Taqueria Garibaldi in San Antonio: Simple Tex-Mex Done Right!

I was on vacation in San Antonio, so I know very little about Taqueria Garibaldi, 5299 Walzem Road.  If you Google the name, there are several establishments with the same name throughout the southwest, but they don't appear connected-- it may be one of those common commercial names for a particular type of business, like La Posada for hotels or China Garden for restaurants. If my ignorance offends you, let me antagonize you some more by asking this question: Why is Mexican food so much better in San Antonio than in Indianapolis? 

I mean, there are Hispanic folks running most of the Mexican places in Indy, and I see Hispanic people eating in them, but why are Indy's joints so freaking cookie-cutter similar, and why don't they make food with the same rich flavor as in SA?  We had Mexican food 4 times the week we were there (because SA has so many other culinary options as well): twice from small taquerias, one finer-dining restaurant, and one large local fast-food chain.  All of them were better than any I've had in Indy, with the exception of maybe El Sol de Tala on Washington Street and in Union Station, both of which (I think) are closed now.  

I wonder if perhaps the places in Indy are more constrained by having to serve healthier food and eschew some of the tastier traditional ingredients, like lard, maybe?  Whatever it is that makes it better in SA, Taqueria Garibaldi has it.  It's a simple little free-standing building on the edge of a row of strip malls, and it has an Old-World kind of appearance with a tree-shaded outdoor dining area for the rare occasions the temperature drops below 90 degrees (this was not one of those days).  It may have even been a former Taco Bell that's been remodeled and had heavy carved Mexican style furniture and décor added.  The Little Woman and I had breakfast there-- I think she had breakfast tacos and I had the Garibaldi Omelet with refried beans on the side.  Both were DEEEEElicious:  the beans, especially, had a rich, smoky flavor that I've never experienced in Indy, where the beans and rice are usually very, very bland and seem to be an afterthought.  The crowning glory for this $$ guy is the prices at Taqueria Garibaldi were in the LOW $ category.  iINCREIBLE!

Whit's Inn Revisited, and Revisited, and Revisited....

I just wanted to update my review of Whit's Inn at 1020  N. US31 in Whiteland, IN from a couple of years ago just in case someone might still read it....  Whit's is not the place it once was: it's much, much better.  Mr. Profanity is gone, and whether he was the owner or just a regular customer, his influence on Whit's constituents has dissipated.  It is now owned by Tim Whitaker (the original owner) and the Clark brothers, sharp guys who have upgraded the décor, including an overhead door that opens out onto a nice new outdoor patio, which works great when the weather is nice and/or they have live music, which is pretty often.  Their pub grub is very good and they regularly have events involving barbecue smokers and other special items. The drink prices are decent and those, too, are subject to frequent specials. Disclaimer: I repeated "revisited" so much in the title above because we are semi-regulars there now.

Whit's is in Johnson County, so smoking is still allowed, although their ventilation seems to keep the clouds away to some degree.  Bars and profanity always seem to go hand-in-hand, but at Whit's it is no longer the spectator sport it once was, and that's a GOOD thing, D*MMIT!

We're BACK, BABY! -- The Bracken Store & Ice House

It was pointed out to me that I haven't posted anything here for quite a while. I've been writing little capsule reviews on Trip Advisor, Facebook, and Google Maps, but those aren't really worth the effort because they fade into history quite quickly, so screw 'em!

Anyway, The Little Woman and I stumbled on The Bracken Store & Ice House (apparently known to locals simply as "The Bracken") just before heading to the airport to leave San Antonio, or we would have visited more than once while we were there, we liked it so much (sorry to take all the suspense out of it for ya,  I'm not on House Hunters, y'know).  Our hosts there had spoken quite highly of the place, but we hadn't been looking for it, just taking a ride to see a little bit of the area before leaving, but then VOILA! there it was, a tumble-down little building that looks like one on the set of every Western movie you've ever seen.  Bracken is a dusty little town on the northeast edge of the San Antonio area that grew up around the railroad, and indeed there was a BNSF locomotive idling across the street.  I half-expected the train crew to be inside the business, but if they were they must have been hiding in the back room because there were just 2 older gentlemen and the beertender in sight inside.

Inside is a clean, cozy, and nicely air-conditioned space (a fantastic find on a 100-degree day) with a large bar with taps for 5 or 6 kinds of draft beer, behind which was a huge array of beverage coolers that contained almost every brand of bottle beer you could ever want, and wine, too! (No booze, though.)  The beertender was a handsome woman whose good looks belied her real age, and she gave us fast and friendly service.  There were maybe 4 TVs and one pool table with a comfy row of old theatre seats for the players, sharing space with an ancient pinball-like baseball machine that takes quarters.  Out back there is large rear patio that is partly covered, where they have live music 3 or 4 nightss a week. On those nights there is a food truck there, too, which I'm told sells some killer grub. Sundays they also have Chicken Sh*t Bingo, a cage with the floor marked off into squares and a live chicken that picks the squares by, well, see the title of the game.  All in all this place is freakin' GEM that we would be in often if we lived nearby, and if you get tired of it you can walk over to the Hangin' Tree Saloon next door and play shuffleboard, or go bowling at the alleys across the street where the old dance hall used to be.  !Vamanos!