El Rodeo, Te Amo!

These little guys were fun to watch at Tanganyika Wildlife Park.

           



            Have you ever been a regular customer at a specific restaurant?  For our family, that restaurant has been El Rodeo, a wonderful Mexican place originally run by an extended family.  We’ve been going there almost weekly for about eight years, ever since our daughter could say the word “rice.”  The staff make everyone feel like family, and over the years we’ve gotten to know most of the servers and managers on a first-name basis -- to the point that we’ve been invited to their parties and visited in their homes.
            Of course, we wouldn’t be patronizing this place if they didn’t have awesome food.  Always quickly served, it’s beautifully presented and has a wonderful flavor.  My husband likes his two tamales with rice, my daughter either a beef burrito or tamale (like her dad) and me, well, I pretty much jump all over the menu because I want to try it all.  The salsa is just spicy enough and fresh-tasting, with the perfect amount of cilantro, and the chips are thin, crispy, and warm from the oven.  Are you feeling hungry yet?
            The first person who befriended us was Rodrigo, who always stopped by our table and greeted us whether he was our server or not.  Then we met the three Joses: Jose Antonio (the manager), Jose Goatee (that’s how I referred to him) and the young Jose (also a minor league baseball player who married the hostess, Katy).  My daughter and I were invited to her baby shower (we were the only gringos there), which was held in the back room of the restaurant, and it was interesting to me that they served very different food than what they serve the customers.  Francisco, the current manager, says, “You Americans like cheese!”  And thus we are served dishes with a lot more cheese than what they would eat.  Who knew?
            Jose Antonio’s daughter, Alejandra, invited us to her quinceanera (Sweet 15 Party) which turned out to be a HUGE feast/dance/fiesta in a rented fireworks building.  Again, we were the only gringos there, so we felt very honored.  Of course, we Americans under-dressed (jeans, etc.) while everyone there had their finest suits and dresses on!  It was fun to meet all of the workers’ families, and to observe the traditions that came with this event.
           When one of the servers, Cindy, had her baby, she invited us to come see him at her house, which was pretty cool.  We also befriended a man named Diego, who I saw walking very quickly in the rain on his way to work one day, so I picked him up and took him to the restaurant.  Tragically, last year  he died of a heart attack at home after leaving work with chest pain – he was only forty.  He left behind his sweet wife, Lupita, and one daughter.  We still miss him.
           As staff come and go, we enjoy getting to know each one, and continue to be treated like family.  This year, my daughter and I stopped by the place on Christmas Eve.  We knew they would be closed, but we also knew that Francisco was in the kitchen, cooking a cow’s head to be eaten at the staff party that night!  We gave him a bag of Christmas cookies, and also had some for the other servers.  He looked down at his messy kitchen clothes and said “I would hug you, but I don’t want to get you dirty!” 
           It sure has been fun to be a part of this place.

For life is what you make it.  So make it good!