El Paso, TX Food (L&J Cafe, Luigi's Home Style Pizza, Nolita Corner Bistro, Convention Center Tacos, and Chico's Tacos)

Let's start out 2017 with some posts about the foods from some of my travels in 2016 which were never published. I spent just about a week in El Paso, TX. This was my second trip to Texas in 2016, but this time I was in a totally different part of the state. I guess because Texas is huge, I got a totally different vibe of of the state on this trip compared to last. Both good, just different. The food was different as well. Much more of a Mexican influence, although tacos almost seemed less prevalent. Read on...

L&J Cafe:

I was expecting good Mexican food in El Paso. L&J Cafe was my first experience with Mexican food in the city. They were located in a historic building with a view of a cemetery. L&J seemed to be an happening place with a wait when I arrived, plus people all around town were recommending it as a good Mexican restaurant..

I tried the Machaca Plate. This was new to me and consisted of shredded beef mixed with scrambled egg, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos. Refried beans, rice, and tortillas were served on the side. Pretty tasty. Trying something new at a Mexican restaurant was a nice break from the standard enchiladas, tacos, and tortillas that pretty much everyone serves.

Luigis Home Style Pizza:

I found out it's hard to find restaurants that are open for business on weekends in downtown El Paso. Luigis was one of the few places serving food when I went looking on a Saturday afternoon. They had a pizza buffet going on, but it looked really sad and unappetizing. A fresh pizza was ordered instead. We had it topped with pepperoni, onions, black olives, and green chilis. This was my first tasting of green chili in the area. They made a very nice topping...

Nolita Corner Bistro:

This was another restaurant in downtown El Paso which was recommended. Burgers aren't normally my first choice on a menu, but the Toreado Burger caught my attention mostly because I didn't know what a toreado was. Turned out a toreado is a roasted jalepeno. The burger was topped with the toreados, provolone cheese, sliced avocado, mushrooms, and cilantro. I picked something called Sidewinders as my side which I actually enjoyed more than the burger. These were a combination of a wedge fry and a curly fry, with some really tasty seasonings.

El Paso Convention Center Tacos:

I had these from a food truck at the El Paso Convention Center. Pretty standard Mexican style tacos with meat topped with cabbage, cheese, and lime. 

Chico's Tacos:

Chico's Tacos was a local chain with several locations, most of them open late at night. I visited the original Chico's Tacos location on Alameda Avenue which has been around since 1953. This place was interesting. The tacos which Chico's serves weren't like tacos I know. These were rolled up tortillas filled with ground beef, then drenched in a pool of red sauce and covered in cheese. The tacos were tasty junk food, but I don't know if I'd rush out to get tacos like this again.

Juarez, Mexico:

El Paso and Juarez, Mexico are basically one city with a pesky international border. My hotel was located a few blocks from the border and I could see more of Mexico than the United States from the hotel's window. Because of this, I had to venture into Juarez while I was in El Paso. After the easiest border crossing/customs I've ever been through, I spent a few hours in the city. I didn't have any food in Juarez, but something food related worth noting was The Kentucky Bar. The Kentucky has been around since 1920 and their claim to fame is having invented the Margarita.

Baja Burrito Kitchen in Orlando, FL

Baja Burrito Kitchen was once a local chain of fast food Mexican restaurants with several locations around Central Florida. I always enjoyed the food at the various Baja Kitchens, but for whatever reasons, all but one of the restaurants closed. The only remaining Baja Kitchen is in a shopping center on Colonial Drive in Orlando. It had been years since I had last dined at a Baja Kitchen, but I recently stopped in for dinner. The meal started with some tortilla chips and various salsas. Their salsa bar was always a highlight of a visit to Baja Kitchen. Their fire roasted chipotle, salsa verde, and habanero salsa were my favorites.

I had the Baja Enchiladas for my main course. This came with three cheese filled tortillas, topped with a red enchilada sauce, cheese, and chicken. Black beans, rice, and sour cream were served on the side. There was probably far too much cheese on my plate than I should have eaten in once sitting, but the meal did give me a warm, fuzzy feeling from food memories associated with this dish. This plate of Baja Enchiladas brought back memories attached to when I used to frequent the Baja Kitchens that were once located closer to where I live. It was definitely strange having many memories of various meals with various people from years ago come rushing back, just because I had a particular version of a particular food.

The enchiladas were good, but the rice and beans could have used some improvement. Both were relatively cold and seemed like they were the bottom of the barrel as far as sides go. It was pretty close to Baja Kitchen's closing time when I ate there, but that's no excuse for crunchy rice. Putting aside the mediocre rice and beans, I did enjoy my meal at Baja Kitchen. The meal was somewhat of an unexpected and unscientific exploration into the power of food memories and the result was me being glad that there is still one last Baja Kitchen left in Orlando...

Los Dorados de Villa in Cozumel, Mexico

I recently spent the day in Cozumel, Mexico. For someone from the United States, eating food in Mexico was a scary idea. Everyone had their warnings against eating the food at a non-approved 'tourist' restaurant, or face food related illness for the rest of the trip.  I went against these warnings and ate lunch at a restaurant called Los Dorados de Villa.

The restaurant's outdoor seating overlooked the main plaza in Downtown San Miguel. 

Tortilla chips, salsa, jalapeno peppers, and homemade guacamole were served as an appetizer. The chips were heavier than the typical tortilla chip from an Mexican restaurant in the United States.  I suppose thicker tortillas were used.

The guacamole was perhaps the first food warning that I broke. I was told that if food in Mexico is consumed, avoid any uncooked fruit/vegetables.  The mashed avocado in the guacamole was uncooked, and it also tasted really good! 

I had a bottle of Mexican Sprite to drink. I do like soda with cane sugar better than corn syrup. Even though it was sugary, I didn't find it to have the harsh sweetness that I find with most American sodas.

I had the Tacos de Pescado for my main dish. These four tacos were filled with grilled fish, onions, tomatoes, and fresh cilantro.  With lime squeezed over the top, these were good tacos! After observing another table's food being delivered, the seafood at this restaurant appeared to go way beyond fish tacos. All sorts of whole fish was brought out, all of it smelling great.  If I ever return, I think I'll need to try some more of the seafood here!

Everything I tried at Los Dorados de Villa tasted good and despite all the warnings of food related illness from eating in Mexico, there were no ill effects after the meal. The prices here weren't bad either, with the majority of the menu costing under 150 pesos compared to the 300 pesos that the neighboring restaurants were charging for a meal. 

I think Watch Me Eat needs to do more eating internationally! If only somebody would sponsor a Watch Me Eat international food adventure!

Carlos 'n Charlie's in Lake Mary, FL

I tried the new Carlos 'n Charlie's in Lake Mary, FL. Carlos 'n Charlie's is a chain based out of Mexico that currently has two locations in the United States. Given the entire United States to pick from, how a chain in Mexico chooses to open a restaurant in Lake Mary's upscale Heathrow neighborhood is beyond me.

Tortilla chips in a paper bag and a bowl of salsa were served first. Pretty standard, although the salsa was a little too chunky for my liking. For the meal, I ordered Shrimp Baja Tacos. Or at least I thought I did. On the menu, it had a choice of fish OR shrimp tacos. The tacos I got had both fish AND shrimp. I didn't mind since I was having trouble deciding between the fish and shrimp when looking over the menu, but I could definitely see people having issues with getting both. Besides from the fried seafood, the tacos were filled with cabbage, onions, refried beans, and were served with a cup of really sweet sauce. The tacos did taste okay, but weren't worth the price in my opinion. At $13, I really would have expected some sort of side with the tacos, especially since you can get better seafood tacos elsewhere for more than half the price!

I also found it interesting that Carlos 'n Charlie's had a DJ playing music, but I couldn't hear what was being played. The noise level in the restaurant was so obsenely loud that I had trouble hearing the people sitting across the table from me. I couldn't tell what the DJ was playing, I just knew there was some sort of music adding to the ambient noise pollution. Perhaps the noise levels wouldn't have been an issue if I was drunk like many of the restaurant's other patrons at the surrounding tables...