Will Texans Officially Accept That Tacos And Burritos Are Sandwiches?

The actual title of this post may be fighting words for some people.

The Judgement

A judge ruled that tacos and burritos are sandwiches. At the heart of the matter was a man who leased a space in a strip mall with the provision that he was making "made-to-order" sandwiches. When the man revealed his plan to open a restaurant called "Famous Taco" the lawsuit was on.

Real Mexican Sandwiches

In the Indiana case the judge called tacos and burritos "Mexican style sandwiches". Around these parts if we were told someone was going to serve us a Mexican style sandwich, we'd expect what is actually called a Torta, and they bear little resemblance to a taco or burrito.

Possible Insight?

It could be the landlord didn't think that tacos and burritos were upscale enough, or it could have been an attempt to circumvent something else. I can say that restaurants that serve foods that are "assembled" like regular sandwiches and pizzas often have less regulations, like expensive grease traps to deal with. Then again, maybe the landlord was just looking for an excuse to get rid of the tenant.

So What's A Sandwich?

Dictionary.com defines a sandwich as "two or more pieces of bread with a layer of meat, fish, cheese, etc., between them", this would exclude tacos and burritos. However, the secondary definition says a sandwich is "a partially slit bread roll, pita, etc., with a filling". There's something about the "pita" there, that makes me think a tortilla would certainly fit in under this definition.

Just Don't

We may have got a legal definition in court, but I promise you if you ask somebody in Texas to "Bring me back a couple of those burrito sandwiches" you're going to be asked to leave the state.