Tacos in Tulare are being served in a plane: 'A special place'

TULARE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – In downtown Tulare, 1 edifice is offering its customers a sensation of escapade without ever leaving the ground.

"The Flying Taco" is simply a edifice located wrong a 74-foot-long Convair 240 airplane parked connected L Street. The unsocial eating acquisition began implicit 2 decades agone arsenic Aero Dogs, a blistery canine basal founded by Don LeBaron and his concern partners.

“We recovered this Convair 240 astatine 74 feet long, 9 feet wide. We brought it here, parked it successful a lot, and opened up a canine basal called Aero Dogs,” LeBaron said.

What started arsenic a bold experimentation rapidly became a section landmark. Don and Ann Chandler accidental their children were captivated by the accidental to devour wrong a existent airplane.

“It was similar an amusement parkland to them,” Don Chandler said. “It was truly unsocial and portion of the past of Tulare.”

One of those kids was Victor Hugo Hernandez.

Victor and his household migrated to the United States from Guadalajara, Mexico, successful 1991. Hernandez grew up successful Tulare, moving astatine his parents' donut shop.

He besides grew up eating astatine Aero Dogs and admiring the plane, ne'er imagining that years aboriginal helium and his household would tally their ain edifice successful it.

“My archetypal absorption was, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get it. I’ve got to get inside,'” Hernandez said. “I was a teen erstwhile I archetypal came, erstwhile it was a blistery canine spot, and I thought this has to beryllium cool.”

By precocious 2019, the Hernandez household had the accidental to lease the restaurant. They rebranded it arsenic The Flying Taco and began serving authentic Mexican food, though the pandemic initially constricted them to take-out only.

Hernandez says the assemblage showed The Flying Taco tremendous enactment done the pandemic.

When customers were yet allowed backmost inside, they not lone recovered a afloat paper but besides the nostalgic airplane experience. The cockpit inactive features its archetypal controls, on with a trusty mannequin navigator named George.

LeBaron says he’s arrogant to spot the airplane edifice proceed soaring nether caller ownership.

“L Street is simply a peculiar place,” LeBaron said. “Downtown has a rebirth, and it’s thriving.”