Inside La Carreta Mexican Grill in Marshalltown is a bulletin board with letters from supporters all over the world. A sticker on a server stand reads, “Racism and outside food not allowed.”
The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day but Sunday, serving everything from huevos rancheros and a vegan al pastor fajita to Fried Birria Ravioli and a six-pound Godzilla Burrito, not to mention Mega Monster margaritas in a dozen flavors.
Trees and farmland surround their location right off Iowa Avenue/Highway 30, originally built as a Pizza Hut in 1968. Today, it’s styled with a beautiful combination of brick, stucco and traditional tile work, leading out to a spacious patio shaded by umbrellas, trees and papel picado. The smells of freshly made Mexican cuisine permeate the air around the dining area.
When the tacos arrive, they’re wrapped in two tortillas. Biting into the delectable hand-sized serving of fresh chorizo, diced lettuce and onion, the crunch of the vegetables combines perfectly with the savory spiced meat that leaves a slight tinge of heat on the palate.
A neon sign blazes with the restaurant’s slogan of six years: “No Love, No Tacos.”
In August 2020, as protests against racial violence, police brutality and the first Trump administration raged across the country, La Carreta owner Alfonso Medina took a small stand. He planted a yard sign in front of his business — one of those black signs with multicolored statements stacked under the header “We Believe,” including “Black lives matter,” “No human is illegal” and “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
His wife, Vanessa Perez, called him brave, but at the time Medina didn’t think he was wading into controversy. Sure enough, complaints about the sign rolled in, from social media to La Carreta’s own mail slot. One anonymous letter called the sign a “piece of garbage” and “politically correct propaganda” that “insults and disrespects Christianity and America.”
Marshalltown sits in Marshall County, Iowa, which Donald Trump won handily in the last three presidential elections. At the same time, a third of Marshalltown residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census estimates.
Medina, a second-generation immigrant, doesn’t align with any particular political party.
“I’m affiliated with human decency,” he told Little Village. “That’s what I want to be affiliated with me: human rights, respect for thy neighbor, respect for human life, all rights of all people from wherever they’re from, all ages, sexes, you name it, any religion. That’s my affiliation. My political party is human decency.”
La Carreta was opened by Medina’s father Lupe in October 2000. Medina, an Iowa State University graduate, never intended to take up the mantle. But several years after the restaurant closed, Medina decided to rent the space from his father and restore it in his own image in April 2018.
Under Medina’s ownership, La Carreta has adopted one of the most plant-based, diet-friendly menus of any Mexican restaurant in Iowa. Vegan versions of cheese, chorizo, chicken, steak, tofu, mayo, ceviche and aguachiles are available, opening the menu wide to meat- and dairy-free customers. He credits this to his wife. Perez is a nutrition supervisor in the Marshalltown Community School District, and introduced him to the plant-based lifestyle.
“Whenever we were dating, I was vegan, and as we got to know each other more, I would let him know about the lack of vegan options and how restricted sometimes it could be,” Perez recalled. “He just thought, like, ‘OK, what can we source to sell at the restaurant?’”
In the face of a conservative boycott over his “We Believe” sign, Medina doubled down. “If others have the right to be vocal, so do we,” he posted on Instagram. “We’re sorry your burrito had to get political, but it was the only way y’all would listen. … No love, no tacos.”
The post took off, with supporters from Marshalltown and well beyond applauding Medina’s message. Many requested “No Love, No Tacos” T-shirts. Medina went a step further, copyrighting the phrase and making merch — shirts, hats, hoodies, stickers, yard signs — to benefit a scholarship fund for Marshalltown Community College he started in 2015.
He leveled up his yard sign, buying a nearby billboard and splashing it with his new slogan. The design was simple: “NO LOVE, NO TACOS” in white text on a black background.
Marshalltown remains a MAGA hotbed, but Medina said he’s only seen his customer base grow since 2020.
“I don’t know what they say in their house about me, but here has become a very lovey-dovey, peace-and-love place because of ‘No Love, No Tacos,’” Medina said. “I think everybody knows better than to come here and start something because we really do have the mic. We’ve had the mic for a while now, so now we speak about other things too, sometimes, here and there. Not all the time, but whenever we think it’s right, we jump in.”
He paid to put another message on the billboard in June 2024, “Make Tacos, Not War.” Medina told the Marshalltown Times Republic, “I’m not taking a political stance but, again, standing up for human rights and human decency,” citing Russia’s war on Ukraine and Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He drew attention to World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization that assisted Marshalltown residents after the August 2020 derecho. Seven of its workers were killed in an IDF drone strike on a deconflicted zone in Gaza on April 1, 2024.
Medina’s messages are still frequently met with backlash. He recalled the day a veteran sitting at La Carreta’s bar complained that a sign Medina had put up reading “Hate has no home here” in a plethora of languages was offensive because “Arabic is a language of terrorists.” Medina said he handled this instance just as he has all the others — by explaining his position. The customer did not return.
Overall, speaking his mind has proven a worthwhile marketing strategy, fundraising platform and even tourism campaign for Marshalltown. The movement has taken some creative turns, including a partnership with local tattoo studio Ink Factory to offer free “No Love, No Tacos” tattoos over a two-day event. There are currently 57 people with the tattoo, all entitled to 20 percent off food at La Carreta for life (while it’s still standing and under the management of Medina, at least).
In 2025, La Carreta’s federal trademark on “No Love, No Tacos” became official. Raygun partnered with the restaurant on products with the slogan in February.
Medina lives his principles in other ways. He closes La Carreta on Election Day and Labor Day while still paying his employees. The restaurant adopted a mile of Hwy 30 W and perform litter removal. He and Perez helped pay off $5,000 in local school lunch debt. In November, La Carreta hosted a pop-up in Marshalltown’s House of Compassion, serving 300 free meals “in loving memory of Lupe Medina,” his father. That same month, Medina accepted the Iowa Restaurant Association’s award for 2025 Philanthropist of the Year.
During the second Trump administration, Medina advocated for the release of the Epstein files, became an Iowa Public Radio sponsor and denounced ICE raids, posting, “Our people are not criminals. They helped build this nation. We demand an end to family separation and the targeting of hardworking, essential people — our neighbors, classmates, coworkers, and loved ones.”
Likeminded folks around the world sport Medina’s motto, and drive hours out of their way to order a meal from “The Home of No Love No Tacos,” as their Iowa Avenue sign declares. But La Carreta has the same focus as the past six — or 26 — years: spreading love and tacos. There are just a few more signs up about it.
La Carreta Mexican Grill
308 Iowa Ave E, Marshalltown
Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Closed Sunday
This article was originally published in Little Village’s August 2026 issue.
