Hello again. I would like to thank you for reading my blog. It has been a fund and challenging experience starting to get it off the ground. But I am happy to bring to you the first real travel post.
I just recently got back from a trip to El Paso TX, and it was a remarkably interesting place. El Paso is located on the border of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Within 20 minutes you can see two states and another country. This leads to a very divers and interesting culture. On advice from some local friends I did not venture into Juarez, Mexico but I did go to New Mexico. I did go to the Mexican border. Where I saw the boarder wall (let’s be honest, it’s a fence) and the mass of people moving back and forth between the two cities. It was like something I saw in history class of the checkpoints in Berlin during the Cold War.
Anyway, it is a sight but do not go during rush hour. Big mistake on my part. It will take you forever to get away from people trying to get home after a long day at work. I would suggest that if you want to drive down the interstate that follows the boarder wall do it during the middle of the day. There is significantly less traffic.
Is El Paso Safe?
Before I go to far let me address the elephant in the room, “Is El Paso Safe?”. I would have to say unequivocally, YES. El Paso on a whole has a very low crime rate for a city it’s size. You need to remember that El Paso is the home to many local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. That gives a medium size city a disproportionate police presence to its size. So, go visit El Paso. See the people and experience the culture of Texas westernmost city.
What is there to do in El Paso? If you enjoy the outdoors there are tones of hiking trails in the Franklin Mountains State park, which is less than an hour outside of town. The Wyler Aerial Tramway which takes visitors up 4,692 feet for a view of the city was highly recommended as a must do activity. If you want something a little low key. The oldest continually operating parish in the State of Texas can be found there along with two other Spanish Missions. This is a great chance to see authentic Spanish mission construction in person.
While in El Paso I had the pleasure of staying that the Hotel Indigo: El Paso Downtown. This hotel provided good accommodations as well as excellent views. The downtown location provided numerous eateries within walking distance. So after a day of sightseeing you will not have to take the car out again to get dinner.
Speaking of food I should really mention some of the different place that I tried while there.
Mamacitas Cafe and Cantina the restaurant in the Hotel Indigo
This was my first dining experience of the El Paso week and to be honest I did not anticipate much out of a hotel restaurant. I wish I could say that the restaurant made me want to eat every meal here, but it did not.
Let us start with the décor. I think they are going with an art’s, eclectic feel. Or they furnished the restaurant on a very tight budget. The table had mis-matched chairs, or the chairs were so low to the ground you more reclined in them than sat. The service was not the greatest. We had excessively long waits to have our order taken, which was followed by another long wait to get our food. (Later in the week we found out the restaurant waiters were also responsible for taking up room services so that might have contributed to the long wait times) One last note on the service. I really do not think it is acceptable not to be able to tell the customer what beer you are trying to sell them. I asked two different staff members, and neither could tell me the names of the beers they had on tap. They could tell me the styles but that was it.
Now we come to my real problem with the restaurant, the food. It was good. I would even go as far as to say it was really good. If the food had been bad, I could have written this place off and never looked back, but the quality and flavors of the food they served sort of made the experience a wash. Maybe on another night the service would have been good as the food and I would be writing a glowing review but as it is, I can only suggest it as a fallback to other places.
Park Tavern
The next night tried the Park Tavern. The food was a little on the pricy side, but of excellent quality. The restaurant is designed to give semiprivate booths to allow for conversations without obstructing views of the entire restaurant. The decor is done up well with tastefully done furniture that is comfortable to sit in. It was a pleasant change from the day before. As for the food, I went with the Chicken Piccata followed by the Peach & Blackberry Tart. This meal was great. The food was wonderful. The server was helpful and friendly, while not being annoying. I would highly recommend this restaurant.
State Line Restaurant
The next place I would like to mention is the State Line Restaurant. The restaurant is in New Mexico which is about 15 minutes from downtown El Paso. This barbecue restaurant came highly recommend and for good reason. The food is reasonably priced and is full of flavor. I selected the ribs and brisket plate for my meal. I was not disappointed. Now let me interject something here. I am a self-proclaimed banana pudding snob. I prefer the traditional custard approach to banana pudding as opposed to the Jell-O or non-cook style. As the State Line does not cook their banana pudding and uses only whip cream as a topping I passed. Memphis I will be back. Sorry flash back. Anyway, I grabbed some of their excellent apple cobbler which came with a scoop of ice cream and caramel drizzle. Let us say I ate to much that meal but did not regret it at all.
L and J Café
Ok if you can eat in only one place in El Paso make it L and J Café. It is a hole in the wall located next to a cemetery. I was told do not be afraid it looks like a dive, but the food is great. They were so right. This is the kid of place you would not find if you were not a local. The food is authentic, reasonably priced, and very tasty. I got their chicken enchiladas. I have to say their approach to enchiladas is different than what I am us to. Instead of putting the chicken in the enchiladas. You are given two cheese enchiladas with shredded chicken piled on top. I though it was a great idea. If I every get back to El Paso I will be going back to eat here.
There were other stops on my trip that I might get around to posting about. We will see. Anyway, I’ll be back soon till then don’t forget to bring your towel.