Tour De Del 2022

Words by Nathanael Napolitano, Rhys Haydon, and Kyle Barnes
Photos by Nathanael Napolitano, Elise Talley, and Benjamin Scott Cook

The premise was simple. Do a rally. Drive out to the original Del Taco in Barstow with some friends, eat, then keep on driving 'cause the fun don't stop when the road keeps going. 

But why Del Taco? Seems low concept. -Fair point.

It's not even real Mexican food. -How dare you.  

You've probably heard the old adage, "It's not the destination it's the journey." 

Well don't be an cliche. Maybe it's both. Maybe it's neither. Maybe it's the stops along the way? 

Here's why Del Taco... When you're growing up in SoCal as a teenager, gaining your independence—first car type shit—you might need to prioritize the cost of 89 octane fuel over the cost of fancy "authentic" food or whatever hipster spot Jonathan Gould just reviewed, at a time when you didn't even know who that was. You just want a bean and cheese, some crinkle-cut fries, and a Coke. 

Peep the scenario, you're in high school, maybe you just started college, it's not a school night, you head out to grab your friends for a night at the illegal drag races, or the film KIDS just hit your local indy theater and you still have to find a way to sneak in. 

Maybe it's 1AM and you're banging up I5 back to Long Beach from a show at the Che Cafe at UCSD and Newport Del is a just quick stop up from PCH. Drive-thru is open and you can keep listening to that FUGAZI cassette in the deck. What I'm saying here is it was what we could afford.

Duh.