The "Mexican" Restaurant

Post by Ben today.

I love Mexican Food. The taco cart on the corner of 800 South and State in Salt Lake is a wonderful place. Lorena's was the first place that I went to after getting back from my mission and I go whenever I can. Due to the heavy involvement of cheese in most Mexican places, and given Robin's current issues with dairy proteins, Mexican Food has been less of staple in my restaurant diet.  Now I know that authentic Mexican is not necessarily what one gets in most of the restaurants, but I love a lot of the home made Mexican that many of my neighbors have shared. The tamales, tostadas, and even the soups with the odd meats floating in them have a certain "Sabor a la Mexicana"

Since I have been living in Berleur (mid June), I have driven past a restaurant called "Fiesta." The sign outside says "Mexican Restaurant and BBQ." Robin and I decided to try it out Friday night on our date night. I was craving good Mexican food.

When we went in, I noticed a distinct lack of any of the typical scents that I would associate with good Mexican. There was not the tang of salsa, the bite of acidic tomatoes, or the odor of pungent spices that might suggest anything resembling heat. There was no smell of the corn tortillas, either from a package or on a griddle. I was suspicious. The manager explained (In English) that this was an all inclusive buffet with a hot and cold buffet and a BBQ at the table. I thought this odd for Mexican, but being hungry and adventurous, we paid the entrance and he showed us to our seats. He did highlight that all of the Sangria and wines were included. Oh, Joy.

The food encountered at these buffets had absolutely nothing in common with anything that I would associate with the words "Mexican Food." We could get some chopped meat and vegetables fried for us on a large griddle with some seasonings that consisted mostly of salt. The result was vaguely similar to what you might put in a fajita, but there were no tortillas at all. You could put corn in this mixture if you wished. I guess that was kind of Mexican.

There were really cool gas grills in the middle of each table where you could make shish kabobs of meat, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and pineapple. The pasta salad at the cold buffet was pretty good, as were the cold meat balls. Those were about the spiciest things in the restaurant. The lasagna and spaghetti with meat sauce smelled pretty good, but I didn't try any.

The mariachi music playing over the sound system and the bright yellow shirts on the servers seemed a little out of place considering what we were eating.This truly was a "Mexican" restaurant. Robin says that it resembles a Mongolian grill combined with a do-it-yourself Brazilian steakhouse. I described it as almost what a Belgian restaurant might be if one were opened in Mexico City, except the food would be spicier.