Excellent seafood fare at Bahia Restaurant & Bar in Todos Santos, Mexico
Tired of the tourist hordes, traffic jams and general clamour of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico? Just head an hour north, on excellent Highway 19, up the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula. Stop first for a long, sandy stroll at Cerritos Beach, where you can watch surfers and families frolic in the waves. Then continue north a little ways to Todos Santos, a true oasis in the otherwise parched landscape.
Good, no-frills fare at Tacos Gardenias in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
The problem with many restaurants in Mexican resorts is they try too hard to tart up basic street food. When all you want is good, simple food, expertly prepared, for a handful of pesos. Welcome to Tacos Gardenias, an unpretentious taqueria a couple of blocks from Cabo San Lucas’s main, Medano Beach.
The salt-stained landscape provides some visual relief on the I-80 west of Salt Lake City
Call me crazy. But when I stare at a road map and see a prominent highway I’ve never driven, I’m almost powerless to resist. Even if said highway is an interstate that ploughs remorselessly through low mountain desert, with pockets of humanity only every few hours to relieve the tedium. Even if I’m almost certain to never venture this way again.
Welcome to the I-80 through northern Nevada, a 520-mile slog bookended by the bright lights of Salt Lake City, on the east, and Reno on the west. Added points for masochism if you attempt this in winter, when transport trucks might well be kicking slush in your face.
The first part of the trip provides some visual interest, as the interstate ventures right past the southern shores of Great Salt Lake. The landscape beyond is stained a surreal white from all that salt. Soon enough, you pass the Bonneville Salt Flats (home to myriad land speed records) and the first sign of civilization—the town of Wendover, straddling the Utah-Nevada border.
Bonus points for anyone who can explain this “sculpture” along the I-80 west of Salt Lake City
The Salt Flat’s Cafe is at the entrance to Salt Flat’s Speedway. So maybe it’s no surprise the Mexican food here comes out lickety split.
A sizeable basket of crispy tortilla chips—with a watery but sneaky hot salsa—arrives by the time my pants hit the counter seat, along with a honking big red plastic cup of ice water. I don’t come equipped with a stopwatch, but I’m sure my chile verde burrito hits the counter, piping hot, in under four minutes. Meanwhile, a steady parade of overloaded plates of enchiladas, tacos and tortas goes streaming past to various, colourful tables, flanked by wall photos of torpedo-shaped vehicles designed to go very fast.
The Salt Flat’s Cafe celebrates all the land-speed racing near Wendover, Utah
It’s by no means haute Mexican cuisine. But out here in the middle of salt-stained nowhere, it’s filling, affordable and, as I said, quick.
Salt Flats Café
1 North Bonneville Speedway, Wendover, Utah
Daily 9 am-9 pm. Cash only
99-C Ice Cream doesn’t look so much sketchy as shut down, even though there’s a flurry of activity at the attached, equally faded auto shop in Wendover. But push through the well-worn aluminum doors, and inside is a mini diner serving Dreyer’s ice cream and tacos at $1.25 a pop.
99C Ice Cream is connected to an old auto repair shop in Wenover, Utah
After a minute or two on the grill, my little tenderloin taco comes cradled in two soft corn tortillas and doused in liquid heat. You can get tacos for the same dirt-cheap price at the much flashier Nugget Casino, up the street and across the Nevada border. But seriously, would it be half as authentic?
But the tacos are sure tasty at $1.50 a pop
99c Ice Cream
601 East Wendover Boulevard, Wendover, Utah
Chef Felix Sanchez mixing Mexican and Asian influences at his El Fat Cat Grill truck in Kennewick, Washington
*El Fat Cat Grill is far from your typical taco truck. Yes, the Kennewick, Washington (Tri-Cities) joint does offer tacos, burritos, tostadas and quesadillas. But co-owner and chef Felix Sanchez has mixed Mexican and Asian influences to come up with a splendid menu all his own.
El Fat Cat Grill is a big step beyond your typical taco truck
Thankfully, the gracious server and friendly fellow customers are most obliging in providing suggestions of what I should order. “I always get the porky adobo”, in a garlic chipotle cream sauce over rice, says one customer. “The burritos, man,” offers a companion.
They look tempting, as does Felix’s take on tortas, the Triple Threat combining pork, ham and bacon. Add some sautéed onions and fixings, and you’ve got a honking big sandwich for $7. The burritos (including one with grilled baby red potatoes) are equally substantial.
I go for the wonderfully named Scary Roy Chilada ($6)—three crispy tortillas smothered in pork, chipotle mole sauce, cotija cheese and jalapeño coleslaw, with some house-made sauce for added heat.
The Scary Roy Chilada is three crispy tortillas smothered in messy goodness
The only problem is these loaded beauties require a handful of napkins, and then some. Think I’ll walk over to the carwash next door.
El Fat Cat Grill
539 North Edison (behind the Edison carwash), Kennewick, Washington
Weekdays 11 am-7 pm. Closed Saturday and Sunday. Cash only
There’s a real general store here in Twin Butte, along with a fine Mexican restaurant
I’m deep in the heart of southern Alberta ranching country, sitting in a character, low-ceiling diner and listening to a country soundtrack. So of course, at Twin Butte Country General Store, l’m dining on… steak? Burgers? Um, actually, Mexican cuisine.
There’s a story here, about how a transplanted southern Californian, Larry Davis, renovated this historic general store, started cooking primarily Mexican food and then turned things over to his daughter, Jeny Akitt, who carries on the tradition, along with hosting good live music from touring musicians. Just trust me, it works.
The lunch/dinner menu includes enchiladas, chimichangas, burritos and tacos. But I’m here at breakfast, deciding on a Mexican scrambler but abandoning my initial choice of a “senorita” size for the more manly full size, with a side of grilled tortillas. This combination of scrambled eggs, melted cheese and chorizo sausage over nice home potatoes arrives in a little, scalding cast-iron skillet, ensuring everything stays hot for the duration of inhaling. Why don’t more breakfast places do this?
A Mexican scrambler served piping hot in a cast-iron frying pan
Twin Butte is along a gorgeous stretch of Highway 6 that winds through lightly treed foothills and front-range mountains south of Pincher Creek. Most folks follow it hell bent for Waterton Lakes National Park. But it’s worth pausing, however briefly, at this little slice of Mexico.
Twin Butte Country General Store
Highway 6, Twin Butte, Alberta
Daily 10 am-10 pm, closed Tuesdays in winter
Lone Star Taqueria has everything Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives loves: it’s funky, affordable and delicious
A sure sign you’re culinary funky is the ubiquitous presence of the bleached-hair god, Guy Fieri, ruler of the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Well, when some 10 Salt Lake City eateries have appeared on the show (plus endless reruns), you know you’ve arrived on the road-trip food map.
An appearance on Triple D can easily double the turnout of diners, leading to long lines, the bane of road trippers. But with a bit of careful planning, I’m mostly able to slide right into three Salt Lake City restaurants that have graced DDD.
Does it count that I ate at *Lone Star Taqueria a good decade ago, before it became discovered by the outside world? Didn’t think so. Back then, it was an insider hotspot, recommended to us by a local backcountry skier we met while making powder turns in the nearby Cottonwood Canyon mountains. It was certainly funky, a brightly painted old drive-in with a decorated junker out front and cold beer served in cowboy-boot shaped glasses. And the fish tacos…. oh, my. There certainly wasn’t anything like that back in Canada.
A pre-noon line is starting to form at Lone Star Taqueria, but I’ve already eaten
So I’m curious to see what it’s like now. I’m delighted to report it’s still dishing out great tacos and monster burritos ($7.69), with only one guy at the counter in front of me at 11 am. It’s still also laid-back quirky: cowboy boots on the fence posts, little metal tables and lots of natural lighting.
My pescada tacos ($3.49 per) are loaded with grilled fish, shredded cabbage and jalapeño mayo, the double corn tortillas needed to keep everything intact. On a side table are four bottles of house-made salsa to add more flavour and heat, if desired. On my way out the door, I pick up a little bag of their addictive, crispy tortilla chips to munch on during the long drive north to Canada.
First-rate fish tacos with jalapeño mayo and crispy, house-made tortilla chips
Lone Star Taqueria
2265 East Fort Union Blvd, Salt Lake City
Monday to Thursday 11 am-9 pm, Friday-Saturday 11 am-10 pm. Closed Sunday
Oh Mai Vietnamese Sandwich Kitchen was recently featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, so cue the lineups. But when I walk in at the strategic opening hour of 10 am, I’m the first customer, and they’re still getting set up for the lunch-hour rush.
I’m the morning’s first customer at Oh Mai Vietnamese Sandwich Kitchen
Having already watched the dish being made on TV, I immediately know what kind of banh mi (Vietnamese sub-style sandwich) I want: garlic butter ribeye steak on a toasted eight-inch baguette. It’s an unusual combination, the tender meat enhanced by the crunch of house-made pickled carrots and a flavourful black pepper onion vinaigrette. I must say it’s one of the best Vietnamese subs I’ve had and a hefty bargain at $5.68.
Delicious, innovative ribeye steak banh mi at Oh Mai. Oh my, indeed
Oh Mai Vietnamese Sancwich Kitchen
3425 South State Street, Salt Lake City
Monday to Saturday 10 am-9 pm. Closed Sunday
After a very short wait on an outside stool at *Red Iguana, I’m beckoned by host Mitch: “Grandfather always said: Time to eat!” But what to eat? I’m here for the signature Mexican moles (all $16), but there’s no fewer than seven styles to choose from. No problem.
My server, Jesus, simply brings me a little plate with samples of all the rich, complex sauces to try. After careful deliberation, I go for the mole negro—featuring chile mulato, negro pasilla, raisins, walnuts, bananas and, of course, Mexican chocolate. During the scant minutes before the main event arrives, I scoop up the sampler vestiges with the complimentary tortilla chips. Who needs salsa?
Can’t decide which mole sauce to order at Red Iguana? No problem. They’ll bring you samplers of each to try. Oh, and they make great dips for the fresh tortilla chips
The mole negro is a heaping plate of brown deliciousness over turkey, packing enough heat to start my lips a tingling and my brow perspiring. I scoop up the remaining sauce with warm corn tortillas, scarcely touching the accompanying rice and beans. Believe me, you won’t go hungry here.
I go for a hearty plate of mole negro over turkey
The consistently fine food is one thing. The atmosphere is another: vibrant walls of orange and green in the rabbit’s warren of rooms, the outgoing, casually efficient staff, the families with wailing infants, just discernible above the happy din of people having a good time.
The excellent food is just half the show at colourful Red Iguana
There’s a reason this place is usually humming. The Cardenas family has been doing it right for three decades, long before there was a Food Network.
Red Iguana
736 West North Temple (two other Salt Lake City locations)
Opens 11 am weekdays, 10 am weekends
Finally, here’s a Salt Lake City place you won’t likely find on TV, or on the Internet for that matter. But local cognoscenti can steer you to this one-of-a-kind Mexican joint.
Tired of the typical taco stand or truck? Just drive on down to Victor’s for something truly unique: a tire shop (“no credit check”) that doubles as a Mexican restaurant.
I can’t say I’ve ever ordered tamales in a room rimmed (another bad pun) with gleaming hubcaps. If you’re waiting for wheel work, you can sit in the small, attached restaurant and enjoy some fine, inexpensive pork skin tacos, Milanesa tortas (a breaded steak sandwich), genuine horchata drinks or green salsa pork tamales, the latter at $1.50 a pop. But seeing as how this business is dedicated to tires, I think I’ll take my meal to go.
Here’s something that’s unique: a tire shop that doubles as a taco joint
Victor’s Tires and Restaurant
1406 South 700 West, Salt Lake City (just off the I-15 near exit 305)
Monday to Saturday 7 am-7:30 pm, Sunday 7 am-3 pm
Marathon Mouth 