Glenda remarked that this is the first trip we've taken that hasn't been planned around food. Usually, I've downloaded menus from various restaurants that we planned to visit, but for this trip, we decided to take a more "seat of our pants" approach and just find restaurants along the way that sounded good. There was only one stipulation - any restaurant had to offer what my mom always called "food of the region". Loosely translated, this means "mom and pop" restaurants, local favorites featuring regional specialties when at all possible, and absolutely, positively no chain restaurants that you can find around home. Therefore, no McDonald's, Subway, KFC, etc. A regional chain, i.e. Stuckey's or Jack in the Box, while less than ideal, would be perfectly acceptable. (That's the ground rules set by Mom, that I follow to this very day).
So, we kept our eyes open for any kind of restaurant that looked good. On the way to the hotel, we saw 4 or 5 places that advertised "fish and chicken" and also half a dozen Mexican restaurants and Hispanic markets.
When we checked into the LaQuinta, I asked "Big Jim" at the front desk for a restaurant recommendation and he offered 2: Yen Ching which he claimed was one of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the country, and El Meson Mexican Restaurant.
Mexican sounded good to Glenda, so we headed to El Meson, right around the corner from the hotel. To my delight, they offered horchata, a milky rice water drink, spiced with cinnamon. (It tastes a lot better than it sounds). Tony played it safe with chicken nuggets, but Joey embraced the "food of the region" credo - he tried a beef enchilada and decided it was really good. My "El Meson Especial" fajita plate was excellent - with beef, chicken, shrimp and chorizo, what's not to like? Glenda also enjoyed her chicken taco and guacamole plate. After a full day and full bellies, it was time for bed.
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