Dining Divas

Dining Divas Enjoy Mexican

Restaurant Just Down the Road

**Lisa Kampeter photo** revisedFollowing in our tradition of a Mexican May, the restaurant location the Dining Divas settled on ended up being a great choice, even though it wasn’t our first choice. We planned to choose from one of two Mexican places, one in an area known for authentic restaurants, and the other, a place that made one of those “best of” lists. Neither won.

We were told our entire group would fill up one of the restaurants, and the other one is in a neighborhood we should stay out of after dark. So we found a place at the last minute, relatively close by. And what a find it was!

The Dining Divas ate at La Tejana on Lindbergh, south of where Northwest Plaza used to be, in St. Ann. Aside from the restaurant, you will find a tienda, a Hispanic grocery store; a licoreria, a liquor store; and a carniceria, a butcher shop. They are a family owned business run by a friendly couple from Texas, and they couldn’t have been kinder. One major flaw – they were Dallas Stars fans. The St. Louis Blues were in the playoffs playing against the Stars at the time. They were lucky we didn’t throw salsa on their “Go Stars” sign.

But we decided to save the delicious salsa (ranging from mild to really hot) for our basket of chips. We devoured lots of the light, crunchy chips. To be honest, we devoured lots of baskets of chips. They were so good.

The Workaholic Diva started a new job, and unfortunately, she started back in again with the really long hours. We were surprisingly shocked to see her even show up to dinner. And more surprised that she made it on time, by her standards. The Teacher Diva was excited for the summer and the summer school she signed up to teach. The Traveling Diva was getting ready for her next great adventure- a cruise to Italy, Greece, and Turkey. If only the Workaholic Diva could have joined her.

The owner of La Tejana spent lots of time explaining her favorites on the menu. More than once, we were reminded that their food is fresh and authentic, not Tex-Mex. Cheese dip – Tex-Mex. You can’t get that there. Fajitas – authentic, and you can get them there, but you can get them at most Mexican restaurants. She encouraged us to try something different. Like the homemade mango cream drink of which she brought us samples. Yum! Throw in a shot or two of anything alcoholic, delish!

She recommended the Tinga on Sopes which was nothing we’d find at Taco Bell. Tinga is shredded chicken with chipotle, and chorizo, a type of Spanish pork sausage. It is served on sope, which is like a tortilla, but smaller and thicker. For the Picky Diva, what a surprisingly good dish!

Several Divas thought the Fish Tacos were the best they’d ever had as were the Eggs Rancheros, eggs with rice and beans. One Diva said it was the best Mexican food in general that she’d had in a long time! We didn’t have any takers of the Cow Head or the Tongue, thankfully!   We like authentic but not that much.

To top everything off, we were served banana burritos for dessert. Not sure how we had room for them, but with a unique tasting chocolate and caramel sauce, we finished them off easily.

All of the food at La Tejana is fresh and delightful. North County has plenty of good Mexican restaurants, and La Tejana is no exception. And since the Blues ended up beating the Stars in the playoffs, we can look past the owners’ poor choice in teams. And what a bonus that it’s practically just down the street!

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