Is a taco a sandwich? no Yes. Well, it depends on the law.

The question of what is and what is not technically a sandwich grips us tightly.

The question will never die but one day I will, and I can imagine that the last thing I hear is someone explaining to me why a hot dog is a sandwich, or why a hamburger is a sandwich, or why my soul leaves my body as I breathe my soul. The last breath is also a sandwich.

On Monday, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a judge It ruled that tacos are “Mexican-style sandwiches,” Although a local zoning problem may not usually occur National addressesIt was impossible to resist this. She took the silly sandwich question seriously in a civil court case, and then seemed to arrive at the wrong answer.

I write these words from Los Angeles, where the question itself is trivial. There are many popular Mexican-style sandwiches here—cimitas, pampasos, dozens of regional styles of torta—and tacos simply aren’t one of them. The taco is his glorious archetype, his enormous, indisputable slice of joy.

But getting involved in this argument is a bit of a distraction. This ruling was not made to settle an artificial debate, drive brand engagement, or increase sales of someone’s “It’s a Sandwich” t-shirt on Etsy. It was made for the most boring and messy work in real life. And here, I must admit, it starts to make sense.

Martin Quintana, a Fort Wayne restaurateur and developer, tried to open the restaurant The famous taco in a local mall, but in 2019, while seeking zoning approvals from the Local Plan Commission, he agreed to a written commitment with a nearby neighborhood association that any restaurant in that shopping plaza would only sell “made to order or Subway.” “Sandwiches are your way.”

This requirement was intended to protect the mall from some fast food chains. If Mr. Quintana wants to go ahead with his plan, he will have to find a way to either amend the agreement or make the case in civil court that tacos are sandwiches. It wasn’t a perfect argument, but it had to be made.

If tacos can be interpreted as “Mexican-style sandwiches” in this particular case, Mr. Quintana could be open for business.

The decision by Allen County Superior Court Judge Craig J. Popeye said: “The court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches, and that the original written obligation does not restrict potential restaurants to only American-style sandwiches.”

The more flexible and expansive we consider the sandwich category, the more dishes it can accommodate. But why can’t we stop doing this? The sandwich isn’t a universal standard by which all the world’s handheld foods can be measured, it’s just one of them.

If this question bothers you, review the last 15 years or so of the Internet’s history, and you’ll likely find your way to whatever answer makes you feel like all is right in the world. (If you follow Cube law The hot dog is actually a type of taco.) Although the Indiana court decided that a taco is a sandwich, other justices have found their way to the opposite conclusion before.

In 2006, a judge in Massachusetts ruled so It was tacos no Sandwiches To pave the way for a restaurant chain making tacos in a mall where another chain holds an exclusive clause for the sandwich. Here, if a taco isn’t considered a sandwich, the restaurant can go ahead and open it.

In either case, whether or not a taco was classified as a sandwich was almost unimportant. Either way the taco won.

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