Rafael Quintanar’s first job was pushing a handcart in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, in central Mexico, selling newspapers, oranges, pumpkin seeds and ice cream.
He was 4 years old and couldn’t see over the top of the cart, he said, so he had to crane his neck around one side in order to see where he was going.
Nowadays, at 75, Quintanar’s still working. He works five days a week alongside his wife, Magdalena Quintanar, running El Norteño taco truck at a parking lot at the corner of Bryant and Harriet streets, just across from the Hall of Justice.
He gets up at 1 a.m. and starts cooking. By 7 a.m., the truck is open for business…