Sam StearmanI think it is nicer here than in a taco.
UPDATE: Taco Fusion either pulled the lion meat from its menu due to pressure, or sold out and didn’t restock; it’s not totally clear. The note on the website says, “We listened to everyone and decided to no longer carry Lion. The lion meat is sold out and we do not plan to carry it again.” They still have shark, bison, ostrich, gazelle, and kangaroo if you’re hungry.
If you have $35, you can get yourself an acrylic sweater, three-fourths of a tank of gas, or a lion-meat taco. All you have to do is get yourself to a place called Taco Fusion (it fuses tacos and lions, apparently) in Tampa, Fla.
Apparently lion meat tastes like steak, but is a bit gamier. That seems about right, and I am definitely in the “I’ll just take your word on this” camp since a) lions are considered a vulnerable species, and, as vulnerable is one step short of endangered, not eating them seems like a good idea; and b) I have been to Tampa twice and I got the point.
Taco Fusion specializes in exotic meats — bison, shark, ostrich, gator, gazelle, rabbit, duck, camel, and kangaroo are also on the menu — and it is thus no surprise that its management specializes in dickishly dismissive responses to people who think eating an endangered species is maybe not the greatest fucking idea. Its official reply to haters goes like this: “If you guys are mad now, just wait till you see what we do next.” Oh my gosh, what is it going to serve next? Formosan clouded leopard tacos?
Taco Fusion goes on to further justify its menu item, pointing out that these lions are raised on farms, for meat, and are therefore not all that different from pigs or cows. That’s not a bad point. And yet, I’d rather spend my $35 on something else. Like a taxi that would drive me in a direction away from Tampa.
