I've been having such terrible luck with Mexican restaurants lately, so I decided to give this food…read moretruck a try. I ordered the tostadas de ceviche, shrimp tacos, and quesabirria tacos. Based on some other reviewers claiming they were overcharged, I paid close attention to the total. In my case, I was not overcharged. The prices listed at the time of my visit were $13.75 for the tostadas de ceviche, $6 each for the shrimp tacos, and $4.50 each for the quesabirria tacos. The tax charged also appeared consistent with the expected 9.25%.
Unfortunately, my experience raised some serious food-handling concerns.
The first thing that caught my attention happened before I even received my food. I watched the woman who took my order step out of the food truck, walk over to a pickup truck, and retrieve something from the back. I couldn't clearly see what she was getting because she seemed to make an effort to keep it out of my view. She used her apron almost like a bag to cover whatever she had picked up before returning to the food truck. She then looked at me and smirked as she walked back inside. Almost immediately afterward, I heard her and the cook begin preparing the food, including seasoning the birria and shrimp on the grill.
I obviously can't say exactly what she retrieved or how it had been stored, but seeing seafood apparently being brought in from the bed of a pickup truck was concerning. Seafood needs to be kept at proper refrigerated temperatures, and from what I could observe, I had no way of knowing whether the product had been properly temperature-controlled. Even if it was in a cooler, I would still have concerns about whether the proper temperature had been maintained.
Another issue was the handling of money and food. The same person collecting payment was also preparing the food. When I paid with cash, I could see pieces of cilantro and onion still on her hands while she handled the money. Watching someone go directly from handling cash to preparing food without an apparent handwashing or glove change was disturbing and, at minimum, gave me serious concerns about sanitation.
As far as the atmosphere goes, this is a food truck, so expectations should obviously be different from a traditional restaurant. The operating truck is parked on the street, while there appear to be two additional food trucks stationed on an adjacent property. That property appears to be a stationary setup rather than trucks parked along the street. There was also one picnic table with an umbrella where customers could sit and eat, which was a nice option if you want to eat there.
Now, despite all of those concerns, I had paid more than $40 for the food, so I ate it, and this is where things get complicated.
The ceviche was phenomenal. Honestly, I've never had ceviche this good. The flavors and textures were better than anything similar I've eaten recently. The tostadas had an excellent crunch, and the ratio of ceviche to tortilla was perfect. There was enough topping on each tostada that I could get a little bit of everything in every bite. Based strictly on the ceviche, I would absolutely return.
The shrimp tacos, on the other hand, were just okay. They weren't bad, but they weren't particularly memorable either. The bell peppers mixed into the shrimp threw off the flavor balance for me. I think the tacos would be better without them, or at least with less of them.
The quesabirria was also just okay. I've had better elsewhere, and I was charged extra for the consommé, which was something to keep in mind.
So overall, I have very mixed feelings about this place. The ceviche alone was good enough that I'd want to come back, but the food-handling and sanitation concerns I witnessed would make me think twice. The food itself has some real potential, particularly the ceviche, but I'd like to see more attention paid to food handling, temperature control, and basic sanitation practices before I could feel comfortable recommending the place without reservations.