I tried the first spot on Wednesday at lunch. It is in the marketplace at 46a and International Parkway. It used to be a Middle Eastern place (that gave me food poisoning) before. Near the Amstar. The second is in a strip mall on the way to AAA building. It was a fast casual pizza place before this. I tried this at lunch on Friday.
Stacking Philly's - Not sure if this akin to "stacking Benjamins". They opened a month ago. They sell sandwiches. I don't even recall any sides. Cold ones and hot ones. And of course the South Street cheese steak for $13. I was about as good as one should be. Thin, fresh roll. I believe they said the get these from Jersey. Good thin, beef. I believe from Maryland. Whiz and onions. Cooked in front of you. The cold sandwiches start at $12. They had their first place in the DC suburbs. Thirty years (or some such thing) of experience. Same layout inside. Around eight tables. Order at a counter. Big tv with ESPN on. Cool selection of drinks (even beer). Needless to say it is a welcome change from the Middle Eastern place. I will have to try a "cold one" (and I ain't taking beer) some other time.
Persis Indian Grill - I had the Chicken Chettinadu for $16. Not many chunks of chicken. Boring red masala. Full clove and bay leaves had to be picked out. I don't love that Indian places leave these (and others) in. Ok basmati. I asked for medium hot and it was hot. Some m'fer thin peppers in there. Probably Thai chili peppers. Typical menu. $14-$19. Most apps are near those prices too. A samosa is $3. Naan too. A few at $6. Sodas $3. They seem focus on the biryani. The most interesting thing about the place is a poster that explains the history of that dish. High ceilings. Spartan. White. A bubble tank up front. Tables are in groups of four. Three columns. Booths on ends. Six person tables in between. No buffet. They break between lunch and dinner for a few hours. Closed on Tuesday. Open a month. Doubt I will return. Nothing sets them apart from other Indian options in the area. Not nearly as interesting as Banana Leaf. I was hoping it would be fast casual Indian. Nope. Their first spot is in Omaha. Post script - I had half the sauce left over and poured in a $1 can of black beans the next night. That was better than the original. I wonder why Indians (or ones outside of India) don't utilize more kinds of beans in their dishes? They could have a whole section of the menu devoted to these. They are cheap and store easily. Helps their vegetarian ethos too. I, also, have come to (or been reminded of) the realization that Indian food (and most good ones) is all about the masala (sauce). Like French food, we should be focusing in on that. The meat/produce is kind of irrelevant.
*Travel Notes - Mexico: I flew Volaris to Mexico City for $376. I stayed the night in the airport at the Real Camino for $104. Ate a jamon and a carne empanada at El Globo. Flew the next day to Cabo San Lucas for $124. I could have had a $70 flight if I left earlier in the morning. Rented a car (Chevy Cavalier) from Hertz for a week at $138! Hertz Mexico site not US site. Came with unlimited miles and some third party insurance. I declined any other insurance. Not sure how much that would have added. They were pimping it hard and forced a 25k Peso hold on my cc. Not sure if they do this if you take the insurance. I currently have an issue with them. I alerted them about a scratched portion before and after. I video-ed and took pics. Their pics were in the shade. I received an email about this AFTER I checked out with what I thought was an issueless rental. We will see where it goes from here. My reply to their email address got bounced back. I stayed the first night at the Hotel Boutique Plaza Doradas on the main road in San Jose del Cabo for $88. It wasn't noisy. Checked out the downtown. This area may be nicer than Cabo now. Especially the nicer hotel area. Drove through Cabo and then surf town of Todos Santos (on 19) to La Paz. Stayed at Hotel Maioris La Paz near the airport on 1 for $70. Drove northeast to Puerto San Carlos on Magdelena Bay. Known for chocolate clams (and whale watching). Found a shell. Didn't eat any though. Stayed at Sunset San Carlos for $86. Beachcombed. Water not deep enough to swim. Drove north and east to Loreto. Stayed at Bugambilias Suites for $209 for two nights. Great roof deck. Was going to go scuba diving or snorkeling, but, water was cold and they didn't seem to want to take people out. Island they were going to go to seemed unimpressive in real life too. Just ate and beachcombed. Had a great pineapple paleta at La Michoacana Paleteria. Had very good pork (costillodos cerdo) tacos and quesadilla at tacos at Mariscos y Tacos El Cora. Ate a chicken torta Milenesa at Cafe Ole. Drove back to La Paz. Stayed at Hotel Zar La Paz for $59. Closer to downtown. Walked to Malecon. Drove down east coast through some towns and Sierra de la Laguna NP back to Hotel Boutique Plaza Doradas in San Jose del Cabo for $79 this time. Lesser room.
I mostly ate (charcuterie/sushi/cheese) and bought wine/tequila at Walmart or Soriano or OXXO or a tiny market. Way lower prices. Compared to other stores and the US. They have a cheap thing they call licor de agave (Cielo Azteca). Ten percent less potent. Tasted good. Only 60 pesos for a big bottle. Exchange rate was just over 18 per dollar. Was 22 before Covid (last time in MX). La Paz stores wanted masks. Gas was MORE expensive than Florida. Around 22P a liter. That's over $4 a gallon. Roads were ok. But, I didn't go to towns that had dirt roads.
Flew to CDMX. Took Yellow Cab from airport kiosk (you can choose from many companies) to outskirts of Historic District for 263P. Stayed at Hotel Plaza Revolucion for $246 for four nights. The others I considered in this price range or higher looked worse when I went by them for real. Ate a Ranger CB combo at Pirates Burgers the first night. Went to CDMX (instead of Mazatlan) to take a day tour to San Miguel de Allende. This was my main objective. It is a pain to get to. Nearest airport is still an hour away. This $89 trip worked perfectly. Wouldn't have wanted to spend much more time there. Not nearly as charming/lush as I anticipated. Ate a good 30P chicken torta Milenesa at some stall at Mercado Ignacio Ramirez. Ate two 30P tacos al pastor at Sir Loin back in Mexico City. Ate lunch the next day at Cicatriz. Pollo Rostizado with couscous and yougart. Grabbed two great sesame bagels (bought cc in a market) to go from Bagels Lepu. Went back to that area (Le Havre St/Londres St) the next day for Cafe Nin by Elena Regladas (some well regarded chef) for Heuvos in chile Cascabel and tamal de frijol. The first two were in a NY Post article a cut out last year. Also on that article were Choza, Pulpo and Niddo. Around the Roma Norte area. Mostly walked around the city. Took taxi back to airport for 250p.
Mexico continues to frustrate and exhilarate in waves. Some things are so maddeningly stupid that you want wring someone's neck. Somethings are so glorious that you wish Westward Expansion never stopped. I will probably need another year to sort it out in my brain. Tried ok local queso azul and terrible queso de cabra and terrible queso Chihuahua El Chervo. And a bad pastry called a banderilla. Tried a terrible Mexican white wine called Cuatro Soles. It was low end though. They wanted too much for all their wine in my opinion. I wasn't going to gamble too much on them. Had what I think were quinoa health bars. Called barras de avena. Forgot to look it up. BTW - when in CDMX you will think you have Covid. Probably not. Just altitude plus pollution plus dry air.
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