It was a typical Wednesday night in West Los Angeles as my study group of 2nd year UCLA Engineering students burned the midnight oil trying to finish a physics project, circa 1991-92. As was customary, we had waited until the last possible moment to start thus ensuring that no one would be getting much sleep before we compiled something worthy of being turned in by the 8am Thursday morning deadline. As was also customary in this group, the amount of tangential conversations diverged early and often from the topic of Physics as an eclectic mix of Pancho Sanchez, Wynton Marsalis, and Tito Puente played in the background. I don't recall all of the myriad of topics discussed, but, invariably with a group of starving students, the subject of food came up.
It probably started out with wondering what was still open and what was nearby to where we were studying on this particular night (Hector's apartment), and quickly moved on to a wish list akin to that made by the inmates of the Mississippi penitentiary where Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy were being held in the movie Life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dChFxLjuomE
"I wish I had some chicken and waffles right now," I might have said.
"I could go for a Tommy's Burger," Steve might have said.
"I wish I had a burrito from King Taco...they're the best ever!" Hector exclaimed, reminiscing about the legendary taco stand near where he grew up in East Los Angeles. Feliciano and Johnny, also from the greater Los Angeles area, quickly concurred. "Yeah! King Taco!" they yelled out, eyes subsequently glazing over as if silently recalling the embrace of a long lost love. They then proceeded to describe every savory item on the menu as if it were indeed food handed down from the heavens. While these 3 Angelenos continued to discuss King Taco with such reverance, even Steve and I were starting to drink the proverbial kool-aid. We resolved that we must try this "King Taco" as soon as possible. In fact, it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility that we embarked on that mission the next day. In what would be just one in a long list of poorly planned, ill-conceived journeys that we would take in the name of food or entertainment, we battled the afternoon commute traffic for 21 miles from Westwood to 3rd Street in East LA. As with any time you go somewhere in LA, once you reach your destination, you feel like the Griswolds, just out of the car from a cross country trek, badly needing to stretch your limbs and get your bearings. So there we stood in the parking lot of Wally World, er..um..King Taco eagerly anticipating the deliciousness that surely awaited within. To make a long story short (yes, I realize that this is something of which I am incapable), it was okay. Yes, I was unimpressed.
You would have thought I told them that Tommy Trojan was a better mascot than our beloved Joe Bruin the way that they reacted.
"No way!"
"You're crazy!"
I then started to tell them stories of a far superior burrito from the far away land of Northern California; San Jose to be exact. I'm talking about none other than Guadalajara Market No. 2 on the corner of 10th and Empire Streets in downtown San Jose. So sure was I about my claim that I vowed to bring them one the next time that I went home. They probably gave me a few "whatever, man..." type glances and we probably went back to finishing our physics homework.
Several weeks passed and they probably had forgotten all about our Super Burrito Challenge, but I didn't. In fact, I happened to go home for a weekend but made sure to stop by and grab a Super Burrito before I headed back. Well...two actually. I ate one, and set the other one on the seat next to me, wrapped tightly in foil, surrounded by tortilla chips, and empanadas, and strapped in with the seat belt. (Okay, I didn't really put the seat belt on it.)
Keep in mind that this drive from San Jose to Los Angeles was and still is every bit of 335 miles and no less than 5 hours. Not wanting the product to be compromised any further, I did not go to my dorm first, but instead headed straight to the Minority Engineering Program Center ("Tha' Center") where I knew I would find everybody studying. It was kinda like "Cheers" for nerds.
Triumphantly, I dropped the monstrous Super Burrito right in the middle of the table where they were poring over some equation.
"THUD!"
"THIS....is the best burrito in...THE WORLD!"
They all looked at me like I was crazy while I scared up a knife and some napkins for them to do some taste testing. Recall that this burrito is now 6 hours old and room temperature. A silence fell over the room as "the crew" tried the Guadalajara offering. They looked like the judges in a Food Network challenge, trying to keep their poker faces as they chewed slowly. "Man! This is GOOD!"
I-told-you-so's ensued...
