This is Hacienda Mexican Restaurant. By Mexican I mean technically a taco is meat, cheese, and lettuce in a tortilla. But, it's about as Mexican as your neighbor's weekly Taco Night. It is THE place to be for Cinco de Mayo. It has the most teenagers of any place per-square-foot before any high school football game. Also, I worked here when I was seventeen. (First jobs, woohoo!)
This weekend I was in good ol' South Bend, and went to lunch here with a good friend from high school, Karen. It had been at least a year since I'd eaten here, so I convinced her to go. While to dining room has been remodeled to allow easier traffic flow, it looks exactly the same. The textured walls are painted an odd, avocado green and burn gold. The lobby was decorated in paintings of women in sombreros and other "authentic" Mexican things. The music was entirely in Spanish, buuut if you listened closely, it was actually covers of popular English songs. At the table sat a bottle of the restaurant's own brand of hot sauce.
That's right. Ouch-y-wa-wa Jalapeno Sauce. I took one of these when I was working here, and it stayed in the glove compartment of my car for a good two years.
Of course, we were immediately supplied with endless chips and salsa, but what makes Hacienda unique is their ranch sauce. I should clarify that it is not actually sauce, but simply ranch dressing, but for some reason people always call it sauce. I've seen the cooks make it and I still enjoy eating it, if that's any indication to it's actual quality.
The food was delicious. My burrito and cheese soup and Karen's chimichanga were brought out on bright, Fiestaware plates and we were "careful because they're hot." I would like to apologize at this moment for not taking a picture of the actual food. I forgot. Once we finished our food, the waitress, being to excellent saleswoman she was, convinced us to get dessert: a chocolate mudslide.
Not to be confused with the mudslide drink, which is also good, but for different reasons.
As we enjoyed our lunch, I tried to take in the whole experience. It was such a frequented location for me as a teenager that I wanted to know just what it was we all liked about it. Maybe it was the lively wait staff. Maybe it was the Spanish music playing on the satellite radio. Maybe we liked it because our only other choice was Steak 'n Shake (which was also frequented).
I'll tell you this, the food is good, but you have to keep an open mind about what constitutes real Mexican food. The recipes haven't changed since I remember first eating there when I was seven or eight. If you want real Mexican, eat where the Mexicans eat. And that's not racist; it's race related. Those are words straight from the mouth of a man actually born in Mexico. Also, it's true; you will not see any true Latino people eating there. I guess I enjoy it not simply for the food, but for the whole experience. For the memories of adolescence. For the mixing of ranch and salsa to create the perfect chip dip. For the frisbee you get as a plate if you order off the kid's menu.
So, if ever you are in the South Bend area (or Evansville, IN) stop by Hacienda Mexican Restaurant; there are fourteen of them from which to choose. You'll get a glimpse into my high school years, and enjoy some pretty good food. Just keep in mind that I did tell you it wasn't authentic.
