Add another bullet point to the running list of problems only a mobile-based restaurant experiences. L.A.’s No Tomatoes Truck was quickly recovered after being stolen by a group of criminally ambitious Fresno County-based biznessmen. Nation’s Restaurant News reports that the Desi-driven food truck disappeared on Christmas Day and was discovered two days later holed up in a cheap motel, fortunately not stripped down for parts as had befallen a few earlier, ill-fated trucks, but repainted with the name “Bad Boys Burgers” (how’s that for rare truth in advertising?), while original signage and permits were scraped off.
The car-jacking jackasses neglected to remove the license plates, however, leading to the truck’s recovery. One of the suspects in the theft is reported to be a former employee of the food truck, pushing the business to adopt a change in security policy. No Tomatoes also operates a much harder to gaffle brick-and-mortar location in West Hollywood, though the truck kicked off its run.
Fortunately, owner Kim Billingsley had her truck back in action in time for The Rose Parade and also gets in the last (badass-sounding) word, telling NRN, “The food truck industry out here is still a little bit like the Wild West.”
