03 March 2009

Hidalgo Restaurant

Every Tuesday in 2009, with one exception (a Friday), I have eaten at Hidalgo Restaurant in Elkhart. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the house of Luis, one of the owners, was for sale. Then today, on my way to work, I read this sign in the window of Hidalgo's:

Due to hard times, we say goodbye.

The local paper, in an article today, interpreted this as Hidalgo Restaurant closing. I take the sign, coupled with the big For Sale post in Luis' front yard, as indicating something considerably more, and am saddened.

Apart from no longer being served lunch by Mayra each Tuesday, apart from not eating any more tasty chalupitas, apart from no longer experiencing the excruciating waits on the rare busy day, I have lost the one good, local place to eat within reasonable walking distance of AMBS. We now have Popeye's, Wendy's, Long John Silver's, Subway, Little Ceasar's, and Leo's -- a barely adequate taqueria. Ricky's, a considerably better taqueria, is within walking distance, but not easily walkable due to the sad lack of sidewalks along Mishawaka Road.

So today I headed north to Miranda's, a little El Salvadoran place at the corner of Benham and Indiana. Tasty food, but eating there at lunch pretty much necessitates driving. I'll probably shift my dining out lunch to Wednesday, when I drive to work anyway.

A shame.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is that the place you took me last summer? My condolences. Seriously.

BMG said...

That was Miranda's. Hidalgo's was started by a couple of families in the community from the Hidalgo region of Mexico. They were also active in the local neighborhood association.

You know that I started going there once weekly because of you, right?

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that. But I'm terribly flattered. Actually, you helped me develop that philosophy, albeit in a terribly low-rent fashion. Remember our Sunday night 25-cent taco meals in Parsons? That's where that got started.

John David said...

What happened to El Palenque?

BMG said...

El Palenque burned. Then it opened again. Then it closed. Then re-opened. Then in August, 2008, it still had a sign that said "Show your mom you love her, bring her here for a meal," at which point I realized it was probably closed again. Then it became Hidalgo. Then closed.

BMG said...

Joel: I remember taco night. I'd forgotten that they were $0.25 each. Wow. That's good eatin'.

Missy Whitehead said...

How unfortunate! I will always remember the place as El Palenque. Given the number of times it has closed and opened again, perhaps there is still hope...