Kibosh put on Kogi

A popular Los Angeles catering truck was told to leave La Cañada Friday night by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies for not having proper business licensing.

A Kogi BBQ taco truck, one of four roving Kogi trucks in Los Angeles, parked on Foothill Boulevard in front of Memorial Park at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8 and was told to leave by deputies around 8:30 p.m. The truck had been scheduled to stay until 9 p.m.

“This was our first time in La Cañada,” said Kogi BBQ representative and blog writer Alice Shin in an e-mail. “We were told to skedaddle by the cops.”

“The food trucks need a city business license and only [Judith’s Food] has one in La Cañada,” said city business license clerk Susan Bertness. “If they’re going to be in the city, they’ll need a yearly business license. If they have one for Los Angeles, they still need one for La Cañada; they can’t use the Los Angeles one to serve in La Cañada and vice versa.”

The deputies did not cite the truck, said Sgt. Mark Slater of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Food enthusiasts lined up before the truck arrived.

“We got here at 6 p.m.,” said Ryan Loui, a Flintridge Prep junior. “[Notice of the truck’s arrival] spreads by word of mouth; we follow the Twitter.”

Loui and his friend David Murray, also a Flintridge Prep junior, said they first tried Kogi at Prep, when the Prep Student Senate and the Spanish Honor Society hosted the truck at the school on Nov. 11.

Kogi BBQ is known for their online presence. The schedules of its four food trucks are posted by Shin on the Kogi website ( www.kogibbq.com). Updated locations and menu specials are posted on the Kogi Twitter account (twitter.com/kogibbq).