Super Taco Truck Beats Cold With Fancy Winter Vestibule

Pat Posey

Well buenos dias, Senor, welcome, welcome to Super Tacos! Step right in out of the frigid February air. Do you have a reservation? No? Well, let me check the availability... Oh, I'm afraid there won't be any tables opening up tonight—in fact, ever, since we don't have any—but if Senor does not mind standing, we would be happy to accommodate. Did you find out about us from our rapturous review in the New York Times? Regrettably, we were not awarded a single star, despite being named the Upper West Side’s favorite taco truck, but perhaps a re-review is in order, now that we have this warm, inviting vestibule!

Such a scene presumably unfolds daily at the acclaimed Super Tacos truck on 96th and Broadway, where one of our readers, Pat Posey, spotted this vestibule innovation, normally reserved for brick and mortar restaurants but used by Super Tacos since at least 2007. Back in 2005, the New Yorker ran a funny profile on Lawrence LoIacono, the guy behind the Acme Awning Co., which installs a lot of the temporary winter vestibules in NYC. He kind of hates them! "They’re nothing but trouble," he said. "They have moving parts; they’re fiddly; there’s a lot of sticking and sewing... Is it just a status symbol? Is it out there like the Hummer? A vestibule gives the client a perceived notion of warmth."

So whether it actually keep customers substantially warmer is an open question, as is the vestibule's legality. But with street food growing in prominence, we're not surprised to see this, and it's only a matter of time before you'll have to know somebody to get schnitzel or dumplings from the more exclusive food trucks.