

Be well, stay tuned and eat more truck food.

Love,

Tina the Pink Taco Truck

On Monday of this week I got a call from the city inquiring as to whether there was truth in my parking my pink taco truck in downtown Boulder, next to a private business, on private property with permission  from the business. It wasn’t a threatening email, just one requesting clarification regarding my purpose for being there.  I was told there had been several phone calls and one visit from the Boulder Police asking if this was legal yet. And because I have worked this last year as closely as I have been permitted with the people whose office emailed, I immediately went downtown to their office to meet face to face.  These are hard working, good people. And as I have said before, there are other pressing issues with which they most certainly deal. The long and the short of it is this. Until the cities’ proposed Land Use Code is changed, we have been asked not to come anywhere near downtown. Because it upsets people, other restaurateurs.

So we won’t. We promised and pinky sweared. After all, it is easier to play by the rules when they present themselves.

But what we won’t do is go away.  We will be back downtown and we know this because so many other business owners (including restaurateurs) and fans of Comida and street food in general are supporting us. And we have a burgeoning group of new Street Food Truck owners that are creative and fearless and ready to stand up for what we/ and soon they will be a part of.  The fact that the code doesn’t actually get voted on until May 3, and even then doesn’t go into effect until 30 days later only means we wait a little bit longer. And so will every one else that has applied for a mobile vending permit.

Thankfully, we’ve gotten good at waiting. And clever. Surviving requires it.

But there is something I would really love to get off of my chest.  I know I asked it before, but I feel it is time to ask it again. Just because what we are doing upsets other restaurateurs or deli owners or who ever it is that calls or stops by my window pretending to be someone they are not, does it make what we are doing wrong? What about the reality that we are all responsible for the business we do each day? If as a Bricks and Mortar owner (which I was for 10 years in 2 different restaurant groups) your sales are down and one food truck pulls into your hood or down the street from you or into an industrial area, (for 2 to 3 hours) what does it say that you are blaming that one truck for a drop in your sales?

As a food truck owner I go regularly to restaurants all around Boulder. I pay, eat, enjoy and love my community of food and taste makers.  I have chosen to have my business in Boulder because it is where I live and love and have done so for over 20 years. And I have been fighting for mobile vending within Boulder for the last 16 months because this community has always supported the small business owner, the entrepreneur, the hammock seller, the wine maker, the book maker, the peddle/ petal pusher and even the pot grower.

And while fighting gets tiring and I regularly have to filter the first 150 things I really want to say when I am told someone called the cops or whatever, it is worth it.

Whether you own a bricks and mortar restaurant, food truck, food cart or food cooler, just do what you do well and be nice. How does the saying go…. “It works when you work it.”

Be well, stay tuned and eat more truck food.

Rayme