There doesn’t seem to be anything that goes as well together as tacos and cars, and that’s because nothing that spectacular has been discovered. It’s also what makes Taco Tuesday at The Rec Room in Lynnwood such a great combination.
Usually hosted by All Cars Northwest, the most recent event was hosted by the PNW Custom Coupes and Sedans Facebook Group and celebrated the one year anniversary of its founding.
“We put together the idea, because we both had done work on our cars,” Thomas Owens, Admin of the group and owner of 1998 Ford Escort ZX2 who lives in Mukilteo, Wash. “Thank you to the Rec Room for hosting us and the All Cars Northwest group for letting us have this week [to celebrate].”
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Around two dozen people showed up to the icy Tuesday meetup at The Rec Room. It was still chilly from the previous day’s sub-freezing temperatures. However, neither the chill nor the numbers hampered spirits at the Tuesday meet. Why be sad when there’s tacos?
As the host of the event, The Rec Room has a civic duty to ensure people don’t go drinking and driving. It’s a bar, there will be beer, but hey, there’s also these great tacos.
“We don’t want to cut you off, but we don’t want you wrecking your pretty car on the way home,” Baum said. “I hold my bartenders to a higher requirement when it comes to our car meets. We’ll remind people ‘Hey, it’s Taco Tuesday, you should probably order some tacos’.”
That way when people are good to go home, they are also good to drive home.
There’s a specific connotation that comes with many car groups; they’re bad news. Street racing has been a problem in the past, as there is always one in a group willing to do stupid illegal things, but it’s something the organizers try to steer away from.
“Car communities went through a struggling time recently where people saw car groups as a bad group of people that do donuts in the street and damage properties,” Owens said. “It’s not true. People do stupid things in every type of activity, but we are trying to turn it around and have people think its not bad to have car people around.”
PNW Custom Coupes and Sedans also keeps things legal by having Law Enforcement members. Myrle Carner is a retired Seattle cop and founder of Crime Stoppers.
Another way they are giving back is by hosting an upcoming car drive in August with the proceeds going to cancer patients and other patients in need. Mark your calendars for August 20 for a cruise to Sequim and a cruise for the terminally ill.
And anyone is welcome to join, even if they don’t have a customized coupe or sedan; or live in Washington. There are members of the group from all around the globe. That’s because the group is more about helping others to work on their cars, sharing about working on cars, and more.
The group has some sponsors, too, including online parts retailer RockAuto.com, engine manufacturer Bardahl, Bothell Tools and Dye Company, and more.
During Tuesday’s meet, Owens presented Baum with a gift certificate to RockAuto.com. One that, as a car person, too, Baum intents on using wisely on the WRX and GTI.
There were others in the group, too, that night. Including some first timers.
“To me, car culture isn’t professionally (as far as maintenance) but its in my blood,” Ryan Owens, owner of the 1990 Chevrolet Camaro and Mill Creek resident. His family had gotten him into maintenance and cars. “It’s the third-gen platform and you’ve got plenty of room for any engine up front.”
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He was introduced to the group through the Facebook page and enjoyed conversing with like-minded high-performance enthusiasts.
While it may not always be the PNW Customized Sedans and Coupes group to host Taco Tuesday at the Rec Room, there will always be cars and tacos on Tuesdays in Lynnwood. One just have to look for it.
“We’re done here,” said Chris Williams as he went back to his beer, tacos, and car community conversation (told you I’d fit it in there…).
