Filipino Fusion–Oklahoma City, OK

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Steve

Filipino Fusion
Food Truck
Oklahoma City, OK

Status: Open as of Aug. 26, 2016

I am happy to report that the Filipino Fusion food truck is now open for business and receiving excellent reviews. It joins Chibugan Restaurant as places in the Oklahoma City metro where Filipino cuisine is available.

The Filipino Fusion Facebook Page lists the locations where the truck can be found. These include the following:

OU Children’s Hospital
Anthem Brewing–908 S.W. 4th St.
Mustang Brewing Company–520 N. Meridian Ave.
Cactus Jack’s (at the Family Fun Center)–1211 N. Council Rd.
The Patriarch–9 E. Edwards St. in Edmond

Some popular dishes include adobo, rice balls, lumpia, pancit, and desserts.

My previous Filipino Food Revisited blog post discusses the Filipino fusion food movement, and I will also list the various places in Oklahoma City that serve Filipino food.

A Walking Tour of Midtown–Oklahoma City, OK

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Steve

From N. Walker Ave. looking south toward St. Anthony’s Hospital

Midtown Oklahoma City, centered around N.W. 10th Street and Walker Avenue, has one of the greatest concentrations of quality restaurants in the city. This is based both on experience (from some past and present restaurants) and the reviews I have read about all the restaurants in the area.

In conjunction with visiting a medical office in the area I was able to conduct a brief walking tour to scout out many of the restaurants I have read about. The purpose of this article is to pass along information I have gleaned from the Internet as well as what I found on my tour. There are only a couple of restaurants listed with which I have first hand experience, but practically all of them are on my “want to try” list.

Stella
1201 N. Walker Ave.

Stella Modern Italian Cuisine

Stella is known as “Modern Italian,” and according to reviews is not the typical red sauce type of restaurant. It has good reviews, is upscale, and is a place you would want to go for a leisurely meal (it is not outrageously priced, but you do want to spend time enjoying what you are paying for).

1492
1207 N. Walker Ave.

1492 New World Latin Cuisine

This upscale Mexican restaurant is located next door to Stella, and it looks as if the biggest issue here is where to find parking. I think they have their own parking lot but it may get full at times.

I recently ate at the new 1492 at Casady Square, and based on this I can give a very good review of the food. This was very good upscale Mexican cuisine, and I consider it to be a type of food that Oklahoma City really needs.

Cafe do Brasil
440 N.W. 11th St.

Cafe do Brasil

Although I did not eat here on this particular walking tour, this is still my favorite Latin American restaurant in Oklahoma City. I was very impressed with not only the flavor of the food but also with the choices. There is ample parking here, and the prices are very good. It is not quite what I would call an upscale restaurant but the food is what I would call upscale for Latin American cuisine.

Brown’s Bakery
1100 N. Walker Ave.

Brown’s Bakery

My next stop was at Brown’s Bakery, which is an institution both in Oklahoma City and with my family. I didn’t pick up any of their goodies, but I know that this is a good place for it.

This particular day part of the area was blocked off for the St. Patrick’s Day parade, and one of the musical groups was practicing in Brown’s parking lot. There was still parking for those who wanted to go to Brown’s, and on a normal day there would be more than enough parking for anyone who was thinking about coming here.

Fassler Hall
421 N.W. 10th St.

North entrance to Fassler Hall (from Park Pl.)

Just east of Brown’s Bakery is a relatively new bowling alley, and above the bowling alley on the second floor is Fassler Hall, a restaurant fashioned after a Bavarian beer hall. The main dining area is an outdoor patio with picnic tables, although you can get out of the elements if necessary.

Fassler Hall’s outdoor patio

The menu at Fassler Hall is pretty simple. It specializes in bratwurst and sausages (according to one of the employees who explained the menu to me). There is somewhat of a variety of dishes, including schnitzel and a vegetarian sausage (which I understand is made of falafel). Of course all of these items go well with beer (at least this seems to be the consensus of the diners here).

From Tenth Street the restaurant is located up a flight of stairs, but it is at street level from Park Place (the street that runs between 10th and 11th). There is also parking off of Park Place, including several handicapped spaces.

Bleu Garten
301 N.W. 10th St.

Bleu Garten is Oklahoma City’s first food truck court, with a rotating schedule of food trucks that come daily (see their web site for the schedule).

Bleu Garten entrance

The official entrance to Bleu Garten is on Tenth Street, but parking is located in the back. There are covered areas to sit near the entrance, but they are not enclosed. The trucks are out in the open. There is a drink bar with restrooms operated by the food court (all of this is covered). Thus you can eat in a covered open air area, but the trucks themselves are not covered.

St. Paddy Cakes and Snow S’more trucks

I saw five trucks, and from their web site this seemed to be about the usual number that were parked here. I thought the St. Paddy Cakes truck was a special one for St. Patrick’s Day (when I went), but it turned out to be one in their regular rotation.

I did not see any Asian food here (something I was somewhat expecting), and I was a little surprised that there were only five in total. There are actually a lot more that come here but the schedule is rotating.

Note: The Bleu Garten web site indicates that as of July 2016 they have made some changes. I now see a lunch schedule only on Friday through Sunday, and dinner is Tuesday through Saturday.

Packard’s New American Kitchen
201 N.W. 10th St.

Packard’s New American Kitchen

One block east of Bleu Garten is Packard’s New American Kitchen, an upscale restaurant popular for its steaks and other (New) American dishes. Some say it has the best rooftop dining in town. It seems to be considered as one of the city’s better restaurants.

Tamashii Ramen
321 N.W. 8th St.

Tamashii Ramen in Oklahoma City

Tamashii, located in an almost abandoned neighborhood a couple of blocks from Midtown’s main drag, is the restaurant where I wish I could have eaten but I did not have time on this trip. I have heard excellent things about their ramen, and a restaurant like this is one sure sign that OKC has arrived as a “foodie” city.

Reviews indicated that a special spicy ramen is the best item if you like spicy food. Otherwise, the tonkatsu is very good.

The restaurant is small, and is a place you come for the food and not the atmosphere. Since the area is largely vacant I think this will make it fairly easy to come here and be able to find parking.

The hours posted on the door are as follows:

Tue 11-2 and 5-9
Wed 11-2 and 5-9
Thu 11-2 and 5-9
Fri 11-2 and 5-10:30
Sat 11-2 and 5-10:30
Sun 11-3

Gigglez
1016 N. Walker Ave.

Gigglez

Returning to the northwest, I passed by this rather unusual restaurant and comedy club (although in the daytime it is simply a restaurant). It actually has a highly regarded chef who brought an Asian twist to the food, although the menu is largely American. This looks like a place that would be interesting to try.

Gogo Sushi Express
432 N.W. 10th St.

Gogo Sushi Express and Grill

This restaurant is right next door to Gigglez, and it offers Bento boxes in addition to sushi. Most reviewers say it is a bargain, with good Japanese food at reasonable prices (at least at lunch). According to Yelp it is open 11 am to 9 pm Mon-Thu, open until 10 pm on Fri, and closed Sat & Sun.

McNellie’s Public House
1100 Classen Dr.

On the opposite side of the traffic circle from Gogo Sushi is where Classen Drive angles to the northwest. On the east side of Classen Dr. is the old Plaza Shopping Center that is now a “restaurant row.” At the south end of the center is McNellie’s Public House. Being St. Patrick’s Day when I visited, McNellie’s seemed to be the number one hot spot near downtown Oklahoma City. The concept here is an Irish pub, and I have to say that this is another place I would like to try if I get the chance.

Other Restaurants

View to the east from the traffic circle

Also in this complex is the Prairie Thunder Baking Company (1114 Classen Dr.) and Irma’s Burger Shack (1120 Classen Dr.). Most of the restaurants listed here (and several others) are within a short walking distance from each other, and provide an excellent choice of cuisines, price points, and choice of fast lunch spots or more leisurely restaurants. Bleu Garten and Packard’s are the outliers, being located closer to Broadway than to Walker. Still, though, they are within a half mile of Saint Anthony’s Hospital (the largest building in the Midtown area).

Midtown has seen a dramatic increase of restaurants and other businesses in the past few years. I give credit to Brown’s Bakery (and others) for sticking it out through the good and the bad times, and I am sorry that Boulevard Cafeteria is no longer there, but the restaurants that have moved in have been a definite improvement to the area.

Filipino Food Revisited

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Steve

In my previous post Filipino Food in Oklahoma City I asked a question that had been discussed on the Chowhound web site: “Why are there so few Filipino restaurants in the United States” (and at the time there were none in Oklahoma City).

The Chowhound site I referenced asked whether Filipino food was embarrassing (in other words, Filipino people might be more interested in blending into American culture and eating other people’s foods than in opening restaurants serving their own food). The article rightly asserted that Filipino food is very good, and that there should be more Filipino restaurants in the cities that have a large Filipino ethnic population (which are most cities in the U.S.).

I recently saw a program on Create TV that I believe provides some answers. An episode of Lucky Chow focusing on “Filipino Entrepreneurs” included an interview with P.J. Quesada, founder of the Filipino Food Movement. He agreed that Filipino food has not been as popular in the United States as one would think, and suggested the following as possible reasons:

Filipinos came to the U.S. already speaking English, so they were able to assimilate more easily than other ethnic groups.
Filipinos did not promote their food properly. One aspect of this is that there are a number of regional food styles in the Philippines. Immigrants from one region came to the U.S. and cooked their own style of food, but were not big promoters of other styles of Filipino food.
Americans are poorly educated about Filipino food. Much of it has to do with Filipino food having Spanish terms that mean something different than in other cuisines. In general it is hard for Americans to understand what the Filipino dishes are.

The first point is actually similar to the theory postulated in the Chowhound article on Filipino restaurants. Filipino immigrants quickly became Americanized, and did not go through the kind of adjustment that other groups had to do.

One of these adjustments might be the ethnic restaurants that serve as meeting places and social gatherings for immigrant groups as much as a place where these people like the food. I am speculating about this, but I will say that the points that Mr. Quesada made sound as plausible as anything I have heard about why there are not more Filipino restaurants.

At the same time, though, some people are trying to change things. The Lucky Chow program visited two restaurants in the Bay Area that prove that Filipino food can be successful in the United States. One in San Mateo, California called Jeepney serves traditional Filipino food, and like most similar restaurants has customers making a special effort to go there in order to enjoy this type of food.

A second restaurant in San Mateo called Attic has its mission as serving a type of Filipino fusion that would be popular with Americans. It has modernized the food and makes it with local ingredients. The local ingredients in California are different than in the Philippines, but the experience is the same since the Filipino way of cooking uses locally sourced products as much as possible.

I am especially interested in ethnic cuisine, and I think it helps to understand the food when I visit a restaurant. I definitely feel that this episode of Lucky Chow provides some good insight into Filipino food in the U.S.

I believe that the “Filipino Food Movement” is gaining momentum, and will become more and more apparent in areas other than just the San Francisco Bay Area.

Oklahoma City Filipino Food Updates:

Chibugan Filipino Cuisine opened in April 2016, and is the first of what looks like a new trend in Filipino food in the Oklahoma City area. The address is 4728 S.E. 29th St., Del City, OK. (Open Tue-Sat and lunch on Sunday).

Filipino Fusion food truck started operating in August 2016. The truck goes to various locations in Oklahoma City and Edmond, and may add more locations later.

Some Colorado Springs Suggestions

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Steve

Recently some friends of mine went to Colorado Springs for a vacation, and brought back a number of photos and good reports about the things to see there (many of which I have seen on my own trips there).

My friends also have very good credentials when it comes to reporting on food, so I asked them if they would give me some information to share with readers. I am glad to do this for the benefit of anyone else who may be going there to visit. Some of the restaurants mentioned are not very good everyday choices, but they are very good “splurge” restaurants to visit while on vacation.

I believe my friends are very good judges of food, and in most cases are more critical than I am when it comes to giving restaurant recommendations. It turned out that in about a four day visit there were three restaurants that they recommended, which are listed below:

Garden of the Gods Gourmet
410 S. 26th St.
Colorado Springs, CO
(719) 471-2799

Garden of the Gods Gourmet

This is a popular restaurant any time of day, but my friends went for brunch. The big drawing card was that they had an outdoor patio (which they wanted so that they could bring their dog). They said, though, that it had excellent food, and was the best restaurant they tried in the breakfast or lunch category.

Outdoor patio at Garden of the Gods Gourmet

This is also the only one of the three restaurants that falls in the “moderately priced” category (although I don’t know what they ordered).

Garden of the Gods Gourmet is open for breakfast and lunch daily, and serves early dinner (until 7:30 pm) Tuesday through Saturday (according to Yelp).

Miramont Castle
9 Capitol Hill Ave.
Manitou Springs, CO
(719) 685-1011

Miramont Castle is actually in a large castle (at least large by American standards) and serves English high tea. They serve three courses, and patrons have the option of ordering individual courses or all three.

First course of tea

One of the best features of this restaurant is the variety of teas that are available, and my friends thought all of them were good (each person chooses one kind of tea, but apparently it is fine to share with others so that you can sample the different varieties).

Along with the tea diners get a scone. So far it sounds true to the teas in England (traditionally served in mid afternoon, but at Miramont you can get it any time during business hours).

Second course of tea

The second course consists of finger sandwiches and a piece of bread. My friends thought the bread was much like dim sum (probably meaning it was not too sweet, but just right). In any case, reviews elsewhere on the Internet confirm that it is good.

Third course of tea

The third course is the “dessert” (chocolates and a variety of sweets). Like the other courses, my friends give a good report of it.

With the sandwiches served in the second course, and the sum total of all the food served, my friends stated that it made an excellent lunch. It cost $26 per person, but they were glad they had the experience and enjoyed the food.

Hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

The Rabbit Hole
101 N. Tejon St.
Colorado Springs, CO
(719) 203-5072

Located in downtown Colorado Springs, The Rabbit Hole was really the “fine dining” experience out of the three. Yelp rates the cost as $$ (not terribly expensive), but it depends on what you order.

Chef’s Butcher Block

The Rabbit Hole serves several kinds of meat, and all of it is good (according to what I hear). I was told that the lamb was the best, and the striped bass was next (but that all of the meats were good). The Chef’s Butcher Block gives a sample of several kinds of meat, costs $35, and is enough for two people (the fish is not included on the butcher’s block).

More food from The Rabbit Hole

This photo includes the shrimp and seafood “nibbles” plate, fitting in with what is generally the small plate concept of the restaurant (unless you get the butcher’s block or one of the meat main dishes).

Hours are 4:00 pm to 1:30 in the morning, and they serve 250 types of wine.

Filipino Food in Oklahoma City

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Steve

The Chowhound web site (chowhound.com) has been the source of much of my knowledge about food and restaurants, especially since it was one of the earliest restaurant related sites to come on line. I think one of the classic discussions of all time was a topic on the Seattle Board in 2002 entitled “Is Filipino food embarassing?” (sic). The original poster stated that the Filipino community was the number one ethnic minority in Seattle, yet there were very few Filipino restaurants (6 to be exact, three of which had the same owner). The theory was not that people did not like Filipino food, but simply that it was not a priority for Filipino people to open this kind of restaurant (instead they were more likely to operate a Jewish deli or a burger stand).

A similar situation seems to exist in Oklahoma City and in other cities (I think the originator of the discussion on Chowhound believed that this was something that occurred nationwide). There was an Italian restaurant in Oklahoma City (which is now closed) run by Filipino people that I thought did a good job with the Italian food, but of course it was one of many Italian restaurants in the city. I support anyone operating any type of restaurant they wish, but I am a little perplexed as to why there are not more Filipino restaurants around the country.

Bhing’s Cafe on N. Meridian Ave. in Oklahoma City seemed to demonstrate that customers were willing to patronize a Filipino restaurant (although I honestly do not know how many customers they had and whether this had anything to do with the restaurant closing). Evelyn’s Asian Table took over the spot of providing the only Filipino food in the city, but it is now closed as well. All indications are that the lack of Filipino restaurants at present is not because of a lack of interest in this type of food, but I just do not have any information about whether these restaurants were profitable or not.

A number of Filipino cooking classes have been given over the past few years at the Rockwell Campus of the Francis Tuttle Technology Center, and this shows an interest in the cuisine as well. I do not think that any type of cooking class would help me very much, but I am including this information for the benefit of readers who have better cooking skills.

There happens to be a Filipino dinner that will be served this weekend in Midwest City, called the “Spring Taste of Philippines,” sponsored by the Philippine-American Civic Organization. Details are in the Oklahoma Gazette, Mar. 2, 2016 issue (and I think also on their web site). The summary is:

Filipino dinner from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, Sat. Mar. 12
Location: Nick Harroz Community Center, 200 N. Midwest Blvd., Midwest City, OK
Menu: Chicken afritada, pancit noodles, cassava cake

There will also be a bake sale and arts and crafts from 1-5 pm.

Except for these items I think a better title for the article would be “The Lack of Filipino Food in Oklahoma City.” I hope this will not always be the case, though.

Update Apr. 23, 2016: There is good news to report. Chibugan Filipino Restaurant at 4728 S.E. 29th St. in Del City is slated to open today, giving people a new place to try Filipino food. This restaurant has been eagerly anticipated by many people who have missed this type of cuisine in Oklahoma City for several years since the closing of Bhing’s and Evelyn’s.

Also a note about the “Taste of the Philippines” dinners–for the past few years these have been scheduled twice a year (in the spring and fall), and have been at various locations throughout the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

Smithsonian Article on Oklahoma City’s Little Saigon

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Steve

The March 2016 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine has a very interesting article on Oklahoma City’s Vietnamese community, with an emphasis on the Vietnamese food served in Oklahoma City’s “Little Saigon.” The area around Classen Boulevard between N.W. 23rd Street and N.W. 34th is officially called the Asian District, but the Smithsonian article correctly points out how the Vietnamese refugee community was instrumental in founding it and turning it into the attraction it has become today.

One idea set forth in the article is that the Asian people have a food culture. A quote in the article by the owner of Super Cao Nguyen Market is illustrative of this point:

We’re all big foodies. We eat, sleep, dream food. When some customer comes to us with an idea for some product we should carry, the first thought that pops into our head is, “That sounds delicious.”

In other words, the people behind the good Asian restaurants and supermarkets work hard to make it that way, and this comes from a very strong attention to food that may even range to an obsession with it.

Another very interesting point in the article is how Vietnamese chefs are at the forefront of innovation in developing Asian fusion cuisine and constantly trying to re-invent what Vietnamese cuisine itself should mean, at least as it exists in America. I had already seen the fusion aspect of it in restaurants like Monsoon in Seattle, and now it is taking hold in Oklahoma City in restaurants such as Guernsey Park. Chef Vuong Nguyen of Guernsey Park has now moved on to open Bonjour, a restaurant that is not Vietnamese but which obviously has a Vietnamese influence along with the French fusion typically found in it.

I like the direction Vietnamese cuisine is taking, because rather than trying to Americanize the food they are keeping the authentic cuisine and adding fusion concepts to it. This is in contrast to Chinese food, which was so Americanized when most of us were growing up that I have a hard time every trying to describe to people what authentic Chinese cuisine is supposed to be. I think Chinese restaurants are now following the Vietnamese pattern though–you can get the authentic version, the Americanized version (there is a little bit of Americanization in some Vietnamese food also), or the fusion version (I have not seen much of this in Chinese food but I know it exists).

I have tried to develop some ideas from the article that I think are important to what I am doing on this blog. People may or may not want to get a copy of the Smithsonian magazine for the article, but I think it is a good read and worthwhile if you can find the March issue.

One subject mentioned in the article is that some chefs from Oklahoma City are thinking about moving to other cities, and maybe even doing a stint in Vietnam to learn some of the finer points of Vietnamese cuisine. If (and more probably when) this happens, some cities will likely see major upgrades in the variety and quality of the Vietnamese cuisine being served.

El Paso Mexican Restaurants 1980

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Steve

This list is presented for anyone who is interested in the Mexican restaurants which were in El Paso in 1980. It grew out of a project I did to write down a list of all the Mexican restaurants from the telephone directory and then to make notes about the ones I tried.

Although the list was strictly for my own benefit, I think it might be of some historical use today. It certainly provides a clue about the longest running restaurants in the city, since very few of the restaurants which were open in 1980 survive today.

These restaurants were listed under the “Mexican restaurants” section in the telephone directory. I believe that it is not a complete list of all the Mexican restaurants which existed, but it is at least 80 to 90 percent complete.

Many restaurants served the style of food I call “El Paso” style. This is a modification of New Mexican cuisine (the enchiladas are similar) combined with Chihuahua style Mexican food (such as tacos, chicken mole, caldo de res, and breakfast dishes, to name a few).

Looking back, I think I rated some of the restaurants too low, but this was mainly due to having very high expectations (and at some restaurants I may have tried the wrong thing).

The restaurants I visited are in bold. All others were simply copied from the phone book to give me possible places to try.

RATING	RESTAURANT	ADDRESS	PRICES	COMMENTS
EL PASO
	Acapulco	219 S. El Paso
	Alberto’s	109 Castellano
	Alexandro’s	309 E. Overland	Cheap
	Alexandro’s II	7720 North Loop
	Arnold’s	2030 E. Yandell	Mod
	Bernadette’s	412 E. San Antonio
	Burger Boy	5500 El Paso Dr.
	Caballero	6400 Montana
	Carmen’s Cafe	8257 Alameda
	Casa Calderon	8450 Alameda	Mod
	Casa Jurado	226 Cincinnati	Mod
	Chicken Fiesta	3701 Montana	Mod
	Chico’s Tacos	4230 Alameda
	Chico’s Tacos	5305 Montana	Cheap
	Chico’s Tacos	3401 Dyer	Cheap
	Chico’s Tacos	1235 McRae	Cheap
	Ciro’s Flautas	3203 Alameda
	Cocina Arrambide	5908 Alameda	Mod	Also known as “Pepa’s”
	Conchita’s	6933 Alameda
	Coney Island	4121 N. Mesa
	Del Camino	5001 Alameda	Exp
	Delicious Mexican Food	3314 Fort Blvd.
	El Abajeno	9639 Dyer	Mod
	El Carioca	2104 E. Yandell
	El Conquistador	4950B Hondo Pass
	El Delfin	4822 Montana
	Elmer’s	6305 Montana	Mod
	El Nido	6932 Gateway East
	El Nopal	2314 Wyoming
	El Palenque	705 1/2 S. El Paso
	El Paseo	1611 Montana	Cheap
	El Ranchito	2030 E. Paisano
	El Rancho Escondido	14549 Montana
	El Rapido Cafe	617 S. El Paso
	El Taquito Place	909 N. San Marcial
	El Zarape	819 S. El Paso
	Forti’s	321 Chelsea	Mod
	G & R	401 E. Nevada	Mod
	Grandma’s Tamales	7682 Alameda
	Grandma’s Tamales	6041 N. Mesa
	Grandma’s Tamales	1212 Yarbrough
	Griggs	5800 Doniphan	Mod
	Griggs	9007 Montana	Mod
	Hamburger Hut	3700 Alameda
	Hamburger Hut	8764 Alameda
	Hamburger Hut	8541 Alameda
	Imperial Cafe	510 Myrtle	Mod
	Jasper’s	2200 Yarbrough	Mod
	Julio’s	1201 N. Mesa	Exp
	Kiki’s	2719 N. Piedras	Mod
	La Casita	3333 Yarbrough
	La Feria	419 S. Mesa
	La Hacienda	1720 W. Paisano	Cheap
	La Paloma	1017 Delta	Cheap
	La Paloma	9415 Dyer	Mod
	La Pastora	7705B North Loop
	La Posada	307 E. Overland
	Las Casuelas	1310 Magruder
	La Tapatia	8941 Old County
	La Terraza	315 Mills	Mod
	Leo’s	7872 North Loop
	Leo’s	6232 N. Mesa	Mod
	Leo’s	5103 Montana	Mod
	Leo’s	5003 Alabama	Mod
	Leo’s	5315 Hondo Pass	Mod
	Leo’s	2285 Trawood
	Lily’s	4315 Dyer
	Linda’s Jet	6211 Airport
	Los Compadres	800 N. Zaragoza
	Lucky Boy	4130 Montana	Cheap	Also called “Beto’s”
	Lunch Box	527 Giles	Cheap
	Lupe’s Coffee Shop	2919 Pershing
	Lupe’s	Rushfair Center
	Lupita’s	8929 Alameda
	Lupita’s	1230 Myrtle	Cheap
	Mexican Cottage	904 Texas	Mod
	Mi Amiga	501 1/2 E. 3rd
	Michael’s	122 S. Mesa
	Miguelito’s	1500 Lomaland
	Moe’s	6298 Alameda	Exp
	Montezuma	211 1/2 S. Kansas
	Palmera Cafe	2301 Olive
	Pancho’s	5229 Sanders	Mod
	RB’s	3905 Broaddus
	Rachel’s	2138 Cypress
	Raphael’s	Missouri & Kansas
	Riviera	5218 Doniphan	Mod
	Royal	2905 Alameda	Cheap
	Sarita’s	5541D Alameda
	Sierra’s Cafe	3027 Alameda
	Sixto	7227 Alameda
	Sunset Inn	4532 N. Mesa
	Super Burro	5901 Dyer
	Taco Burger	1414 Airway
	Tampico	119 W. Paisano
	Tenampa	310C S. Florence	Cheap
	Taquito House	915 Myrtle
	Tony’s	706 N. Piedras
	Victor’s	5000 Doniphan	Cheap
	Villa Taxco	205 S. El Paso

ANTHONY
	Adrian’s	Anthony

CANUTILLO
	Canutillo Tortilla Factory	Canutillo

SOCORRO
	Old Adobe	Socorro
	Riverside Saloon	Socorro

AREA WIDE
	Taco Bell	9 Locations

The four-star rating system was as follows:

	Very Good.
	Good.
	Fair.
	Poor.

El Paso has always been the “Mexican Food Capital of the United States” even though it has only claimed this title for itself recently. In 1980 I would say that Mexican restaurants composed the majority, or at least a good portion of all restaurants in the city. Most of these were mom and pop restaurants with budget prices and the standard dishes found in Mexican cuisine. Most restaurants had at least one dish which was a standout, but the ones that had at least three or four are the ones with a three or four star rating on this list.

Today El Paso has many more Mexican restaurants than existed in 1980, but I think the number would fall far short of 50% of the city’s total number of restaurants. There are many more styles of Mexican food available than in the past, representing several Mexican states in addition to the always popular Chihuahua style cuisine. What has not changed very much, though, is that restaurants still tend to be mom and pop establishments with fairly low prices and food which is familiar to the general population. There are more health conscious restaurants now, and in general I think the choices are much better now than they used to be.

Some notes about individual restaurants are as follows:

Arnold’s served the same food as Leo’s, but was owned by a different family member.
Casa Jurado–a brother opened the Casa Jurado on Doniphan (which is still operating).
Del Camino at one time was one of the best restaurants in the city, but in 1980 it was going through severe problems that led to its closing a short time later.
Forti’s is largely unchanged today from the way it was in 1980, except that I think they have added some more good dishes.
Griggs on Doniphan was my favorite restaurant in the city. Other Griggs family members operated La Posta in Mesilla, NM and El Pinto in Albuquerque. However, I thought the food at Griggs was the best of the three. The Griggs recipes are now served at Peppe’s Restaurant in Canutillo (on Doniphan Dr.)
La Hacienda was another favorite of mine. Amigos Restaurant at 2000 Montana opened after La Hacienda closed, and served the food from La Hacienda. As far as I know this food is still available.
La Terraza was another “Leo’s” restaurant.
Lupita’s on Myrtle at one time was my favorite place for lunch because they served home style Mexican plates (it changed every day, and you had very little choice about what was served, but it was so good it changed my thinking about what was “authentic” Mexican food). By 1980 it had changed more to the standard restaurant model, though.
Moe’s was great, and one of its secrets was that it used lard in the food (it still had many loyal patrons until the time it closed).
Montezuma was known for its breakfasts, and many people picked up burritos to take to work with them.
Pancho’s was good in El Paso at the same time it was bad to terrible just about everywhere else. Once I got to eat at the original Pancho’s (that was either on Alameda or Paisano), but I’m not sure if it was still open in 1980. The original Pancho’s had the best food of any of the locations I tried.
Canutillo Tortilla Factory is today known as the Little Diner, and is well known on many national hole in the wall food guides. In truth, though, the food then and now is not much different from at least a couple of dozen other restaurants that are listed here.

Oklahoma City Mexican Restaurants 1983

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Steve

This list is a transcription of notes I took about Mexican restaurants in Oklahoma City in 1983. The full list includes restaurants I copied from the telephone directory (and which were listed as “Mexican restaurants” in the yellow pages). Star ratings are for the ones I visited.

Oklahoma City had a much greater percentage of one-star and two-star restaurants than other cities included in this series of historical posts. In this respect I think Oklahoma City was actually representative of most cities in the United States at the time. It had more Mexican restaurants than most cities, but to me the quality seemed much lower than in Texas and New Mexico cities.

Some of the one-star restaurants had pure Anglo style food that did not even rise to the level of the Tex-Mex served at the majority of restaurants. There is term which is now used called “Okie-Mex,” and I think this also would describe most of the Mexican food in 1983. I did find some restaurants on the south side (Capitol Hill) that served more authentic Mexican food, either exclusively or in addition to the Tex-Mex menu. I remember Las Rositas as having some dishes I had found in El Paso at some of the better restaurants there.

I remember A&T Garcia’s as being the best Mexican restaurant in town, and this seemed to be a combination of California and New Mexico style Mexican food (with red and green chile used in place of the brown gravy-like “chili” used in Tex-Mex restaurants). Mostly, though, I thought they just had better quality food.

The difference between 1983 and today for Mexican food in Oklahoma City is striking, and I would say authentic styles of food are prevalent in the central and south areas of the city. A large number of restaurants serve Aguascalientes (Calvillo) style food, although many also offer American style dishes on the menu. You are probably more likely to find truly authentic food if you go to a take-out restaurant, taco truck, etc. than in a sit-down restaurant where they serve you at the table.

In the lists I made for Austin and Albuquerque, I could see how the regional Mexican styles which had developed in the area (Tex-Mex and New Mexican cuisine, respectively) had seemed to make the population more accepting of authentic Mexican food which came along later. Oklahoma City did not have its own regional style of Mexican food, but early restaurants such as El Charrito made Tex-Mex the preferred style here.

The more authentic Mexican food served in a number of restaurants now may be largely due to an influx of immigrants from Mexico, but a large number of long time residents have become fans of this food as well. In these and other ways I think Oklahoma City is very representative of a number of U.S. cities.

My goal for this article is not only to provide nostalgia but also to allow trends to be observed about how Mexican food has changed in the U.S. over a relatively short period of time.

RATING	RESTAURANT	ADDRESS	PRICES	COMMENTS
DOWNTOWN
	A&T Garcia’s	409 W. Reno	Exp
	Chicano’s	1203 W. Main
	Chuy’s	401 W. Sheridan
	Delgado’s	1135 N. Hudson
	La Roca	412 S. Walker	Very Exp	Too expensive
	Que-Pasa	100 W. Main
	Yolanda’s	1021 N. Western	Exp	Fairly authentic

NORTHWEST
	Casa Bonita	3601 NW 39
	Chi-Chi’s	4239 NW Hwy	Exp
	Don Serapio’s	11109 N. May	Exp
	El Chico	2226 N. Bdwy
	El Chico	2909 Paseo	Exp
	El Chico	Villa Prom
	El Chico	6014 N. May	Exp
	El Fenix	Quail Spgs Mall	Very Exp
	El Zocalo	4600 W. Reno
	JC Garcia’s	3000 W. Britton Rd.	Exp
	Las Chalupas	825 NW 23rd	Mod
	Last Cafe of San Jose	2625 W. Britton Rd.	Exp	Too expensive
	Monterey House	4533 NW 39th	Mod
	Nino’s	6509 NW Hwy	Exp
	Papagayo’s	12100 N. May
	Taco Palace	4200 NW 39th	Mod

CAPITOL HILL
	Chi-Chi’s	1024 SW 74th
	El Chico	Esplanade Shopping Center
	El Rancho Sanchez	5804 S. Western
	El Chalan	3325 S. Robinson	Mod
	La Roca	948 SW 36th
	La Roca	333 SE 29th	Mod	Changed to Mino’s
	Las Rositas	2608 S. May	Mod
	Los Tacos	1311 SW 44th
	Los Trillo	2608 S. Robinson
	Mi Tierra Cafe	1412 S. Walker	Mod	Open weekends only
	Monterey House	705 SW 59th
	Ninos	7220 S. Walker	Exp
	Ninos	5425 S. Penn
	Pablo’s	1408 SE 15th	Exp	Too expensive
	Pancho’s	5733 S. Western
	Pizarro’s	2908 SW 59th		Out of business
	Tacoville	3502 Newcastle Rd.

MIDWEST CITY & DEL CITY
	Casa de Zamudio	6308 E. Reno
	Chi-Chi’s	6100 Tinker Diagonal
	Del Taco	4320 SE 15th
	El Chico	Heritage Park Mall
	Hacienda Hernandez	4733 SE 29th
	Hernandos	11211 NE 23rd
	Pancho’s	1224 S. Air Depot

EDMOND
	Acapulco	400 S. Bryant	Mod
	Pepe’s	1701 S. Broadway	Mod

MOORE
	La Roca	111 S. Broadway
	Moore’s Little Mexico	1743 N. Broadway

NORMAN
	Border Crossing	606 W. Main
	El Palacio	120 E. Main	Mod
	Johnny’s Mex Food	1118 N. Berry
	Taco Fiesta	2110 W. Lindsey
	Zamudios	428 W. Robinson

YUKON
	Poquito de Mexico	422 W. Main	Mod	Enchiladas excellent. Tacos & hot sauce are lousy

TUTTLE
	Cisco’s Tacos	813 Main

AREA WIDE
	Taco Bell	13 locations
	Taco Bueno	12 locations
	Taco Mayo	5 locations
	Taco Tico	5 locations

The four-star rating system was as follows:

	Very Good.
	Good.
	Fair.
	Poor.

Austin Mexican Restaurants 1985

Gallery

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Steve

This list is a transcription of notes I took about the city’s Mexican restaurants when I lived in Austin, Texas. The full list includes restaurants I copied from the telephone directory (and which were listed as “Mexican restaurants” in the … Continue reading →

Albuquerque Mexican Restaurants 1981

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Steve

This list is presented for anyone who is interested in the Mexican restaurants which were in Albuquerque in 1981. It grew out of a project I did to write down a list of all the Mexican restaurants from the telephone directory and then to make notes about the ones I tried.

Although the list was strictly for my own benefit while I was in the city, I think it might be of some historical use today. It certainly provides a clue about the longest running restaurants in the city, since very few of the restaurants which were open in 1981 survive today.

These restaurants were listed under the “Mexican restaurants” section in the telephone directory, and while the list seems fairly accurate, I had no way to verify it.

By “Mexican” this really meant “New Mexican,” since very few restaurants served other styles of Mexican food.

One of my favorite restaurants, El Modelo, was not on the list (but it mainly serves take-out orders and maybe the Yellow Page people did not consider it to be a “restaurant”).

The restaurants I visited are in bold. All others were simply copied from the phone book to give me possible places to try.

RATING	RESTAURANT	ADDRESS	PRICES	COMMENTS
ALBUQUERQUE
	A & B Rest	6004 Edith NE
	Abeyta & Bernell’s	2805 San Mateo NE
	Acapulco Tacos	5101 Southern SE
	Amador Mex Food	4703 Central NW
	Amigo’s Cafe	1736 Central SW
	Anita’s	3314 Isleta SW
	Anita’s	2105 Mountain NW
	Anita’s	3206 San Mateo NE	Mod	Good food-not too fancy or exp
	Antonito’s	5024 4th NW
	Aunt Billie’s	9119 Central NE
	Baca’s	3311 Central NE	Mod
	Backstreet Gourmet Shop	213 3rd SW
	Baja Tacos	3527 Gibson SE
	Bird of Paradise	5211 Gibson SE
	Bob’s Fish & Chips	700 Central SE
	Burrito Bar-B-Que	515 Wyoming NE
	Camino Alegre	906 Park Ave SW
	Camino Real	416 Yale SE
	Carlos Taquitos	1634 Isleta SW
	Casa Grande	2525 Central NW	Mod	Excellent enchiladas
	Cocina de Carlos	4901 Lomas NE	Mod
	Comedor de Julia	2905 4th NW
	Del Valle	1502 Wyoming NE
	De Pinos	1435 San Mateo SE
	Diner Cafe	4519 4th NW
	El Amigo	208 Central SW
	El Burrito	602 Broadway SE
	El Camino	6800 4th NW
	Eloy’s	1826 Eubank NE
	Eloy’s	3617 Wyoming NE	Mod
	El Parador de Maria	400 San Felipe NW
	El Patio	142 Harvard SE
	El Patron	2266 Wyoming NE
	El Pinto	10500 4th NW	Exp
	El Prado	First Plaza NW Galleria
	El Ranchito	602 Central SW	Mod
	El Restaurante del Valle	1411 Isleta SW
	El Sinaloa	800 Iron SE
	El Sombrero	801 Juan Tabo NE
	Enchilada Queen	5409 4th NW
	Franco’s	1510 Girard NE
	Garcia’s Kitchen	1113 4th NW
	Garcia’s Kitchen	125 2nd NW
	Green Burrito	804 Broadway NE
	Green Burrito	1508 4th SW
	Indian Pueblo Cultural Ctr.	2401 12th NW
	Julio’s	1408 Eubank NE
	La Esquina	60 First Plaza Galleria
	La Estrellita	11417 Menaul NE
	La Fontana	1103 Mountian NW
	La Hacienda	Old Town Plaza
	La Margarita	4100 San Mateo NE
	La Mesa	7509 Copper NE
	La Mexicana	6300 San Mateo NE
	La Mexicana Tortilla Co	306 Coal SW
	La Nana’s	6417 Menaul NE
	La Nana’s	4801 Central NE
	La Piñata	6820 Menaul NE
	La Placita	Old Town Plaza
	La Quinta	319 5th SW
	La Salita	1217 Eubank NE	Exp
	Las Cazuelas	4520 4th NW
	M & M Cafe	1337 Bridge SW
	Mac’s La Sierra	6217 Central NW
	Maria Teresa	618 Rio Grande NW
	Maria’s Tamale Hut	2900 Morris NE
	Marty’s	108 6th SW
	Mary & Tito’s Cafe	2711 4th NW
	Merlinda’s	1600 Isleta SW
	Mexican Carryout Kitchen	4917 4th NW
	Mexican Main Foods	922 Coal SW
	Mi Casita	8302 Zuni SE
	Miguel’s	Gibson & San Mateo SE
	Monroe’s	1520 Lomas NW	Exp
	Monterey Inn	1000 Juan Tabo NE
	Ortega’s	Old Town Plaza
	Pancho’s	8601 Central NE	Cheap
	Papa Felipe’s	8806 4th NW
	Papa Felipe’s	520 Coronado Center	Exp	Good blue corn ench.
	Phil’s Coffee Shop	80 Winrock Center
	Puente Cafe	2002 Bridge SW
	Pup ‘N Taco	501 Central NE
	Pup ‘N Taco	4400 Central SE
	Pup ‘N Taco	4011 Central NW
	Restaurante de Gomez	8531 Northeastern NE
	Roberto’s	4615 Menaul NE
	Roberto’s	6540 2nd NW
	Rutillo’s	11016 Central SE
	Sadie’s Valley Bowl	6132 4th NW
	Sam’s for Lunch	112 Monroe NE
	Silvano’s	5016 Lomas NE	Mod	Excel. blue corn ench.
	Silvano’s	2509 San Mateo NE
	Southwest Sakari	509 Central NW
	Taco Phil’s	931 Coors SW
	Taco Sal	9621 Menaul NE
	Taco Villa	2608 Central SE
	Taco Village	4201 Central NW
	Tamale Factory	121 Coors SW
	Tia Maria’s	3313 4th NW
	Turquoise Coffee Shop	4301 Central NE
	Western Drive-In	9129 4th SW

BERNALILLO
	El Charro Cafe	121 Calle del Banco

BOSQUE FARMS
	Benny’s	1675 Bosque Farms

CORRALES
	Casa Vieja	Corrales
	El Comedor de Corrales	Corrales
	Territorial House	Corrales

RIO RANCHO
	Mexican Carryout Kitchen	Rio Rancho

SANDIA PARK
	Pete’s	Sandia Park

AREA WIDE
	Taco Bell	5 Locations

The four-star rating system was as follows:

	Very Good.
	Good.
	Fair.
	Poor.

Additional Comments

The four-star rating system was based on my experiences throughout New Mexico, particularly in Santa Fe and Española. Baca’s and Casa Grande were the two notable restaurants in Albuquerque which I thought could be classified as among the best in the state.

I had expected Albuquerque to be the New Mexican food mecca in the state, and I was surprised by the number of three and two star restaurants I found. I was not really surprised, though, that several of them were in Old Town or the other tourist areas.

In looking at the big picture, I would make the following observations from this list:

At the time, Albuquerque had one of the highest number of Mexican restaurants per capita in the United States.
The restaurants were located throughout the city, and were quite prominent in the areas which I knew to have a large Anglo population.
Almost all of these restaurants were what we now call “New Mexican” cuisine (not south of the border Mexican style food as is more the case today).
Many of my expectations for New Mexican cuisine today are based on my early experiences in Albuquerque and other areas of the state. Thus if enchiladas are rolled instead of flat, the chile does not have a really good kick, or sopapillas are served only for dessert (and not with the meal) this is just not real New Mexican food to me (although it might still be good). Also, they really should use blue corn tortillas (although in 1981 only about 50% of the restaurants did this).

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El Paso Mexican Restaurants 1980

Oklahoma City Mexican Restaurants 1983

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Gallery

Albuquerque Mexican Restaurants 1981