The Taco Kings, Besieged: Street vendors straddle the line between street life and neighborhoods in Austin, Texas

“The four members of AVATACO, a newly formed association of Austin taco stand owners, spill out of a van on the corner of Cesar Chavez and Pleasant Valley and approach the Piedras Negras taco stand. It’s part of a weeklong effort to contact every taco trailer in the city, and it’s clear they mean business. They’re all wearing pressed white button-down shirts with a photo ID dangling from the lapel, a taco insignia on the back and, above that, in large block letters “AVATACO.” That’s not quite an acronym for the organization’s full name, Associacion de Vendores Ambulantes en Trailers de Comida en la Cuidad de Austin: the Austin Association of Mobile Trailer Food Vendors. President Apolinar “Polo” Cadena approaches Piedras Negras with a clipboard and a smile and introduces himself in Spanish. Another member, Salud Perez, begins to snap pictures. The owners of Piedras Negras are less than welcoming.”

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