Armando’s truck no secret to many Trojans
Every commencement, he comes with his wife. There they are, taking pictures with dozens upon dozens of graduating seniors. It seems like almost everyone wants a picture with him, and who wouldn’t? Aside from Lane Kiffin and President Steven B. Sample, he’s probably the most popular guy on campus. He has Mark Sanchez on speed dial and feeds over 80 percent of the football team and coaching staff.
His name is Armando Corado, and he owns a lunch truck.
It’s amazing how he does it. Operating out of a truck that’s just slightly larger than the SUVs on today’s roads, Corado feeds over 400 people per day from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. His customers range from facilities workers and athletes to students and faculty. In an economy when most businesses are struggling to stay afloat, Armando’s has not only managed to sustain business, a feat unto itself, but it continues to grow. It gets new customers every week.
But what makes Corado’s success so remarkable is its location. You won’t find Armando’s in the three main student eateries: Everybody’s Kitchen, Parkside Restaurant or Café 84. You won’t even find it on a main walkway or in a prominent building. You’ll find it nestled next to a facilities service building among all the construction next to the new School of Cinematic Arts in an alley across from McDonald’s Swim Stadium. Most students pass by it everyday without realizing it. In fact, his business card doesn’t give an address, but rather says, “Best kept secret, ask around. You’ll find us.”
It is here that Pete Carroll and Taylor Mays used to eat breakfast almost everyday. It’s the same place that former USC football stars Lendale White, Carson Palmer and Sedrick Ellis ate as well. Nowadays, Matt Barkley is a frequent customer along with almost every varsity athlete on campus, it seems.
If you’re thinking, “How can I break into this place and eat the breakfast of champions?” — it’s pretty easy. You go up to the window and order “The Lendale.”
“I think a lot of athletes eat here because it’s really close to Heritage Hall, the prices are good and you don’t have to deal with too many people in line,” senior linebacker Malcolm Smith said.
Like most athletes, Smith and outgoing defensive end Everson Griffen started going to Armando’s when they were freshmen. They heard about it from other members of the football team who frequented the truck daily. Smith said during football season he goes to Armando’s about four to five times per week and always gets lunch from Armando’s as a pre-game ritual before the team leaves on Friday afternoon.
On a particular Friday before a home game last fall, Smith got “The Taylor” sandwich — a breakfast burrito. Many players have their own sandwich named after them. Corado doesn’t name the sandwiches, but rather the players come up with something unique and people start wanting whatever that player is having, so the name of the original maker of the sandwich is used.
For example, “The Lendale” is one of the most popular breakfast sandwiches not only amongst athletes, but amongst students as well. It consists of bacon, sausage, egg, cheese, jelly, mayonnaise and a hash brown on sourdough bread. Corado said that Dominique Byrd, now the tight end for the Arizona Cardinals, came up with most of the sandwich, but White added the mayonnaise and hash brown and it’s stuck ever since.
“Everything goes around ‘The Lendale,’” Corado said. “People get it and switch the bread or switch something and call it their things. Sedrick Ellis used to get the same thing but on a French roll. One time I had Ellis and Lendale here and they wanted to make a bet about who started [the sandwich], but I had to be fair and say Byrd.”
Like Ellis, Barkley has his own spinoff of “The Lendale” that switches out the sourdough bread for a croissant.
Interestingly enough, the success of the athlete’s sandwiches depend on the athlete’s success on the field. During the beginning of the season, Sanchez had a few great games for the New York Jets. So, his spicy chicken burrito was a hot commodity that week.
“I got together with my wife and said, ‘Sanchez did great. We are probably going to sell a lot of Sanchez burritos.’ And that’s how it went.”
Because of the many athletes that eat at Armando’s on a regular basis, Corado has been able to forge lifelong relationships with them.
This includes former quarterback and top-five pick Sanchez, who came back in October during his NFL team’s bye week.
“He invited us to his draft party in May,” said Corado, who also went to a Jets game in December as a guest of Sanchez. “He’s become a friend of ours.”
Go find Armando. Maybe you too can get a picture with him at graduation.
“Spittin’ Sports” runs Wednesdays. To comment on this article, visit dailytrojan.com or e-mail Kenny at [email protected].