MORGANTOWN — Restaurants across Morgantown reported widespread taco shortages Friday after a local man developed what he initially described as “a little bit of the munchies.”
The man’s identity has been withheld to protect the innocent, a classification several restaurant employees are currently appealing.
The incident began when he entered a Mexican restaurant and asked how many tacos came with an order.
When told three, he reportedly asked whether that was a limit or a starting point.
“He was very polite,” one server said. “That’s what made it difficult to recognize the situation early.”
According to witnesses, the man finished his first plate while looking at the menu, then requested another plate so he could “make a fair comparison.”
The tacos were identical.
He said that would help establish consistency.
By the third order, kitchen employees had begun communicating through expressions rather than words.
“At first, you’re happy somebody likes the food,” the server said. “Then you start counting tortillas.”
The man eventually paid his bill, complimented the staff, and asked whether there was a Taco Bell nearby.
Employees gave him directions with an urgency normally reserved for evacuations.
At the drive-thru, he ordered a twelve-pack and was asked whether he needed drinks for everyone.
“Just me,” he replied.
The employee said she understood he was placing the order.
He clarified.
A second twelve-pack was requested before the first had cleared the pickup window.
The man explained that he had underestimated the amount of drive remaining between the restaurant and his house.
He lived eleven minutes away.
Across town, another restaurant reported that a customer matching his description had called ahead to ask whether “unlimited tacos” was an official policy or merely an optimistic phrase on the sign.
The restaurant changed the sign.
By early evening, managers throughout Morgantown were making increasingly specific inventory calls.
“You got shells?”
“Soft or hard?”
“At this point, I’m listening.”
One restaurant briefly considered borrowing tortillas from another location before learning that the man had already been there.
“They told us he said he was just passing through,” a manager said. “Apparently he meant our entire supply.”
The shortage spread from taco shells to shredded cheese, seasoned beef, chicken, and small plastic cups of salsa.
A delivery driver carrying replacement ingredients was reportedly followed into the parking lot by a vehicle whose driver asked whether any of that was “ready to eat.”
The man denied following the truck.
“We were going the same way.”
Restaurant owners attempted to slow demand by suggesting rice and beans.
The man accepted both sides and asked how many tacos they came with.
One server recommended a burrito, explaining that it contained many of the same ingredients in a larger package.
The man said he appreciated the suggestion but did not want to get distracted.
“I came here for tacos.”
By 8 p.m., several establishments were operating under emergency menus consisting of chips, beverages, and apologies.
At one location, an employee placed a handwritten OUT OF TACOS sign on the door.
The man read it carefully.
Then he asked whether they meant all tacos.
The employee turned the sign around and wrote YES.
Contacted by The Holler Herald, the man disputed reports that his appetite had caused a citywide shortage.
“I didn’t even go everywhere,” he said.
Asked which restaurants remained untouched, he paused.
“What time is it?”
Officials declined to characterize the situation as an emergency, although one restaurant manager said recovery would depend on deliveries, staffing, and whether the man took a nap.
The man confirmed that he intended to remain home for the rest of the evening.
At press time, he had opened a delivery app.
He said he was “just looking.”
The Holler Herald — West Virginia’s Least Reliable News Source.
