Taco Bomb Arrives in Linda Vista
Plus: LV Redistricting Recap; News Brief, and Linda Vista and Wikipedia Commentary
In explaining the role of change in our lives, President John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.”
Those words came to mind this past week as I learned of a big change to the Linda Vista eating landscape. As some of you have already discovered, Linda Vista’s favorite Mexican food establishment, Super Bronco (at 6725 Linda Vista Road), recently changed hands, as well as its name, becoming Taco Bomb—Authentic Mexican Grill.
The news was met with a great sense of shock by the many local customers that depended on Super Bronco as their go-to place for Mexican food. Super Bronco had long been considered a Linda Vista institution. Day in and day out, it provided us with invaluable comfort food during times of both joy and crisis. In spite of the many ups and downs of the economy during the past couple decades, we could count on Super Bronco to give us quality Mexican food at reasonable prices. USD students depended on a Super Bronco visit for an effective study break. In fact, we highlighted the USD—Super Bronco connection in a previous newsletter post that described the culinary virtues of the gargantuan Torero Burrito.
Super Bronco wasn’t much on atmosphere or appearance, but it more than made up for these shortcomings with its cuisine.
In short, it’s safe to say no one wanted Super Bronco to go away. We Linda Vista residents wanted the good times to continue. After all, familiarity, comfort, and great food are priceless commodities in these times of great uncertainty.
But as President Kennedy pointed out to us, we all need to adapt to change.
It turns out Super Bronco’s owner decided to sell his business and move out of state, and it was purchased by a family who owns several other restaurants in San Diego.
I was fortunate enough to speak with family representative Rogelio Diaz regarding Taco Bomb, who informed me that his family has owned Mexican restaurants for 50-60 years and that they are in the business of serving authentic Mexican food. He wanted to reassure Super Bronco fans that Taco Bomb represents a “Change for the better. We are interested in bringing more good food to Linda Vista.”
Diaz added, “We want to make Taco Bomb more popular than Super Bronco. We want to satisfy everyone in the area, to include all the university students, and provide them with some quality Mexican food.”
Diaz went over the new menu with me, and pointed out that Taco Bomb is still entertaining the idea of bringing back some favorite menu items like the Torero Burrito. He mentioned that they’ve made a few improvements to the interior, and they also plan on making improvements to the patio area, so that customers can enjoy their meals outdoors.
Can we adapt to this significant change?
On the one hand, we had USD student and Linda Vista Update subscriber—Patrick O.—who returned to San Diego from his holiday break only to find that his favorite Mexican restaurant—Super Bronco—had been replaced. “I’m shocked,” he initially remarked. “I only have one semester left at USD before I graduate; then I’ll be forced to confront the harsh realities of the real world. The way I look at it, the demise of Super Bronco is a premature introduction to that harsh reality.”
On the other hand, we have Linda Vista Update reader Judy W, who along with her husband, Larry, paid a recent visit to Taco Bomb. Judy W. ordered the rolled tacos and stated, “They were the best I ever had,” while her husband ordered the carnitas plate and insisted “It was better than Super Bronco. About the same quantity and price, but better tasting.”
In fact, once he was able to pay a visit to Taco Bomb, Patrick O. quickly reversed his opinion regarding change, commenting “It’s funny, but the existential dread that began to consume me upon learning of Super Bronco’s demise quickly dissipated once I began to consume a Taco Bomb burrito.”
I can also offer my own testimonial and add that my wife and I recently enjoyed a couple orders of Taco Bomb’s cheese quesadillas to accompany our football watching on TV. We thought the food was great—the servings were generous with plenty of cheese, it was very tasty, and I thought the price was more than reasonable.
Based on my own experiences and the above comments from Judy W. and her husband, it looks like Taco Bomb is more than capable of filling the shoes of the departed Super Bronco. If so, the Super Bronco/Taco Bomb transition should be a smooth one for local residents. Change might not be as bad as we think. In fact, we may find ourselves gastronomically thriving as a result of this tectonic shift in the Linda Vista environment.
Taco Bomb Authentic Mexican Grill
Hours: 8:00 am to 10:00pm
858-560-9510
Linda Vista and Redistricting Recap
We have addressed the important issue of redistricting in several previous posts of the Linda Vista Update. The boundaries were recently redrawn at the city council, county supervisor, state assembly, state senate, and U.S. congressional levels, based on data obtained from the 2020 Federal census. We thought the issue of redistricting was an important one for our community since for the last decade Linda Vista has been split up between different districts at city, state, and federal levels. It was hoped that Linda Vista would fare better at remaining intact in this redistricting cycle, and that seems to be the case.
Below is a recap of the results that occurred at each level of redistricting in relation to Linda Vista. The new district boundaries take effect with the June primary elections, and will remain throughout the rest of the decade.
Linda Vista’s City Council District: Prior to the redrawing of boundaries, most of Linda Vista was located in the 7th City Council District, which is represented by Councilmember Raul Campillo. However, the area located west of Via Las Cumbres, was located in the 2nd Council District, which is represented by Councilmember Jennifer Campbell. Based on the newly approved boundaries resulting from the 2020 census, all of Linda Vista will now be located in the 7th District.
Linda Vista’s County Board of Supervisors District: Prior to the redrawing of boundaries, Linda Vista was in the 4th District, which is represented by Nathan Fletcher. Based on the newly redrawn boundaries, Linda Vista remains in the 4th District.
Linda Vista’s State Assembly District: Prior to the redrawing of boundaries, the area of Linda Vista located east of Via Las Cumbres belonged in the 79th Assembly District, represented by Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber. The parts of Linda Vista west of Via Las Cumbres were in the 78th Assembly District, represented by Assemblymember Chris Ward. Based on the newly redrawn boundaries, all of Linda Vista will now be located in the 78th Assembly District, eventually making Assemblymember Chris Ward our new representative.
Linda Vista’s State Senate District: Prior to the redrawing of boundaries, all of Linda Vista was located in the 39th State Senate District, which is represented by State Senator Toni Atkins. Based on the newly redrawn boundaries, most of Linda Vista is still part of the 39th district, however, the Linda Vista area consisting primarily of Overlook Heights is now part of the 38th District, which is currently represented by State Senator Brian Jones.
Linda Vista’s U.S. Congressional District: Prior to the redrawing of boundaries, most of Linda Vista was located in the 53rd Congressional District, which is currently represented by Congressmember Sara Jacobs. However, the area of Linda Vista located west of Via Las Cumbres was located in the 52nd Congressional District, which is represented by Congressmember Scott Peters. Based on the new boundaries, all of Linda Vista will now be located in the newly configured 51st District. Congressmember Jacobs has announced that she will run for office in this district. This newly configured district is mainly composed of parts of the old 53rd Congressional District. This new district configuration was the result of California losing one congressional district (due to an overall loss in state population).
The new map for city council boundaries can be viewed HERE.
You can take a look for yourself at the new state assembly, senate, and U.S. congressional district boundaries by clicking on this site...We Draw the Lines CA .
The County boundaries can be found HERE.
News Brief
Casting Call for Young Actors
The Linda Vista Recreation Center’s Theatre Arts Program is looking for young people interesting in singing, dancing, and acting. Check out the below poster for details.
Commentary
Linda Vista, Wikipedia and a Curious Gap in History
Imagine living in a community that has remained unchanged for 27 years? Visualize, if you can, the mysterious notion that in spite of all the tumultuous events occurring in the world since 1995, this particular community has remained static….unchanging…free of drama…nothing newsworthy to report.
That premise sounds like an old episode from The Twilight Zone, right?
Well, the truth of the matter is that you might not have to resort to a classic sci-fi TV show in order to experience such a phenomena. According to the popular website Wikipedia, if you are a resident of Linda Vista, all you have to do is look around at your immediate surroundings to realize that you are living in a community that has somehow avoided any historical events for the past 27 years. Yes, somehow, Linda Vista’s recent history—that time period extending from 1996 to the present—is a big blank.
This may sounds like unbelievable news to those local residents who have actually lived in Linda Vista for the past 27 years, but if you don’t want to believe me, just put “Linda Vista” into your favorite search engine; the search will invariably take you to the Wikipedia site pertaining to our Linda Vista community. In the “History” section of this site, you will indeed find appropriate LV historical references to the many homes that were built in the early 1940’s timeframe, the construction of the shopping center, and the arrival of Vietnamese immigrants in the mid-1970’s. But the next and ONLY other LV historical reference is the following:
“On May 17, 1995, Shawn Nelson stole an M60A3 Patton tank out of the California Army National Guard Armory on Mesa College Dr and went on a tank rampage through Linda Vista, then north to Kearny Mesa along Convoy St. The 57-ton tank easily plowed through road signs, traffic lights, utility poles, and fire hydrants, and crushed approximately forty parked vehicles, including an RV. The damage to utility poles knocked out power to at least 5,100 San Diego Gas & Electric customers in the Linda Vista neighborhood.”
This is where the “History” section of Linda Vista mysteriously ends—in 1995. Nothing else is listed!
In contrast, I figure that since 1995, the country has gone through the following notable events:
· 4 presidential administrations, and currently on a fifth
· 3 presidential impeachment proceedings
· 2 California recall elections
· 2 or 3 major national recessions.
· Two wars
· Countless Tom Brady Superbowl victories
And yet, apparently nothing has occurred in Linda Vista during that timeframe! At least according to Wikipedia, that is.
How very strange!! (Play eerie Twilight Zone theme music here).
I can think of a few significant things that have happened in Linda Vista since 1995, to include:
· The growing diversity of our community.
· The growing popularity of the Linda Vista Multi-cultural Fair and Parade.
· The construction of the Linda Vista Skateboard Park.
· The successful protests over the attempted closing of Skateworld, both in 2010 and in 2019.
Linda Vista Update readers can probably think of a few more items to add to this list.
The Wikipedia encyclopedia web site concept depends on crowd sourcing to ensure accurate and up-to-date reporting for each of its entries. Wikipedia is the place where “everyone can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.” The way it works, “Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous volunteers. Anyone with internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles.”
So, it could just be that we Linda Vistans have fallen asleep at the wheel and failed to aggressively share our vast knowledge of Linda Vista with the rest of the world. But maybe it’s time we woke up. Where are the community historians? Could adding to this page become a project for a high school class history project? Is this an opportunity for the Historical committee of the Linda Vista Town Council?
I want to believe this oversight in lack of sharing provides a logical explanation for there being no recorded Wikipedia “history” of our community, because the alternative, as explained below, is quite chilling.
(Enter Rod Serling with cigarette in hand)
“Submitted for your consideration. The case of a curious community stuck in time. Where nothing of significance has happened in decades. You may think the proposition unlikely, but if you’re a bit skeptical, please join me in paying a visit to a place called Linda Vista. In doing so, you will find yourself entering… the Twilight Zone.”
(Play eerie Twilight Zone theme music here).
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Patrick is so sad. 😔