By Melissa Baltimore
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
As restaurant owners struggled to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jimmy Longoria found that the pandemic helped elevate the status of the food truck industry.
“We’re built for people eating on the run,” Longoria said. “Our industry was already a to-go industry anyways.”
Longoria is the founder and owner of Mexican on the Run, a food truck that has served the Baltimore area since June 2016. The truck specializes in Los Angeles-style Mexican-American cuisine, including quesa birria tacos.
“It took us a year to come up with a business plan, to scope out the industry, and to build this truck from the inside out,” Longoria said.
Mexican on the Run currently operates outside of its commissary kitchen in Towson, serving the Inner Harbor and college campuses, including Loyola University of Maryland, Towson University, and The University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Longoria said that the “to-go” nature of food trucks allowed him and his team to adapt to the changes imposed by the pandemic, even after remaining closed between March and May of 2020. Unlike standard eateries, there were few concerns surrounding lost revenue or factoring in the cost of more to-go containers. Mexican on the Run focused on finding and driving to business.
“COVID helped in the beginning,” Longoria said. “What it did for me, it leveled the playing field between food trucks and restaurants.”
Upon reopening, Mexican on the Run garnered substantial interest in residential neighborhoods, where Longoria noticed an increased population amid state and national lockdowns. The community-wide support for small businesses helped improve the reputation of food trucks in the Baltimore area.
“I’m from Los Angeles, and I’m Mexican,” Longoria said. “I come from a street vending culture. All COVID has done is put a magnifying glass over the food truck community that they’re not just hot dogs or dirty.”
The real secret to Mexican on the Run’s expanded success lies in the fold of a tortilla.
In September 2019, Longoria visited Los Angeles to reexamine the food scene and learned that quesa birria tacos had grown exceptionally popular. These tacos derive from the “Angelenos,” a name affectionately given to the Mexican-American community in LA. They are prepared with braised beef, cheese, and a tortilla that has been dipped in beef consommé. The taco is then pan griddled and served with the consommé for dipping.
Upon changing the menu, Longoria watched Mexican on the Run’s Instagram follower count increase from less than 5,000 in September 2020 to more than 13,000 as of February 2021. According to Longoria, customers have willingly waited an hour for Mexican on the Run’s quesa birria tacos.
Santi Sosa is a student at Montgomery College who has eaten from Mexican on the Run when visiting friends at Loyola University of Maryland. Sosa and his family are from Uruguay, but he finds quesa birria tacos to be uniquely appealing. He credits the deliciousness of quesa birria tacos to their street vendor background.
“It’s usually from a food truck,” Sosa said. “It’s not like a sit down restaurant or a fast food thing where everything is cooked already, or they’re just heating it up, or it’s too expensive if it’s in a restaurant. With this one they usually make it right in front of you.”
Jillian McIntyre is a student at Towson University and a previous customer at Mexican on the Run.
“The quesa birria tacos were my favorite,” McIntyre said. “I went pescatarian a month ago. But if I ever went back to meat that would be my celebratory meal.”
During the winter months, Mexican on the Run only operates two to three days a week. Based on current business, Longoria anticipates hiring more employees if he decides to return Mexican on the Run to a five day-a-week operation during the summer. Longoria credits Mexican on the Run’s success to the quesa birria tacos.
“It’s actually changed my business,” Longoria said. “It’s changed it for the best.”