Gallardo’s ~ Mexican Restaurant

"In the abundance of water 
The fool is thirsty" ~ Bob Marley, Rat Race

http://gallardosmexicanrestaurant.com/


Place: Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant
Location: 3248 18th Street (on the corner of Shotwell Street)
Hours: open every day of the week at 7:00am
Meal: Nopales[1] con Huevo ~ scrambled eggs with cactus, onion, tomato, and bell pepper, served with rice, beans (frijoles refritos), and tortillas; and a large glass of jugo Mixto[2] ~ naranja y zanahoria (it's a Mexican thing; a 50/50 blend of fresh squeezed orange and carrot juices… you can't get blood out of a turnip, but you can squeeze juice out of a carrot, apparently)

(Today's EweToobular juxtaselections are in celebration of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day. I bet you weren't aware of the Hispanic-Celtic connection of Los Lonely Boyos. Plus, I really don't ever need an Irish excuse to play a George Ivan song.)


Volví a Gallardo's ~ Mexican Restaurant para el desayuno (see previous 'blog-entry from April 27th, 2014). I had thought about sitting outside this morning, but it was still just a little bit too cool and breezy. So I did the next best thing, I sat inside in front of one of the open windows and enjoyed a nice, fresh, cool breeze at my back, which was tempered by the indoor temperature (the breeze was tempered, not my back). I really like the gold and deep red (maroon-ish) interior of the joint, all with matching tablecloths.

Go 49ers!

There are several other good ideas from which to choose off their menu: Huevos a la Mexicana (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and bell pepper; not much different than what I ordered, anyway); Huevos Rancheros (fried eggs on a tortilla topped with salsa ranchera and Monterey Jack cheese; I probably shoulda had this in comparison to yesterday's version of the dish); Torta de Huevo (scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, and bell pepper cooked in a crêpe style); or Papas[3] con Huevo (scrambled eggs with potato, onion, tomato, and bell pepper). They also have several omelette dishes from which to choose, just to name a few: Chorizo Omelette (filled with melted cheese and Mexican sausage); Spanish Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, and bell pepper); Spinach Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, bell pepper, and spinach); Nopales Omelette (filled with melted cheese, onion, tomato, bell pepper, and cactus; basically the same dish that I got this morning, but in omelette form); or (the probably forgettable ~ I kid you not) Banana Omelette (filled with melted cheese and, yes, banana; however, even I am not brave enough to try that one).

I have also seen this dish called "Huevos con Nopales" at other Mexican restaurants (you say papas o patatas… I say nopales…). Nopales are hard to explain if you have never had them, I just tell people they are somewhat the taste and texture of boiled green beans. I liked how all of the vegetables (including the nopales) were nicely charred/grilled and then incorporated into the scramble mess. I probably should have also asked for one or two fresh jalapeños diced up and thrown into the mix, too.

One of the highlights of eating at many family-owned Mexican restaurants is that they always make their own warm, fresh, homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) corn tortillas. Today I had three in my tortilla basket thing (there is probably an actual Mexican word for a tortilla warmer/holder, and one of these days I might remember to ask), but you can always ask for more tortillas if you like.

For condimentary supplements, I just used some of their own homemade (restaurant-made, whatever) salsa roja all over the scramble mess. I ended up using about a half of the small jar on the table. It really wasn't that picante, but it had un sabor muy buen. Bringing any of my own hot sauces to a Mexican restaurant would be like bringing carbones a Castillonuevo…

Pay It Forward Weekend… or bugger off! ~ Part V (cont.)

For today's "pay it forward" effort, I am just making a shameless plug for all of the 'blogs that I am currently following. I would like to especially point out the newest one called "I Am a Stray/Thoughts from A Rambling Psyche" by a young college student named Dom. 

(see My Blog List in the right column here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>)


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Nopales con Huevos ~ 6.5


1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, number one:

"Nopal" and "nopales" come from the Nahuatl word "nohpalli" for the pads of the Opuntia cactus plant. 

2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número dos:

"Mixto" in Spanish simply means "mixed" (see, sometimes these aren't always cirugía de cohetes o ciencia del cerebro). I was surprised to hear that it is pronounced (and I asked the Mexican waitress-server lady person twice just to make sure) as "MIX-toe" and not "MIKH-toe" with the "x" pronounced like the "x" in "México".

3. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, número tres:

The word for "potato" in Spanish can either be "papa" or "patata".