Life's What Happens While You're Making Other Plans . . . Great Mexican Food and Great Memories -- Allen, McKinney, Plano, Frisco TX
I got to have a Mom and son day today. I kept my youngest home from school because he had a little cold. Nothing terrible -- no fever -- but still, it's that time of year and I figured we might as well ere on the side of caution and stay home.
After a morning of phone calls and office work for me, rest and reading for him -- he ventured downstairs to ask if we could go out for lunch.
"Well . . . I suppose so."
We decided on Uncle Julio's -- his favorite Mexican restaurant It's a big favorite of mine, too -- although I'm such a Mexican food fan that I rarely find a place that I don't like.
We sat by the window and looked around. I love what Uncle Julio's has done with their decor. It seems like there was a trend in the 90s to make every Mexican restaurant look like it was started in an abandoned garage.
Uncle Julio's is pretty, while still being roomy and family-friendly for all of us here in suburbia. Inside there's a gorgeous towering cast-stone fireplace that looks like it came from a centuries-old mansion, bright ceramic pottery adds wonderful splashes of color, and funky light fixtures keep the whole look cool and fun. Outside, there's lots of patio seating and another fireplace -- makes a great place for Margaritas in the warmer months.
I'm no professional critic but I think the food is terrific. It's Tex-Mex all the way. They'll slather on the sour cream sauce for your chicken enchilada and plop a whopping big Chile Relleno down next to it with rice and beans and call that a lunch special.
There's variety in the menu, too, some wonderful seafood dishes with pineapple pico de gallo, grilled vegetables, etc. But, hey, we go for the Tex-Mex classics -- enchiladas, tacos, fajitas, tamales, guacamole.
We had a great lunch and afterwards headed over to the shops at Watters Creek. The bookstore is another one of our favorite haunts and my son was ready to start another book.
While my son looked for his book, some other times spent at Uncle Julio's came to mind.
Way back in the day when I was copywriter, the ad agency I worked for did the public relations for the very first restaurant's grand-opening. We all attended the first opening night on Lemmon Avenue in Dallas. Obviously, things went well. We were so excited when they actually opened a second restaurant -- Wow! Now, the menu shows locations in Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Georgia and Florida.
Coincidently, a few years later, Uncle Julio's also happend to be where my husband and I had our first date! How about that! Of course, that was a long time ago -- in fact -- in a few days we'll be celebrating our 21st anniversary.
Who would have thought way back then that some day my son and I would be having lunch together at an Uncle Julio's in Allen, Texas? You know that great quote, life's what happens while you're making other plans? That's what today was. Just a really nice day with my son, doing nothing exceptional, but ... when I think about it . . . it sure was special.
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