Zantigo!

In my previous post a mentioned a now defunct Mexican restaurant called Zantigo. When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, Mexican foods were not a part of the American diet. Today nachos, tacos, burritos, tortillas, quesadillas, queso dip, chips and salsa are so commonplace that we almost don't consider them foreign foods. There was a time you could have mentioned any of those foods and I would have had no idea what they were. My kids have never known a world without those foods.

Here's a funny story...

When Zantigo and Taco Bell first came on the scene, nobody really knew what the food was or what it was all about. My dad was no exception. One evening he got adventurous and decided to take the family to this new place called Zantigo. Nobody knew what to expect and I remember the fun we had just trying to figure out what the menu items were. After we had bumbled our way through the ordering process, we got our food. I vividly remember my dad unwrapping his unusual dinner from a foil wrapper and then wondering out loud why his meal was also wrapped in a wet paper towel. In reality his meal was wrapped in a soft tortilla. He had never seen one and neither had the rest of us. He peeled back the tortilla shell to reveal the meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato. It was then he realized the covering was not a paper towel, but some sort of edible wrap. That was my family's first experience with Mexican food and having no idea what a tortilla was. We all had a good laugh and I assume we enjoyed the food (although I don't remember).

Times sure have changed. Now entire grocery store aisles are dedicated to Mexican foods.