Cinco de Mayo at Mattito's. photography by Jerry McClure

It’s that time of year again. Time to load up your amigos and head to the local Mexican watering holes for mariachi music, discount drinks, and too much tequila. Check out our list of 10 best bets for getting in the spirit of the annual fiesta.

CHUY’S
11 am to 11 pm
Drink This: All day happy hour with $3.95 house margaritas, $7.25 house Texas martinis, and $2.75 domestics along with Corona specials and onsite alcohol promotions
Festivities: Tune in to the sounds of a mariachi band at 7 pm.

HACIENDA ON HENDERSON
11 am to 11 pm
Drink This: $5 margaritas
Festivities: It’s a whole block party full of live music, mariachis, and DJs. If you get bored, head to the dunk tank, onsite photo booth, or giant Jenga. Bring a receipt and prove you caught a cab there, and the $5 cover is waived.

URBAN TACO
11 am to close
Drink This: Five different drinks for $5 (Limonda Corrupta, Bloody Maria, Sangria, Tequila Slammer, and Gran Centenario Azul Silver Tequila shots), $3 Dos XX
Festivities: Live music, mariachi band, and $2 chicken and steak tacos

Cinco de Mayo at Primo's (photography by Jerry McClure)

BLUE GOOSE
10 am to 10 pm
Drink This: Bring a sombrero to participate in drink specials: $2 Dos XX, $4 house margaritas, $3 Bloody Mary bar, and $5 El Jimador top shelf margaritas.
Festivities: The best sombrero wins a trip to Cancun for two and children’s area for hat decorating and face painting.

MATTITO’S
2 pm
Drink This: Free tequila tastings and all-day drink specials.
Festivities: This party is one of the most beloved Cinco celebrations in town. Find live music, DJs, mechanical bull rides, games with prizes, Tex-Mex noshes, and, of course, the Bob Armstrong Queso Eating Contest at 8:15 pm.

MARGARITA RANCH
11 am
Drink This: $5 fruit-flavored tequilas and Margarita al Dia
Festivities: Grab a discount on favorite plates like $5 tamale and nachos combos, $7 fajita skewers

IRON CACTUS
2 pm to close
Drink This: $3.50 Dos XX, Tecate, and Tecate Light
Festivities: Live music until 10 pm

Cinco de Mayo at Mattito's (photography by Jerry McClure)

PRIMO’S
11 am to close
Drink This: $5 margaritas and beer
Festivities: A tent will house live music all day, a mariachi band, and Corona promotions

MONICA’S ACA Y ALLA
11 am to midnight
Drink This: The usual suspects. Although there are no particular drink specials, Monica’s makes the list because it is always a fun spot to shoot tequila and let loose.
Festivities: Live music during the evening includes the weekly salsa, Latin jazz, and blues lineup.

WILD SALSA
11 am to midnight
Drink This: Happy hour specials all day, $4 El Jimador margaritas, $4 Brugal mojitos, $10 buckets of Coronitas, $4 Herradura tequila shots, $10 bottomless mojitos (bottomless mojitos until 3 pm)
Festivities: Live music.

Nachos Conocidos. (Photography by Kevin Marple)

Veteran Tex-Mex restaurateur Mico Rodriguez is back doing what he does best: turning out high-quality food and providing stellar service. The co-founder of Mi Cocina, Taco Diner, and The Mercury bottomed out in 2008 when he lost control of his company, M Crowd. He is no longer involved in the popular Tex-Mex chain, but he is happy to start over slowly. “I started out with 12 tables and hit it big,” Rodriguez says. “I’m in here waiting tables and watching everything going on.” If Rodriguez keeps doing what he has been doing at Mr. Mesero over the last five months, he will have another shot at stardom.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW AND THE BIT ABOUT THE QUESO!

Executive Chef Cris "No H" Vasquez holds a Champion Dog. D.J. Pridemore eats the whole thing. (Photography by Micah Nunley)

I’ve already outlined how the Rangers will win the World Series. I’m now prepared to tell you how to plan your caloric intake when you attend a game. The Yu-Darvish moment of late yesterday took place as the Rangers food service management team—Shawn Mattox, Casey Rapp, Philip Wheatley, execuchef Cris Vazquez—revealed their heavy hitter: The Champion Dog ($26.00 with fries). It’s a 2-foot-long-all-beef hot dog topped with shredded cheese, sauteed onions, and chili. The Champion Dog, also sold as the Boomstick (Hi! Nellie!) in the general concessions area, is meant to satisfy four people. However, I watched an eating competition where D.J. Pridemore, a producer for 105.3-FM The Fan, ate a whole one all by himself. He smoked his opponent, the DMN’s Brandon Formby, who never saw the bun (made by Empire Baking Company) coming. Mr. Formby learned that baseball food, like baseball, is a now game of inches.

So Ranger food fans, here’s is news: Vandergriff Plaza (behind centerfield) has been renovated into a food court with FOUR new restaurants, Ryan’s Express 34, Smokehouse 557, Taqueria, and American Dog. They surround the bronze statute of Nolan Ryan. They’ve also added two smoking hot lounges, the Captain Morgan Club and the Batter’s Eye Club). The Kid’s Zone has been moved indoors (thank you) to the south end of the first floor. And the press box will feature sushi for the Japanese media.

Jump for Food Facts and Fun Pictures For Rangers Fans.

Four new restaurants surround the bronze statue of Nolan Ryan. (Photography by Micah Nunley)

The view from the Batter's Eye Club. (Photography by Micah Nunley)

*The one-pound hot dog is so big it actually has two names. Inside the Captain Morgan Club, it’s the Champion Dog. At concession stands outside Sections 16 and 42, it’s the Boomstick (a nod to outfielder Nelson Cruz).

*The Batter’s Eye Club (pictured above) is where I will be seated when, after winning the World Series in GAME FOUR, I watch the players hoist manager Ron Washington over their heads and pass him around the infield like a rag doll. The enclosed 150-seat (air-conditioned!) party suite sits in dead center field. The previously unused space will generate bazillions of dollars: tickets start at $75 a game but the 6,250-square foot room with theater seats, full-service bar, buffet line, and restrooms will be utilized mainly for groups and rentals. Individual seating will be on a game-by-game basis. The view is spectacular.

The Captain Morgan Club. (Photography by Micah Nunley)

*Captain Morgan Club (pictured above). This will be the place to hang when the Rangers are coasting through a game with an 11-run lead. You can’t see the grass from inside unless you watch it on one of the zillions of TVs scattered around the 9,000-square foot two-story bar/restaurant. As the name implies, there will be rum (home rum? sorry) and whiskey, and any other spirits carried by the Diageo brand. The wine list carries BV Coastal, Louis M. Martini, and Beringer, but I also spied a bottle of Barefoot, a bad hangover waiting to happen. The Captain Morgan Club will serve burgers, salads, sandwiches, barbecue, and the, soon-to-be-world-famous, Champion Dog. It will be open to the public before, during, and after games which will make it easy for you to celebrate a victory post-game Courvoisier VS. If you have the bucks, you can also rent the whole space.

*The Budweiser Bowtie at Vandergriff Plaza is the new name for the old area behind center field where you will find four new outdoor restaurants. The American Dog will feature four types of gourmet hot dogs, sausages, and hot dog sliders. The Smokehouse 557, equipped with a “specially built smoker,” will serve huge beef ribs, chopped beef sandwiches, turkey legs (ugh), and corn on the cob. You can find street tacos at Taqueria where they are also making their own flour tortillas. Chef  Vasquez says he doesn’t use any fat. “Only baking powder, flour, and water,” he said. He handed me a real hot one and I found it rather chewy. Perhaps the texture works for holding food long enough to get back to your seat without leakage, but, like I said, it was a little too elastic for my taste buds. The fillings were nice: plenty of fresh grilled, meats, onions, and peppers. Ryan’s Express 34 is all about Nolan Ryan’s beef. Here you will find four big and strong gourmet burgers such as the Tex-Mex burger where two patties are stuffed with cheese, griddled, topped with jalapenos, onions and pico de gallo, and served on fluffy pieces of Texas Toast.

Available at the Captain Morgan Club: Tuscan pasta, chicken Caesar salad. (Photography by Micah Nunley)

Clockwise from top left: Street tacos and home-made flour tortillas at Taqueria. Jalapeno burger at Ryan's Express 34. Tex-Mex burger on Texas Toast. (Photography by Micah Nunley)

*What about the new Japanese fans and media you ask? I’m glad you asked because I did. Ranger PR czar, Executive Vice President of Communications John Blake, expects 20 members of the Japanese media to travel with the team all season. He also predicts close to 60 will crowd into the press box when Yu Darvish pitches. “I have plenty of specials planned for the press box,” said Chef Vasquez. “We will have a sushi station in the Diamond Club, bento boxes with edamame, a whole California roll, and a seaweed salad at the Grab and Go stand.” He also says he’s experimenting with a hot dog and soba noodles. As the season progresses he will roll out new items geared to Japanese fans and media.

*There you have it. The Rangers have invested over $11.5 million to make you happy and fat. Thanks to the installation of new video boards and a high-tech in-park audio system last year, we should have nothing to bitch about. Unless Yu Darvish chokes.

Turkey leg, corn on the cob, beef ribs, and chopped beef sandwich from Smokehouse 557. (Photography by Micah Nunley)

]]> http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2012/04/03/the-texas-rangers-will-win-the-world-series-and-the-james-beard-award-for-best-new-restaurants/feed/ 5 http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2012/02/20/jack-perkins-ocataco-is-finally-open/ http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2012/02/20/jack-perkins-ocataco-is-finally-open/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:00:32 +0000 Carol Shih http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/?p=36422

Brisket taco with cheese, pico, salsa, cilantro, sour cream

The Palindrome (pronounced oh-ka-taco) by Maple and Motor’s Jack Perkins officially opened last Thursday for lunch. Even though the menu is short, it’s good for people like me who can’t really decide what to order. Three meat options – tender brisket, pulled pork, and chicken – are plenty enough, thank you. And, of course, I’ll take mine with a side order of chips and salsa.

Jump for more ocaTacocaTacocaTaco.

Store front

My lunch buddy and I were rather pleased with the array of toppings we could add to our tacos. Everything we could ever want and ever need (pico, guac, cheese, sour cream, cilantro, pickled jalapenos, onions) was just a fingerpoint away. Both of us ordered two tacos because we didn’t want the three-taco combo ($7.75, comes with a 32 oz. drink) and opted to pay $2.35 per taco instead.

One black cherry Dublin soda (32 oz.) and four greasy tacos later, we sat contentedly eating our chips and salsa ($1 extra, booyah). Chunks of onion floated in our peppery, warm salsa, which was the real winner of the entire meal. The creamy chipotle sauce came in a close second.

If you’re not exactly sure how to find ocaTaco, let me direct you to taco heaven. If you’re going north on Harry Hines, turn right on North Exchange Park St. at the Chase building before you hit Mockingbird. There’s a visitor parking lot to your left and ocaTaco’s inside a food court behind a door labeled “6333.” It’s not too hard to locate once you get there. Once you see a bunch of firefighters, policemen, Chase people, and Southwestern workers piled into one place, you know you’ve made it to Jack’s kitchen.

Current taco hours: Mon – Fri, 10:30 AM – 2 PM. Hours will expand as time goes on.

Galvan’s partner in Lunada is Gerald Walker (former president of the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association), Arnold Nitishin (partner and principal in CT Restaurant Management Services Group), and Galvan’s son, Vance, who has managed several full service restaurants. They plan to open “in December.”

UPPITY DATE: Note from Galvan: “ The last two years I have spent concentrating on the passing of HB 240 which involves legislation on the maintenance and installation of Septic Tanks.  I lost my only Granddaughter Alisandra who had just recently turned three to drowning in one. The Bill was signed by The Governor on 06-17-2011 and became effective 9-1-11. That day was bittersweet.”

I am hosting an engagement party for a friend, and we need full-service Tex-Mex catering for 90-100 people. I have estimates from some of the larger restaurants (El Fenix, Uncle Julio’s, Mariano’s), but I would like to find another option that would be more flexible, perhaps family-owned and not a chain. I have tried Manny’s, but their catering person is a disaster – it took me 6 phone calls to get her on the phone and within two minutes she put me on hold and never returned. So far in my experience, it seems like the bigger restaurants are more efficient at this sort of business, but if any SideDish readers have had a great catering experience with a smaller Mexican restaurant, I would love some more options.

Speak now. (I used Herrera’s once for a Christmas party.)

New Herrera's on Maple. (photo by Kevin Marple)

In 1971, I spent most of my Sunday mornings in a line around the original Herrera’s on Maple Avenue. My friends and I would sit under a dripping window AC unit for hours, waiting for our turn at one of the nine tables inside the tiny, lard-based Tex-Mex restaurant. Once seated, you popped open the six-pack of Coors you brought with you and watched founder Amelia Herrera hand-pat flour tortillas by the front door. The food was such a religious experience for me that, 17 years later, I got married at Herrera’s, which by then had moved into a bigger building across the street and expanded into more locations all over Dallas. Recently, they moved into a newer building down Maple.

Jump for more.

Guests are greeted by a collage of young Jorge (left); La Otra Rita jalapeno cocktail provides a kick (right) (photos by Kelsy McCraw)

Jorge’s Tex Mex Café opened its One Arts Plaza doors in 2008 to give Dallas a Western take on some traditional tastes. But, this modern, upscale restaurant highlighted by energetic greens, lively lilacs, and warm browns got a humble start as a family side-job in Midland.

No one in the family remembers exactly where family patriarchs Manuel and Feliz Veloz moved to Midland from, only that it was a small farm town outside of Monterrey. The matriarch and patriarch of what would become the Jorge’s brand started with a small burrito stand between the barrio and country club. Years after their small shop proved successful, their son Jorge Veloz Sr., then 19 years old, followed in their footsteps to continue offering his ancestors’ recipes to west Texas. He opened the first Jorge’s in 1981, and since, his family has spread the brand all over Texas. Cousin Jesse Lopez owns and operates a second location in Midland, son Jorge Jr. runs Jorge’s Tacos Garcia out of Amarillo, daughters Diana and Sylvia branched a Tacos Garcia down in Austin, and stepdaughter Michelle Mireles helped dad open the newest location in Dallas.

All locations serve up a western-style Tex Mex that flavors its recipes with salsas and peppers rather than cumin. And the menus, like the members of the Jorge clan, are all very different.

jump for Kelsy’s tasty picks…

Jorge's popular queso and salsas. (photos by Kelsy McCraw)

Best Bets:

Jorge’s Famous Salsa and Queso. The only recipes that remain consistent across all of the diverse Jorge’s restaurants are those for their salsa and queso. The salsa is a smooth blend of uncooked ingredients including tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos, and garlic. The queso ingredients remain a family secret, but have deservingly earned the title “famous.” Both are made fresh daily, and the restaurant keeps a short shelf life on any leftovers.

La Otra Rita. Bar master Ignacio whips up a modern take on the classic margarita, boasting jalapenos as the star ingredient. Passion fruit balances the spice in a serrano reduction, with golden tequila adding the third punch of flavor. If you’re in the mood for some heat, mix in the jalapeno garnish. At only 150 calories, you can’t afford not to try this daredevil drink.

Chicken lechuga wrap. (photos by Kelsy McCraw)

Lechuga Wraps. Michelle wanted to create a Tex Mex take on P.F. Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and what serves is a light, Mexican dish with full Mexican flavor. The dish comes with a mix of avocado chunks, corn, beans, poblano peppers, cilantro, queso fresco, and either chicken or beef, all doused with the house spicy tomatillo salsa. The iceberg lettuce wrap lets each distinct flavor come through and adds a crisp crunch to the medley of textures.

This week I headed to Oak Cliff to find one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants. I can’t even remember its name but I knew where to go. I’ve been living out of Dallas for a while but that didn’t soften the blow when I looked up to find my beloved dive is now another location of Ojedas. We decided to turn around and hit El Ranchito, the lively Tex-Mex with a touch of Monterrey restaurant run by owners Oscar and Laura Sanchez who also operate two locations of Calle Doce.

Jump for cheap lunch.

Enchiladas rice and beans at El Ranchito in Oak Cliff.

We opened the door and were welcomed by the smell of warm tortillas, freshly hand-made in the tortilla station. It wasn’t but a minute after we were seated that our waiter brought us fresh tortilla chips and individual bowls of salsa (I love when restaurants do that!). Painted clay vases lined the shelves behind multi-colored paper lanterns hung from the exposed wood-beam ceiling, and the décor truly showcased Texan and Mexican flare with bright painted chairs on the floor and Mavs jerseys framed on the walls (Dal-Mex, maybe?).

After grazing on chips and salsa (heavy on the cilantro, a huge plus in my book), our food came out piping hot. Sometimes it’s a great thing when food doesn’t photograph well, and in this case, the fact that neither of these dishes look appetizing on camera is a great thing. My friend ordered the cheese enchilada special ($5.99) based on her theory that the best way to judge a place is to see how they handle the basics. Her platter was a hot mess, in the best sense of the phrase. The picture looks revolting, but every bite was delicious. It came with two cheese enchiladas in homemade corn tortillas, smothered with a chili-gravy sauce with cheese and accompanied by buttery-smooth refried beans and Spanish rice.

Chicken mole enchilada with soft cheese tacco and rice at El Ranchito in Oak Cliff.

I ordered the #4 Tex-Mex lunch special ($7.50) that came with a soft cheese taco in a homemade corn tortilla drenched in a cheese sauce, a chicken mole enchilada, and a side of Spanish rice. While the cheese taco was authentic “old-school” Tex-Mex, the enchilada was covered with a thick black sauce with a subtle perfect blend of sweet, savory, and spicy flavors which enhanced loads of seasoned, shredded chicken inside the fresh corn tortilla. Definitely recommend this to your friends on your next lunch out to this place.

Overall: This place is popular, festive, and satisfying. I could see this being on a regular rotation for lunch groups; and judging by the tables full of Dallas County Police “people,” it’s already a regular stop for most people craving authentic Tex-Mex. Not only do they have a ton of lunch specials for way less than eight bucks, but most of their regular menu items fall below the mark as well, from tortas and hamburguesas Mexicanas to Mexican salad and chalupas.

610 West Jefferson Ave., Dallas, 75208

Well Dishers? Where should I go next for my $8 lunch?

Could this be the food of the gods?

For my 12th stop on the list of Things Every Dallasite Must Do, I went to Mattito’s for some of their Bob Armstrong dip. Armed with insider knowledge, I planned to impress the waiter with my Dallas savvy when ordering the off-menu dip.

As soon as we were seated, our waiter offered to get us drinks and asked if we would like to order some Bob Armstrong dip. My bubble was burst.  I convinced myself that merely saying, “yes please,” instead of asking what it was still gave me an aura of being in the know, but it was far less satisfying.

All of my disappointment melted away when he came back with a bowl of queso, guacamole, ground beef taco meat, and a dollop of sour cream, ready to be thoroughly mixed with the accompanying spoon. Though probably not the most original mixture of ingredients, it is delightful, and much better than just plain queso. I had to remind myself to eat it with tortilla chips instead of digging in with a spoon.

I’m not sure how Teresa Pullen managed to eat 2 pounds and 14 ounces of the mixture in last year’s Bob-eating contest on Cinco de Mayo. Today’s happens at 5 p.m. After sharing a bowl — along with more than a few baskets of tortilla chips and one of Mattito’s unsettlingly bright blue Rumbaritas — I could not bring myself to order an entrée.

I did, however, finish by ordering a plate of two sopapillas dusted in cinnamon sugar with a dish of honey to dip them in. Sounds like a balanced meal to me.

Lisa Collins is a D Magazine intern.

photography by Matthew Shelley

Yep, it’s that time of year again: time to celebrate the Mexican army’s glorious victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862.

Now, how about a margarita? Here are your best bets for making the day a grand fiesta.

Brackets
Booze: $2 Dos XX, Coronas, margaritas, tequila shots
Food: $2 street tacos, Mexican pizzas, and nachos
Tunes: Live DJ music
When: 7 pm to 2 am

El Ranchito
Booze: $5 El Jimado tequila shots, $3.50 regular margaritas, $4.50 large margaritas, $2 drafts, $2.50 domestic bottles, $3.50 imports
Food: $5 choriqueso, cheese enchilada dinner, or half orders of nachos
Tunes: Mariachi music starts at 7:30 pm
Extras: all day happy hour
When: 11 am to 10 pm

La Calle Doce
Booze: $3 margaritas and draft beers, $5 El Jimador tequila shots
Food: $5 food specials like shrimp cocktail, cheese enchilada platters, and half orders of nachos
When: 11 am to 10 pm

Urban Taco
Booze: $5 house margaritas, Sangria, Bloody Maria, Limonada Corrupta, Tequila Slammer, and Silver Azul Blanco tequila shots and half-priced drafts
Extras: all day happy hour
When: 10 am to 11 pm

Mattito’s
Tunes: Salsa and Mariachi band
Extras: The famous Bob Armstrong queso-eating contest
When: 5 pm

photography by Jerry McClure

Rock ’n’ Taco
Booze: $4 well margaritas from 2 pm to 6 pm, $5 house tequila, and $7 top shelf margaritas
Tunes: DJ Joe Vega
When: 11 am to 2 am

Blue Goose
Booze: $2 Tecate and Dos XX all day and $4 house margaritas from 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm
When: 11 am to 11 pm

Richard Avila’s Mextopia
Booze: $5 Tequila Sunrise and $3 tequila shots and frozen margaritas
Food: $2 tacos and $2 tamales
Tunes: Live music from 7 pm to 10 pm
When: 11 am to 11 pm

Café San Miguel
Booze: $5 margaritas
Tunes: Mariachi band from 7 pm to 9 pm
When: 11 am to 2:30 pm and 4 pm to 10 pm

Chuy’s
Booze: $3.75 sangrias and $3 Coronas
Food: Free nacho cart during happy hour
Extras: Happy hour from 4 pm to 7 pm includes $3.75 margaritas and $7.25 Texas martinis
When: 11 am to 10 pm

Iron Cactus
Booze: $3 Dos XX and $5 Patron margaritas
Food: Half-priced appetizers from 4 pm to 7 pm
Tunes: Mariachi band at 5 pm and live music at 6 pm
When: 11 am to 10 pm

Lochranna’s Irish Pub & Eatery
Booze: $2 margaritas
When: all day

The Loft Bar at NYLO
Booze:$5 frozen margaritas, $9 popcorn candy martini, and $3 theater candy and popcorn
Food: $10 Mexican flatbread, chicken flautas, and beef fajitas, $8 beef tacos, and $5 cinnamon sopapilla
Extras: Featuring “Desperado” movie at 8:15 pm
When: 4:30 pm to midnight

The Quarter Bar
Booze:$3 Dos XX, Pacifico, Corona, Corona Light, and frozen margaritas
Food: Free Mexican-themed buffet at 4 pm
When: all day

Lisa raises her glass.

I’m not sure if living in Texas for more than 10 years makes me qualified enough to be considered a Texan, but I do know I have acquired quite a few Texan traits over the years, especially having to do with my palate. I now understand what queso means, stomach jalapenos, crave tacos, and every now and then I need a good margarita. Typically I satisfy my Tex-Mex and tequila cravings by making the rounds between Mi Cocina, Mattito’s, Javier’s, and Taco Diner.

When reading that every Dallasite must drink a frozen margarita from Mariano’s Hacienda, I knew I was up for the job. It would be my 11th stop towards completing the Things Every Dallasite Must Do.  I headed to Skillman Avenue, not knowing if I should expect a small family-run operation or a busy restaurant. What I found was surprisingly large and festive, though quite empty.

The friendly host told us we could sit wherever we liked, so we chose a table out in the warm air on the patio. Although the patio sticks out into a parking lot, the burning chimanea and salsa music made me feel like I was on a Mexican vacation. We had the patio to ourselves, with the exception of two women who seemed to be having some sort of altercation with the waiter about whether they had already paid. I would imagine this sort of people-watching entertainment occurs quite frequently after a few of Mariano’s 100 percent blue agave margaritas.

I ordered a plate of chicken nachos along with the classic Top Shelf Frozen Margarita. I had half expected a grand display, perhaps complete with a neon plastic souvenir cup. However, the drink arrived in a simple glass tumbler with a lightly salted rim and a straw. It tasted just like a frozen margarita should — not too sweet or syrupy, with the perfect blend of citrusy saltiness and tequila kick. After finishing it, I wanted another one, as is the curse of the margarita. However, I was dissuaded.

Throughout the evening, I experienced the feelings of pride and awe one has when they know they are in the presence of historical greatness. According to the menu, owner Mariano Martinez invented the frozen margarita machine on May 11, 1971. The original machine was inducted into the Smithsonian Museum in 2005, where it is on display along with the rest of the world’s finest inventions.

In 2010, Smithsonian Magazine published a list of the “Top Ten Inventions from the National Museum of American History’s Collection.” Mariano’s frozen margarita machine made the list only at No. 10, but, hey, No. 1 was the light bulb.

To celebrate the upcoming 40th birthday of the machine, Mariano’s is hosting “Margaritafest” from May 5 to 11. Stop by then for half off of various margaritas throughout the week and revel in the realization of the American Dream.

Taco Cabana's Shrimp Tampico Quesadilla

Taco Cabana just reintroduced a seasonal favorite, Shrimp Tampico. The recipe involves marinating shrimp with chipotle and ancho spices and then grilling it with garlic lime and cilantro. They serve it three ways: as the filling of a quesadilla, as one of the ingredients in their cabana bowls, and in enchiladas. They plied me with some and this is what I found.

Here is the Shrimp Tampico Quesadilla ($7.29). The Shrimp Tampico is combined with cheese, tomato and TC’s pineapple salsa. Having tried a couple now I can confirm that these are addictive, and an A-category narcotic if you goose the pineapple with extra salsa from the TC salsa bar. This was my favorite dish out of the three. It also travels. They package it in a pizza box, which means you can take it home, even on City of Dallas streets, and it arrives in pretty much the same shape it started. In fact, I am writing to NASA to suggest that the next time they put together one of those lists of things to put in the hold of a space probe, they leave out the Natalie Imbruglia single (you know the one. There is only one) and replace it with one of these. Won’t the Martians be surprised?

Shrimp Tampico in a Cabana Bowl

Next up is the most photogenic preparation. The Shrimp Tampico Cabana Bowl ($5.95). This is TC’s crisp taco bowl filled with somewhat customizable items. I had beans, guacamole, sour cream and cheese (talk about an orgy of Tex-Mex flavors). I’m glad to see you get the taco bowl when you do the cabana bowl as takeout now. When they introduced these last year, you didn’t. The blobs of color in this make me think that Piet Mondrian would have chosen these ingredients if he had eaten a Shrimp Tampico Cabana Bowl.

Finally, Shrimp Tampico Enchiladas is a plate of 2 or 3 ($5.99) is the Shrimp Tampico in an enchilada covered with a sour cream sauce and served with the usual rice and refried beans.

The Shrimp Tampico specials are available at all Taco Cabana stores through mid-April.

UPDATE: Teresa Gubbins @PegNews says she knows what’s going on but she won’t tell until tomorrow. Not Taco Mundo.

UPPITY DATE: She breaks like a little girl.