Was it joy? Could it be delight?
As my stomach growled with pleasure, I lost myself in a daydream. I was standing in the middle of THE mecca of Mexican food, surrounded by restaurant after restaurant that provided what I so dearly longed for. Cheese enchiladas covered in red sauce, garlic-laced rice, and salty refried beans flowed freely as if the supply would never run out. There was something good about Texas! I had found it! Surely being closer in proximity to Mexico would bring about endless delicious and exciting culinary adventures to fill our time and stomachs!
The days began to pass and the selection of "Mexican" restaurants in our little town of Denton began to dwindle. We tried so many different places but the food was tainted! What was this food that the locals bragged about? What was this hideous imitation of the food in my daydream?
Tex-Mex.
A joke- a mere caricature of the real thing. This was not going to work.
But then, just when all hope was about to be lost, a mirage came into focus on the horizon. A play on the eyes, a beacon of hope in my darkest hour.
Joe T. Garcia's MEXICAN Restaurant. My daydream perfectly executed in real-life.
Oh, the sign may be rusty, but the food is pure bliss. People wait for hours in lines around the block for their chance to partake, possibly because "Joe T's," as it is so lovingly nicknamed, is the only place in northwest Texas to get GOOD MEXICAN food. (Texans, don't even try to tell me that you know of this little "off-the-beaten-path-hole-in-the-wall-amazing" place in such-and-such town. My faith in you has simply run out.)
Yes, my friends, it is worth the 45 minute drive to Fort Worth and the fight through the traffic in the historic stockyards. It is even worth getting trampled by a longhorn in the daily cattle run. (Really, there is a twice-daily cattle run through the streets of Fort Worth. Only in Texas...)
There are only two items on the menu: the enchilada dinner and fajitas. But those two items are so delectible that they keep patrons coming back for more.
My entree of choice, the enchilada dinner, consists of the following: chips and salsa, two appetizer nachos, (each the size of a plate...) two beef tacos, guacomole, rice, beans, freshly-made corn tortillas, and two cheese enchiladas. And yes, folks, I am proud to say that once I ate the whole thing by myself. (It was long ago, at the depths of my mexican food deprivation. And I have vowed never to do that to myself again. But that is another story for another day.)
Friends, if you find yourselves in the DFW Metroplex area any time in the near future, heed this advice: don't believe the signs that you see that say "Authentic Mexican Food" at places like "Bob's Big Country Tex-Mex." They are LIARS. All of them. Big LIARS. Just brave the heat and stand in line as long as it takes at Joe T. Garcia's. Trust me, it will be worth the wait.
