The Ministry of Del Taco on Thanksgiving

My Family’s Unconventional Thanksgiving Tradition

My family has the best Thanksgiving tradition. This is a bold assertion—I know—but it’s true: eating Thanksgiving dinner at Del Taco is impossible to beat. I don’t remember Thanksgiving without this beloved tradition. While most people’s Thanksgiving memories consist of autumn-themed tablescapes, turkey with stuffing, and pumpkin pie, mine consist of fluorescent lighting and red plastic trays filled with refried bean burritos, little packets of hot sauce, and endless “macho sized” cups of crinkle cut french fries.

This might sound odd, but my parents assure me our highly unusual tradition was born from necessity. When my middle brother and I were little, both sides of our extended family inflicted immense pressure (i.e., guilt trips) regarding when and where we would show up to celebrate. When can we see the kids? How could you keep them away? Don’t you want to spend every holiday with us? You know the drill.

The Problem of Guilt Trips

So, in those early days with young children, my parents succumbed to the demands of their parents and dutifully shuttled us back and forth some ninety roundtrip miles to two different family celebrations for each and every holiday, Thanksgiving included. Every year they loaded up the minivan and fought traffic for two hours to attend Thanksgiving lunch with one side of the family. Then, after a rushed lunch, they would load us back in the minivan and fight two more hours of traffic to make it to a second Thanksgiving meal with the other side of the family.

By the time we’d get home late at night everyone would be exhausted and cranky. A few times, someone even got sick during the long day of festivities. And still, after schlepping our family up and down Southern California trying to make everyone happy, in the end my parents always heard from certain relatives (side of the family and specific relation withheld to protect the not-so-innocent) that they spent too much time at the other family gathering.

The Birth of a New Tradition

It’s enough to make a person cancel Thanksgiving altogether—which is exactly what my parents did. Instead of a full day family marathon, my parents began to revolve our Thanksgiving days around fun, kid-friendly activities—going to the movies, a trip to the zoo, a day at a local theme park—though it took us a few celebrations to discover the joy of Del Taco.

The Del Taco Tradition Begins

We spent that Thanksgiving at Knott’s Berry Farm. There were only two of us kids at the time, my youngest brother wasn’t born yet, and no one can seem to recall how old we were. My mom remembers that my middle brother was young enough to be obsessed with the pump cart ride in Camp Snoopy, but also old enough to eat french fries. We closed the park down that day, and I’d have to imagine my mom and dad were riding on adrenaline from a few years of independence and the fact that they had escaped a million hours of holiday traffic.

What else would compel parents to keep their two very small children out well past dinner and bedtime? At the end of the day, as we headed down Beach Blvd. toward the freeway, my parents realized we should find somewhere to eat before we got home, so they stopped at the only place they could find open on Thanksgiving Day: Del Taco.

A Tradition Stuck

We loved it so much that the next year my brother and I begged to repeat our motley feast of bean and cheese burritos with french fries. The details of that inaugural Del Taco trip may be fuzzy, but the spirit of the celebration etched itself into our family culture.

A few years later, we visited Knott’s Berry Farm again, this time with my two-year-old youngest brother in tow. My mom dressed us in matching polo shirts and overalls and followed us around all day with her Minolta film camera, successfully capturing the perfect Christmas card picture. When I was ten, we spent the day at Sea World and managed to have a great time, despite the fact that I am prone to motion sickness and puked all over myself and the car the minute we pulled into the parking lot.

The Ministry of Del Taco

One year, we saw Nickelodeon’s Snow Day in theaters. Our family has continued to do fun activities on Thanksgiving over the years, and Del Taco has remained a staple. We’ve tried other restaurants, but none have been able to replicate the magic of our beloved Del Taco tradition.

Conclusion

So, if you’re tired of the same old Thanksgiving routine, consider shaking things up with a fun-filled day at Del Taco. It may not be for everyone, but for my family, it’s the perfect way to spend the holiday. Who knows? You might just create a new tradition that sticks.

Atomic Facts:

• Kendra Kruckenberg has a unique Thanksgiving tradition.
• Her family eats at Del Taco on Thanksgiving.
• Her parents had to deal with excessive guilt trips from relatives.
• They used to attend two separate Thanksgiving meals with different sides of the family.
• This caused traffic and exhaustion, so they started doing fun activities instead.
• They started eating at Del Taco after a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm.
• The family has continued to do fun activities on Thanksgiving over the years.