P . 24 | APRIL 2022 | THE HAMMONTONIAN
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Mexican flavors
by KRISTIN GUGLIETTI
Dominga and Lorenzo Garcia wake up at 4 a . m . to prepare food before Tacos al Carbon opens for Cinco de Mayo . Cinco de Mayo commemorates the anniversary of Mexico ’ s victory against the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 and is sometimes confused with Mexican Independence Day , September 16 , 1810 .
CULTURE
The food truck , located at 107 Peach
LEFT TO RIGHT : FELIX RAMIREZ-HARRISON , JOANNA GARCIA , LORENZO GARCIA , DOMINGA A . GARCIA AND LORENZO A . GARCIA OF TACOS AL
CARMEN CASTANEDA OF FIESTA MEXICANA
Street , receives over 500 orders during Cinco de Mayo . Last year they used two trucks for the first time , one for preorders and one for ordering on-thespot .
“ It ’ s some pretty heavy duty cooking we do that morning , but we love cooking ,” Lorenzo Garcia said with the help of his daughter Joanna Garcia who translated .
The Garcias bought their first food truck on March 31 , 1998 which is Dominga Garcia ’ s birthday and they will be celebrating their 24th anniversary on May 7 which was the first day they were open for business and Lorenzo Garcia ’ s birthday .
“ I worked at Custom Sales in Hammonton . Mrs . Sikora Gave us the opportunity to sell during lunch breaks ,” Lorenzo Garcia said .
During breaks , he would help Dominga Garcia who also worked at Massarelli ’ s at the time .
“ It was a two-year plan . They had kids . It was the easiest way for my mom to still work and raise us . She raised us in the truck . She only thought it was going to be two years ; she didn ’ t think it was going to be a big deal ,” Joanna Garcia said .
The Tacos al Carbon team consists of Joanna Garcia ’ s parents , her two siblings , herself , uncle and two cousins . Joanna Garcia said working with family is fun .
“ Honestly , we all get along pretty well , so it ’ s made the whole process really easy . It used to be just my parents working and then once we got older , we got into it and each person has filled in their own position . Each person is a really important piece of the puzzle that we need to function , and I think without each one of us we wouldn ’ t have gotten as far as we have so far ,” Joanna Garcia said .
Joanna ’ s sister , Dominga A . Garcia said the coolest item on their menu right now is the El Burrito Chicano .
“ It ’ s like this extra big burrito ,” Dominga A . Garcia said .
El Burrito Chicano contains green fried beans , Mexican rice , cabbage , pico de gallo , chips , cheese and avocado and is available on Wednesdays .
Bistec Asada , the steak tacos , is another popular item and is available every day .
CARBON WORK TOGETHER AS A FAMILY . See CINCO DE MAYO , P . 25
Open Tuesday‐Saturday at 3 p . m .