Restaurants Mexico

Sitting in the seaside restaurant at the La Fonda Hotel, surrounded by the sounds of Spanish, guitar music and heavy surf, my old friend Joni Stauffer and I talked about the magic. Just a few hours after leaving home we were in a foreign land. No airport hassles, no cramped airplane seats--we simply threw my two schipperkes, Minke and Buster, and some clothes into the back seat of my old van and we were off. The drive from Santa Barbara had been easy. We'd left at 8 a.m., got through L.A.

Eddy Warman beams at the appetizer just placed before him at his restaurant, Girasoles, a trendy hangout for Mexican politicians. Grabbing a spoon, the public relations executive stuffs the crunchy, brown morsels into a soft taco. "This is like caviar," he gushes. But the $11.50 dish, a favorite of senators and expense-account executives, is hardly an imported delicacy.

Those who are surprised by the notion of a 4 1/2-hour Mexico City lunch do not understand how serious an affair food is in Mexico. Nothing, not even politics, bullfighting or soccer has the same following as food. Mexicans discuss politics while doing breakfast. Lunches, the main meal (or comida ) of the day, take forever because they are always business wrapped in pleasure. The whole world is fixed at dinner time.

Gunmen walked into a border restaurant and fired more than 100 rounds at a single table, in an incident that left six people dead and three others wounded in what may have been part of a war for control of the Juarez drug cartel. One of the dead was a prison official who was gunned down outside, apparently after he walked from a nearby bar to investigate the shooting.

In Hollywood's "Casablanca," everybody went to Rick's Cafe Americain. In the real-life Tijuana, a city with a cinematic air of border intrigue, everybody goes to Bob's Big Boy. (El Big.) Cops, reporters, spies, lawyers, political bosses and former, current and future government officials--they all haunt the diner with the statue of the short, fat guy in front. The Big Boy franchise sits on Boulevard Agua Caliente, the city's main drag, across from the bullring and not far from the racetrack.

Eddy Warman beams at the appetizer just placed before him at his restaurant, Girasoles, a trendy hangout for Mexican politicians. Grabbing a spoon, the public relations executive stuffs the crunchy, brown morsels into a soft taco. "This is like caviar," he gushes. But the $11.50 dish, a favorite of senators and expense-account executives, is hardly an imported delicacy.

BURGER BUYERS: While local businesses eye possibilities in the south, Anaheim-based Carl's Jr. is already cooking up a storm. Actually, the world's largest Carl's Jr. is in Monterrey, Mexico. Company officials say it has 340 seats and does more business than its fast-food rivals--McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's. . . . Outlets are planned for Guadalajara and Tijuana.

A bus crashed into a small restaurant at the edge of a highway west of Mexico City, killing 12 passengers and injuring at least 22 others, newspapers reported Monday.

Gunmen walked into a border restaurant and fired more than 100 rounds at a single table, in an incident that left six people dead and three others wounded in what may have been part of a war for control of the Juarez drug cartel. One of the dead was a prison official who was gunned down outside, apparently after he walked from a nearby bar to investigate the shooting.

Fourth of July revelers heading south of the border won't be toasting the festivities with alcohol in nightclubs and restaurants. Mexico law prohibits the sale of alcohol during an election period, which this year runs from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday. Mexico's voters on Sunday will elect members to the federal congress.

Sitting in the seaside restaurant at the La Fonda Hotel, surrounded by the sounds of Spanish, guitar music and heavy surf, my old friend Joni Stauffer and I talked about the magic. Just a few hours after leaving home we were in a foreign land. No airport hassles, no cramped airplane seats--we simply threw my two schipperkes, Minke and Buster, and some clothes into the back seat of my old van and we were off. The drive from Santa Barbara had been easy. We'd left at 8 a.m., got through L.A.

In Hollywood's "Casablanca," everybody went to Rick's Cafe Americain. In the real-life Tijuana, a city with a cinematic air of border intrigue, everybody goes to Bob's Big Boy. (El Big.) Cops, reporters, spies, lawyers, political bosses and former, current and future government officials--they all haunt the diner with the statue of the short, fat guy in front. The Big Boy franchise sits on Boulevard Agua Caliente, the city's main drag, across from the bullring and not far from the racetrack.

Those who are surprised by the notion of a 4 1/2-hour Mexico City lunch do not understand how serious an affair food is in Mexico. Nothing, not even politics, bullfighting or soccer has the same following as food. Mexicans discuss politics while doing breakfast. Lunches, the main meal (or comida ) of the day, take forever because they are always business wrapped in pleasure. The whole world is fixed at dinner time.

BURGER BUYERS: While local businesses eye possibilities in the south, Anaheim-based Carl's Jr. is already cooking up a storm. Actually, the world's largest Carl's Jr. is in Monterrey, Mexico. Company officials say it has 340 seats and does more business than its fast-food rivals--McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's. . . . Outlets are planned for Guadalajara and Tijuana.

A bus crashed into a small restaurant at the edge of a highway west of Mexico City, killing 12 passengers and injuring at least 22 others, newspapers reported Monday.

In the fifth paragraph of "Two-Week Stays in Oaxaca" (Mature Traveler, Nov. 26), Bill Hughes refers to "Spanish cooking." If my guess is correct, he means "Mexican cooking." As we all know, there is a vast difference between the two. As a matter of fact, there are a few good Spanish restaurants in Mexico. DONALD J. HARRISON Idyllwild

Carlos Slim Helu Age: 71 Net worth: $74 billion Key businesses: Telmex (land lines), America Movil (wireless), Grupo Carso (Sanborns restaurants, Sears Mexico) Ricardo Salinas Pliego Age: 55 Net worth: $8.2 billion Key businesses: TV Azteca, Elektra (retail electronics), Iusacell (wireless) Emilio Azcarraga Jean Age: 43 Net worth: $2.3 billion Key business: Grupo Televisa Sources: Forbes, Times research