BBQ Bob's, La Brasilla and Spanglish 101

Traveling alone always makes for a good time.  People are so friendly and seriously just want to practice English.  Anytime, anywhere.  It's like this big circle around all day, everyday.  Even when I just want to step out for a quiet dinner alone, I am befriended immediately by a local and over a cold drink, we set to Spanglish 101.  I teach them, they teach me.  Bar napkins are used as chalk boards, low-ink pens are straggled up and drink-studded lessons begin. 

And it's funny because the look of pure awe on their face when they finally comprehend the difference between, let's say---he, she, them, woman, man, women, men, they, it, you, me---well, it's astounding.  Just like when the connection finally hits my foggy mind.  Hell, man I still don't think I have it, but day by day, minute by minute, I find myself having conversations...or at least understanding what is going on...when just a few weeks ago, I knew jack crapola.  Maybe even less.  In fact, I may know EVEN LESS now, but I seem to understand with great clarity, which is real, real scary.

BBQ Bob's is a good place to sit a spell and get to learning.  It's a funky little restaurant just down the road from my fave egg and cheese torta place, La Brasilla, and has this little organic produce stand attached to it. Their beers are double the price of my fave cantina (Bar Casanova)--but what's $2 when there is free wifi and a string of contenta folks streaming through?

PS--Seriously, when looking for a taste of sheer heaven, especially late night, you cannot beat the deals at La Brasilla.  A cold horchata to wash down an egg and cheese torta con avocado y mayo is enough to slay any girls soul.

Comments

[Misty]

I can't even believe how many hardcore foodies there are in SMA. When I get back in a few months, I have a trillion recommendations to try--all based on the goods from those who've seen it all.

And, if anyone knows the address to the listserv, let me know...would love to peruse.

Thanks, mst

[Bindu Chandrabose]

P.S. Have you tried the fish place around the corner from the San Francisco church? If it's still there, they serve take out at the street level and have a dining area above. Delicious and cheap offerings - e.g., a whole, pan fried crispy fish covered in garlic and jalapenos, and with rice, salad, avacado for less than 80 pesos.

[Bindu Chandrabose]

Hey Misty,

FYI, you are starting to grow a little fan club of San Miguelenso/as, as someone posted your website address on the local listserv, civilsma.

I have really been enjoying your posts and missing my beautiful, delicous San Miguel. Thanks for making me remember the things that make it so special.

[Carol Schmidt]

You've captured San Miguel perfectly! So glad you discovered us, and I hope you come back soon. I RVed full-time for three and a half years before discovering SMA.

I worry about your tummy, eating some street foods I don't dare try (such as the cut-up fruit that hasn't gone through Microdyn soaking), even after six years living here and accumulating local flora and fauna in my gut.

If you want to try more places that I recommend, go to the "Cheap Eats" page of my website, www.fallinginlovewithsanmiguel.com. I describe 65 places where you can get a meal (before beverage) for under $5. So much for the image of SMA as "too expensive." (I've got street food photos and more than 450 other SMA photos there, too, along with blogs, forums, SMA news and FAQs.)

Two "cheap eats" you must try before you leave are Don Felix, on Independencia at Ignacio Cruces, and a no-name place on Ancha de San Antonio between TelMex and Casa del Sol.

Don Felix is a white-tarped taco stand that only opens Fri-Sun after 7 pm. The plastic tables are adorned with cloth tablecloths and candles, and you can bring your own wine that the white-jacketed waiters will uncork for you for free. There's real china but the plates come coated in plastic wrap.

A platter of seven assorted tacos and grilled onions is 45 pesos. Their horchata, a rice drink that tastes like rice pudding, is the best I've ever had. Around 7 the clietele is mostly expats, but as the night goes on it becomes a Mexican party place-- great fun.

You can find the no-name place by the yellow folding metal sign they put out when they're open, about noon to about 4 pm weekdays. The sign says "Rica Comida Casera," tasty homemade meals.

A platter of enchiladas, chile rellenos, pork chunks or other daily specials, plus rice, beans, the day's veggie, tortillas and salsas, is 26-30 pesos, under $3 USD.

Tell Oprah about San Miguel, too, though we don't really need to be "discovered" by any more people.

Our town is spectacular the week before Easter with all sorts of solemn processions and Biblical reenactments, and from the start of Independencia festivities Sept. 15 to the feast day of our patron saint, St. Michael the Archangel, two weekends later, the town is one giant party.

Thanks for your photos and for writing so well about your experiences in San Miguel de Allende. I've plugged your site on my website and elsewhere.

Carol Schmidt
Falling...in Love with San Miguel: Retiring to Mexico on Social Security, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9787286-2-5