The line of students in front of the South Gym and the strong scent of beef and cilantro in the air can only mean one thing: it’s Taco Thursday at the Hot Sauce food truck.
Rafael Da La Fuente, 48, has been serving food to the Pierce College community for the past few years. Every morning, from Monday to Thursday, he wakes up at 5 a.m., drives to North Hills to gather ingredients and then comes to serve the patrons of Pierce. This fall semester he started to serve $1 tacos weekly to the students and staff because he “relishes” the opportunity.
“I wanted to make this happen,” De La Fuente said. “Because I wanted the Pierce students and staff to know that I appreciate the business they give to us.”
De La Fuente makes sure that he doesn’t just focus on inexpensive food; he also values freshness.
“Every morning I wake up early, and I go and get the freshest ingredients,” he said. “When you come and you eat at my food truck everything is fresh. Whether it is the buns I put in the burgers or the beef that I cook, I make sure that everything is served fresh for the students.”
De La Fuente also has the comfort of working alongside family members, with his wife cooking the food in the kitchen.
“It’s great getting to be able to go to work and knowing that my wife is right alongside me,” he said. “We used to only serve food to people at Cleveland High School where my son played football. Then we realized that this was a great way to make money and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
As a result, while the food truck has benefited from the business, the students have been benefited with being able to have a plentiful lunch for a bargain. The truck serves the $1 tacos in both chicken and beef, but also offer fish and shrimp tacos as an alternative.
Julio Marquez, a 23-year-old nursing major, considers himself to be a taco aficionado. The first-timer gave his order of a beef taco a six out of ten.
“They are really good and worth it. I’ve just had a lot of really good tacos,” he said.
After Marquez, Houston Haynes, an 18-year-old from Palmdale who plays safety for the football team, also got his first taste of the truck’s $1 tacos. He gave the tacos a score of nine out of ten.
“I love the tacos,” Haynes said. “The beef is well seasoned; the tortillas are soft; and the taco itself is well put together. They’re great.”
Terence Malloy, a 21-year-old graphic designer, decided to get all four kinds of tacos.
“They’re pretty tasty,” Malloy said. “You can’t get this deal anywhere else.”