Pleasantly surprised

Yesterday, around lunchtime, we decided to head out to get Matthew's hair cut (yet again). We typically have lunch at Flatbread Company when he gets a haircut (gotta justify going all the way to Canton somehow), but we had pizza for dinner Friday night so we just weren't feeling it. We decided instead to have lunch at this little Mexican joint in Enfield called Sarapes. Dennis had heard great things about it recently, so we thought we'd give it a try.

From the outside, it doesn't look like much - it's a tiny little store front in a building with a dry cleaner and a laundromat.


We started out with a basket of homemade tortilla chips and three different kinds of salsa. One fresh, chunky mild salsa with lots of yummy cilantro, and two thinner spicy salsas - one green, one red. We tried plying Matthew with Cheerios until his lunch came, but he was not satisfied. We gave him a chip (his first chip ever!), which he promptly devoured. We gave him another, expecting he'd eat it, but instead he made a dunking motion with it, as if to tell us he wanted it dunked in salsa like we were having. After doing that a few times, I decided to just move the mild salsa within reach for him. He LOVED it (and proceeded to dunk his Cheerios in it as well)!

Here's a shot of him giving the nosy lady next to us ordering takeout a dirty look (just like Daddy had just done). Don't you just love when people talk to your kid as a way of getting a message to you? She kept making comments about the salsa being spicy. Seriously, lady, mind your own damn business. First of all, it's not spicy, and second of all, if I want to give my kid spicy food, I really don't care whether you express your disapproval. There are entire cultures whose children are raised on spicy foods. Besides, does my kid look like he's not taken care of? Buzz off.

Our lunches were outstanding. Even the rice and beans were awesome - the rice was nicely seasoned and not at all dry, and the beans were topped with a perfect amount of oaxaca cheese. This was definitely not like your typical Mexican chain restaurant style food. Don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan of On The Border and Taco Hell myself, but sometimes it's nice to have something a little more authentic.

Matthew enjoyed the atmosphere, as you can see in the video below....

I can't wait to go back again and try some other dishes!