But like it or not, I had to go. The work we had going on was critical to the success of our program. And I had my comms team traveling with me. These are phenomenal people, who, in addition to wowing me all the time with their commitment to the mission and work, are a blast! Oh, and they dig food the same way I do. Score!
The Rio Grande Valley is not rife with fine dining establishments, but there are a couple of things they do and do well – barbeque and tex-mex. We dug into plenty of both in the four days we were there.
Our first afternoon we needed to do a short lunch and get quickly back to work. With some help from some local contacts, we chose Rudy’s. This walk-up BBQ place makes their own turkey, sausage, brisket, you name it, every morning. It may be quick and easy, but there’s no shortage of flavor. Since Rudy’s is actually a small Texas chain, I’ve been to the one in El Paso a couple of times and I know I love their brisket. I prefer to try new things when repeating a restaurant, but I got stuck managing an issue on the phone while waiting in line so when I got up to the window I started to order what I knew. I scarcely got the words, “brisket sandwich” from my mouth, when one of my traveling cohorts in crime nearly squeals, “No, you have to get the turkey – it’s amazing – try it!!” Hanging up the phone, I begged the guy behind the counter for a sample of this “amazing” turkey. Wow! Not disappointed. The best, most tender and moist turkey I’ve ever had with an intense smoky flavor that made it BBQy and not Thanksgivingy.
By the time all of us had ordered, and there were nearly a dozen of us, there were meat sandwiches of every variety being consumed around picnic style tables. The same coworker who had talked me into the turkey had also ordered a house-made jalapeno sausage. Listening to the love affair she was having with it, I had to try it too and stole a bite. Wow, again! For a place that let’s you get in and out with a big group for under $12 per person, this place skimps on nothing. Great first lunch and culinary start to our trip.
Our work, which involved public meetings in the evenings, found us eating dinner on the fly, sucking down whatever takeout was close by and easy. So it wasn’t until lunch on Tuesday that we found our way back to another blog-quality food stop. While we still hadn’t had a chance to chow down on some local tex-mex, our location was prime to try Fat Daddy’s, another homestyle BBQ place.
A shot of the menu. It’s a good thing it’s lamenated, there’s a lot of
BBQ sauce floating around this place.
Let me start by saying that what I ate at this restaurant could not have been undone by my run that morning or the following, but it was worth every bite. Again, we came in with a large group of about 15. We crammed ourselves around two picnic style tables in one corner of the tin-roofed restaurant. The menu is huge. Nearly everything is made with some variety of slow-roasted or BBQed meat, again, all made in-house. On top of the menu, they had daily specials - specials that we couldn’t resist. Several of us ordered the chicken fried chicken. Served with mashed potatoes, a side salad and more homemade chicken gravy than you could ever dream of, it was amazing. This place is also known for their enormous burgers. Since no one could choose just one thing, there was a lot of sharing happening around the table.
Mmm. Chicken fried chicken. Try not to think about just how bad this was for me.
The larger than life burger.
It was truly miraculous that anyone could stand up when we were done, let alone go back to work for the remainder of the afternoon.
We managed to keep ourselves very busy from our enormous lunch well into the evening. We finally finished up with our work at about 830. By this time, even we were starting to get hungry again and since both our major initiatives for the week had gone very well, everyone was in the mood to celebrate. One of the local leadership suggested that we try out Costa Messa, a local tex-mex spot in McAllen. So it was agreed.
We descended on this place with a group of 20 at nearly 9PM on a Tuesday. Many small town restaurants would not have been able to accommodate such a group. But through their flexibility, my muddled Spanish (it’s not uncommon to find restaurants in South Texas where few if any staff speak English) and the saving-grace fluent Spanish of another coworker, we got our group set up to enjoy a late dinner.
After the lunch we’d had, a couple of coworkers and I decided that our best bet was to choose two small items and split them between the three of us. It’s a good thing we did, too. We placed our orders expecting to enjoy tacos de cazuela (tacos filled with meat that has been braised in the Spanish version of a dutch oven) and enchiladas de pollo (chicken enchiladas). We did enjoy both dishes tremendously. In fact, the tacos de cazeula were the best, most authentic tacos I’ve had in the U.S. However, as a group of 20, we didn’t count on people ordering appetizers to share with the whole table. But you cannot say no when queso, melted with jalapenos and chorizo, materializes in front of you. Nor is no an option for table-side prepared gaucamole de molcajete. I’m sorry there are no pictures of this delicious fare, I was too tired and preoccupied to remember my camera. But needless to say, we’ll be going back here the next time we’re in the Rio Grande Valley.
It was a productive and delicious trip filled with good food and good company. In the end, I couldn't even remember my usual list of gripes about traveling to South Texas. Thanks, Rio Grande Valley, I'll be back!
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