A legal ruling has officially labeled tacos and burritos as “Mexican-style sandwiches.”
On May 13, Allen County Superior Court Judge Craig J. Bobay made the official ruling for a great reason. So why exactly did this debate have to be settled in an Indiana court? This all happened so that businessman Martin Quintana could build The Famous Taco Restaurant in Fort Wayne, Ind.
“The Court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches, and the original Written Commitment does not restrict potential restaurants to only American cuisine-style sandwiches,” Bobay cited in the official ruling.
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Quintana needed the approval after he was planning to set up a second location of his restaurant in a shopping center area. A condominium associated attempted to squash it by citing the property’s zoning policy, which it would have apparently violated. The zoning policy prohibits fast-food restaurants aside from a “sandwich bar-style restaurant whose primary business is to sell ‘made-to-order’ or ‘subway-style’ sandwiches.” So whereas Subway, Jimmy John’s and other fast-food but made-to-order restaurants could build there, a Mexican “made-to-order” eatery would not be eligible, until this judge’s ruling.
During a Fort Wayne Plan Commission public hearing, the discussion of what a taco and burrito are categorized came about. “[It] kind of became an argument of… is a taco a sandwich or not,” they explained.
The Plan Commission rejected the proposed amendment, so after two years, the court finally reviewed the decision and made its ruling. In addition to labeling tacos and burritos, “sandwiches,” this new ruling would also allow restaurants that serve “made-to-order Greek gyros, Indian naan wraps, or Vietnamese banh mi” as long as the businesses followed the regulations.
“It’s serious business to the parties involved, but the conversations surrounding this case have been a nice change of pace,” John McGauley, a spokesperson for the Allen County Superior Court told Today.com of the court’s decision. “This case would normally provide the ingredients for some meaty food puns, but we won’t go there.”
You will soon be able to visit the second The Famous Taco location in Fort Wayne, Ind.
