What’s the best restaurant you ever discovered by accident? I’ll say Burger House in Dallas, because my grandmother first took me there when I was five years old and I didn’t know where we were going. That’s Jack, the founder, on the left.
Q. What’s the best restaurant you ever discovered by accident? Quora prompted me to answer that question, and I thought my reply might lead to some conversation. If you would like to add your own experiences, please comment below!
A. I rarely choose a restaurant by accident these days. Menu prices and opportunity cost (the lost opportunity to eat at another, better place) are just too high, and it’s easy to look up reviews on Yelp or, less frequently, TripAdvisor and Google Maps. But I traveled extensively in Europe and Mexico when I was much younger, and then I did have some fortuitous discoveries. I remember a great chicken place in the heart of Florence and an outdoor barbecue emporium in the hills above Ljubljana, both discovered through tips from locals.
Burger House cheeseburger, as good as it gets.
There are several clues that tell me such a place is likely to be well above average. First, it’s going to be much more crowded than nearby places. Second, a peek inside shows people are actually enjoying their meals and that food is a central part of the dining experience and not a sideline. This usually entails a walk through the restaurant, ostensibly to check out the bar or restroom, and I am not shy about peeking at diners’ dishes and maybe asking a server what they are eating. It’s a plus if there is a good level of service, and people are not sitting around glumly waiting for their meals. (A typical scene at the modest breakfast places frequented by millennials, who apparently enjoy the social experience of waiting on line for hours for mediocre food.)
The places that have surprised me in recent memory have actually been chain restaurants, like Golden Corral and 99 (an upstate New York chain) where I have dined out of due diligence as a food blogger and had a much better experience than expected. Golden Corral is a buffet place that has decent choices if you stay away from the grey prime rib and desserts. And 99 has real prep work going on in the kitchen you can see through the pass.
I was driving from Mexico City to Taxco when a thunderstorm overtook me. Just before I entered the gates that led directly into the village of Taxco a bolt of lightning hit the power lines to the city and all the lights went out. I drove slowly along the cobblestones of the village for about twenty minutes. I was looking for a hotel that would accept me and my girlfriend.
The lights came back on and I noticed a small hotel. I went in and confirmed they had an empty room and they even volunteered to open the restaurant for us. We enjoyed our stay in this hotel and the next morning drove around to see the sights of this beautiful mountain village. Taxco is renowned for its silver mine and the beautiful objects made by the people who lived there. Every other structure was retail store selling items made of sterling silver.
After about an hour a fellow gestured me to stop. He offered his services as a tour guide to Taxco. We agreed on a price and he took the wheel of the rental car and took us to places in Taxco we might never have discovered. Before we parted company he asked where we were going to sleep for the evening. He suggested that instead we check into a hotel that was just outside of the town on a peak that was directly over a silver mine.
We took his suggestion, he was right. This was a better hotel, with a great view of Taxco for the same price. What he did not tell us, and I cannot understand why, is that this new hotel had one of best restaurants in the entire country of Mexico. The head chef was a former head chef of a cruise ship. He had trained in France and after a decade of cruising wanted to settle down. The meals that I ate at this restaurant are among the finest meals I have ever eaten. The chef sometimes joined us and explained how he made the meals.
I recommended this hotel and restaurant to my friend Augusto Escobedo. Augusto, known as “the Silver Fox” was a successful painter and sculptor famous for the lively fountains he designed, built and installed all over Mexico. Augusto visited the location on my recommendation and confirmed my view of how good the service and food was at this hotel. While I only stayed there two nights, Augusto and his wife often enjoyed the facility. The name of the restaurant translates to “House of the Sun.”
Since the hotel was directly over a silver mine during the night I could hear muffled explosions of dynamite used in the mining of gold. I was told to expect those sounds so I was not afraid. It was a comforting sound. Hotel Hacienda Del Solar is the name of the hotel. I am holding in my hands a crude red clay cigarette ash tray that I brought home as a souvenir of the visit. I think I visited Taxco in 1972 or 1973, lots of good memories still.
http://www.askart.com/artist/Augusto_Escobedo_Ortega/10016617/Augusto_Escobedo_Ortega.aspx
Hacienda del Solar
Del Solar 5, El Solar, 40290 Taxco, Gro., México
This is an awesome story!