Day Seventy-One: It's So Hard to Find a Good Restaurant These Days...

One of the first things my boyfriend and I bonded over was our love of Mexican food and flavors. If it has some sort of cheese, diced tomato, and chilis in it, we will eat it and love it. But despite our love of flavors South of the Border, we are hard-pressed to find a really good Mexican restaurant near us. But thankfully, a lot of people love Mexican food, so there are plenty of restaurants near us...unfortunately, none of them are good enough.

My favorite Mexican restaurant is a staple in my life. My parents have been taking me there since as far back as I could remember, and I always loved it. I love the atmosphere, the delicious Tex-Mex flavors, the music, and the free mints they give you when you're done eating. And it makes it even better that it's a local, home-grown business, devoid of any outside chain influence. The best part about the place is that completely by coicidence, I will be living exactly one block from it in two weeks. Beautiful.

Unfortunately, my Mecca of deliciousness is a bit pricey for anything more than a special occasion. And, unfortunately, my beau has a stubborn streak with restaurants, and one bad experience is enough to scratch it from his list of eateries. He once went to the bar on the first floor (the restaurant is on the second) and was thrown a snide comment about tipping (which he always does more than adequately), which was enough to make him angry. Thus, my favorite restaurant is not somewhere we can go together. Lame.

We've had bad service at a few other places, and others are simply too far to drive to. But we finally thought we found the perfect spot for us to go when a new, large, very authentic restaurant opened up about ten minutes from us. So we've been there a few times now, and all has been well. We had maybe one bout of bad service, but the food is so good and so affordable that we set it aside. But last night, after a lovely meal, we got a free gift with our meal that is never welcome and lasts a lot longer than the lingering, delicious taste of guacamole and chipotle peppers.

So, do we go back?

I'm seriously beginning to doubt it. But if anyone knows of a good, affordable, independent Mexican restaurant in the area with a good track record and a nice reputation, PLEASE let me know. Because I'm getting desperate.