Friday Mexican Food

MMMM. I just had the best Mexican lunch.

You know how any larger town with a "tourist trade" always has one of those places you take people when they come to visit, but rarely go any other time? In San Antonio, one of those places is Mi Tierras, a Mexican place downtown, in the Mexican Market. (El Marcado). It's usually very touristy, and at lunch time, (about now probably) it's full of folks from Minnesota asking what the heck Pico De Gallo is (is there really rooster beak in it?) The Mariachi bands are roaming around hawking another round of "La Bamba" for five dollars a pop.

But an early lunch? What a great idea. My overnight houseguest, a San Antonio native who lives out of town now cause he's a pilot, came by and wanted to go the El Marcado where you can get a giant bottle of Mexican Vanilla for 8.99. So we also popped into Mi Tierras, which has, in addition to great Mexican lunch specials, great Pan Du Dulce-- sweetbreads. Mexican Donuts is what the WalMart calls them. MMMMM. Empanadas with pumpkin inside, these crunchy little brown cinnamon things. I had the Pollo y Calabacita-- chicken with squash. It was incredible.

K., (the houseguest) paid for the Mariachis to sing. I usually do not-- they are almost always singing things I don't care to hear AGAIN. But he requested a specific song-- a Malaguena. (if you go to the link, do the guitar version).

The one we heard wasn't nearly as long as the one at the link, and it had lyrics that this version I've linked doesn't have, but it was pretty great. This one singer, an older man, held this high, sweet, long tone for longer than you could imagine, several times. When one of the other singers, with a much lower voice, sang, his throat vibrated like a big old bullfrog's (not that he would probably welcome the comparison, but that's what it was like!)

As I said, I generally avoid the bands cause they don't get to pull out the good stuff often. But this, man, this was the best I've ever heard. K ended up giving them ten bucks instead of five. It was really really worth it. And most of the other patrons kind of ignored it, but it was a virtuoso performance.

Then we got the Pan du Dulce. We let the girl behind the counter pick out "six of her favorite items" for us. She was happy because it made her feel special to tell us what she liked, and we were happy because she knew what the good stuff was. We now have a cakestand full of good stuff for the weekend, and had a couple when we got home with a latte.

The back room at Mi Tierras is my favorite-- they have this incredible wall mural with pictures of local celebrities, as well as people important to San Antonio history and family members of the restaurant's owners. There was a picture of Sandra Cisneros-- one of our local famous authors, that I hadn't seen before. I don't know if it's new, or because it's sort of tucked behind the kitchen door. But it was a perfect likeness of her, and exactly what she looked like the time I met her at a conference downtown. She has this penchant for long flowy fringed scarves, and this picture had her wrapped in a blue one. Very very cool.

All in all, a reason to go visit those "touristy" but great places you never go to. Just go when the tourists are still in bed, or at your local equivalent to the Alamo. By the time the tour buses make it to your great restaurant, all the locals will be home, and La Bamba will ring from the muraled walls.