A shot from a corner store near Grace in El Paso.
Redd & Ressler.
Dateline El Paso, TX:
Overheard about El Paso? In El Paso, TX?
“I could see this becoming another Dallas, or Austin, or even San Antonio, with food, culture, all of that?”
Three little letters go with that, WTF, as in Why The Face, since the comment originated from a native El Paso person.
El Paso has way more soul than Dallas, less retail although, on the food front, Dallas has an edge. Plus there’s the Cowboys and their stadiums. Stadium, now. With its greater population, Dallas does have — by virtue of sheer numbers and dollar volume — more culinary offerings.
El Paso has better regional cuisine than Dallas, that’s for sure. Period. Part of that “regional” cuisine scene, for El Paso? Geographic. The native influence is traditional indigenous — Mexican — with vegetables, peppers, pork, peppers, beef, peppers, lots of chicken, peppers, and beans.
The New Mexico brand of “red or green” cooking is part of the El Paso scene, but not inclusive. I’ll swear the the flavor changes when I cross the state line. I tend to favor the sweeter, hotter El Paso flavor.
The single culinary weakness in El Paso? The relatively paucity greasy TexMex. That is best left to the eastern portion of Texas, say, from Van Horn, east….
I’ve noticed, with the ubiquity of the inter-webs, the latest trends in foods can be spotted and turns up soon enough in a local place.
Still, I’ve long maintained that El Paso has its own flavor, and the taste, the essence of that spice palate changes, at the state border to the north and west, and just passed the steakhouse to the east — Cattleman’s at Indian Cliff.
Every Thursday on the website there will be a brand new special that you won’t want to miss… astrofish.net….