One summer night in 1974, Raúl O. Martinez did something most of us do every day, only he made history by doing it.
He parked.
The Mexican immigrant planted a former ice cream truck outside a bar in East Los Angeles and started selling tacos. Food trucks had existed across Southern California for decades, but the idea of staying in one spot for hours instead of moving around to find crowds of construction and office workers on break, families at public parks, or event attendees was unheard of. Even more heretical was hawking soft tacos—freshly heated tortillas filled with meat and condiments—in an era when the hard-shell taco still ruled.
Fifty years later, the world continues to celebrate Martinez’s fearless marriage of car culture and Mexican food.
This article appears in Issue 30 issue of Alta Journal.
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Martinez’s tacos made the meal mainstream to the point where we don’t even call soft tacos soft tacos anymore; we just call them tacos. His truck—nicknamed La Güera, or “the light-skinned woman”—became the inaugural outpost of King Taco, the first modern-day taco chain in California. It also launched a culinary and cultural revolution.
Today, a stop by one’s favorite taco truck is a part of every Californian’s guided tour for out-of-state friends. Breathing in the enticing aromas of sizzling meats while you wait for your order has become a communal experience, the way we all visit Yosemite or hate on Texas.
Even the most monolingual English speaker suddenly learns Spanish while ordering dos con todo—two with everything.
As for that original King Taco truck? It blew up in a propane explosion decades ago, an inglorious ending for a vehicle that should be in the Smithsonian (or at least the Petersen Automotive Museum). It’s OK, though: On busy nights, a taco truck sets up in the parking lot of King Taco #2 in Eastlos, ready to serve dos con todo for all.•
Gustavo Arellano is the author of Orange County: A Personal History and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. In 2025, Arellano was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work as a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He was formerly editor of OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Orange County, California, and penned the award-winning ¡Ask a Mexican!, a nationally syndicated column in which he answered any and all questions about America’s spiciest and largest minority. Arellano is the recipient of awards ranging from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Best Columnist to the Los Angeles Press Club President’s Award to an Impact Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and he was recognized by the California Latino Legislative Caucus with a 2008 Spirit Award for his “exceptional vision, creativity, and work ethic.” Arellano is a lifelong resident of Orange County and is the proud son of two Mexican immigrants, one of whom came to this country in the trunk of a Chevy.
