Taco loco: Marion’s food fight KOs one vendor
Staff writer
Mis Viejos, the Mexican food truck that sparked a lengthy debate in Marion, has pulled out.
“I feel continuously harassed with calls, messages and with inspectors always on top of me,” the operator of Mis Viejos said. “I’m not here anymore, and now they keep bothering me, telling me I’m a chicken, I’m running for being illegal and I’m afraid of immigration.”
The business is owned by Lugo’s LLC. Ricardo Aroldo Lugo is the registered agent for the business.
“I just passing by to steal a minute of your valuable time,” Mis Viejos posted on social media. “I sincerely thank those who supported us from day one until the last day. There are no words to thank you for all the support.
“Thanks also to all of you who took the time to somehow let us know that we were not welcome in your town. And from the bottom of my heart I need to apologize to all of you who felt violated by our presence and make you feel like we took your customers and your money.”
In the same post, Mis Viejos asked that anyone looking for a rental house contact the people she had planned to rent from.
“I gave the deposit and I was very excited but for obvious reasons, I am not moving in and my deposit will be returned when the house is rented,” she wrote.
A new food truck will be serving Mexican cuisine on Sunday at her former location in the 900 block of E. Main St. in Marion.
Newton resident Marisol Guzman, owner of Tortas Mary, is not a stranger to Marion or the county.
She has vended at special events numerous times and often vended at the former Dollar Tree store in Peabody.
Sunday on Main St. will be a regular gig, Guzman said.
Property owner Brent Miles asked her to come serve where Mis Viejos had served, Guzman said.
Business was steady Sunday. She had planned to serve until 6 p.m., but sold out at 5 p.m.
“I thank everyone for coming out to support me,” she said.
What inspectors were “on top of” Mis Viejos for is not clear. Although a city ordinance gives “police … or other public officer charged by the city administrator” ability to inspect a mobile food unit to determine that it is suitable for safety and follows city ordinance, both interim police chief Zach Hudlin and code inspector James Masters said they had not inspected Mis Viejos.
Kansas Department of Agriculture, which inspects food establishments, shows only three inspections, one of which was a planning inspection. The others were routine.
On the next block, That One Place sells Mexican cuisine with a Southern California twist. Food is prepared in a truck, but the operation includes a traditional bar and dining room.
Owner Josh Tajchman has been accused on social media of harassing the owner of Mis Viejo, but he says those accusations are “a false narrative.”
“People who want to believe that BS, they’ll believe what they want to believe,” Tajchman said.
Tajchman did talk to city council members about developing a food truck ordinance after Mis Viejos began serving across the street from him.
The ordinance sets fees of $10 a day or $100 for six months, and limits operations for vendors residing outside Marion County to no more than two days a week and no more than 90 days a year.
The ordinance was the subject of contention while being drawn up and debated by the council.
Several original requirements were deleted.
Miles did not return a call after numerous messages were left for him.