El Mexicano

After my swipe at the local Latin cuisine a few posts ago, I was informed that while the Mexican joint on the north side of town was so-so, the Mexican joint on the south side was pretty good & I oughta try it. So three of us (Ali was at a sleepover) tried it last weekend. Meh. The food wasn't awful, but it was pretty boring; taco, burrito, enchilada combo, nothing very imaginative. Jarred salsa with the chips. Bland rice-and-beans on the side. Oh how I missed California just then! There's no hope here of finding Baja-style fish tacos, or a spicy salsa fresca, or a good chili relleno... Santa Fe torte... mesquite-grilled anything...

Just to make the evening more surreal, I had taken the kids to see Glory Road earlier in the day, and Hunter thought it would be funny to recreate the cafeteria scene... the urban black kids, newly landed in El Paso and confronted with Tex-Mex food for the first time, are stymied by the choices the hair-netted vato barks at them rapid-fire: ¿Taco, burrito, nacho? One of the kids blurts out "I'd like a hot-doggo!" So, Hunter ordered a hot-doggo. The server, apparently having missed the movie, was not amused.