Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I have a favorite restaurant. Luckily my man, who introduced me to it, likes it a lot too, so we go there quite frequently.

 The restaurant name is Taqueria Tepatitlan but everyone just calls it Juan's. Juan has got to one be the sweetest men ever. I am not sure of his age but I am sure he is older than he looks. His round smiling face is without a line, his big dimples are ever present. He knows most everyone that enters the doors and greets me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek each time we see him. I come away from each hug with the lingering scent of Juan's cologne. In addition to his ever present smile, Juan is a pretty good golfer and a great sport. As the Boy Scout likes to say, you learn a lot about a man after 4 hours on the golf course and I ended up liking Juan even more after the game was over.

 His restaurant is fairly small, divided into two sections and has 6 good size televisions which never cease playing one sport or another. Juan is a die-hard San Diego Padres fan (I am shocked that I even know that fact) and I am not quite sure if he is a loyal San Diego football fan or not. I'll have to find that out next time we go.

 Juan has 4 waitresses. They know our names and greet us warmly whenever we come in. Tanya is a sweetie, with a big smile and a ready, "What can I get you my dears?". She has a Rottweiler that she loves dearly and a boyfriend :)   Evana (sp?) is Tanya sister and is not as outgoing but she smiles sweetly and interacts even if she is not our waitress for the day. She's a little awkward and I love that about her. Kendra, who happens to be Juan's  daughter, was a bit of a hard nut to crack. She is lovely to look at but kind of aloof. I decided to make a concerted effort, so even though the waitresses there keep pretty busy, I would take a moment to inquire, always using her name and showing interest in what was going on with her. I found out about her tattoos and her mother (who lives in Arizona) and her recent graduation from CSUCI with a degree in business. I introduced her to my son and let her know the next time I came in how beautiful he thought she was. It's taken time but finally she has warmed up. She is not uber cheery like Tanya, it's not her nature, but she knows our names and she smiles and inquires about our health or day. 

 If you are ever the the Ventura area it's worth the visit. The food is wonderful. There is beer on tap for the Boy Scout and......On a bad day, it's is comforting to go where everybody knows our name.

Comments

  1. BirdieFebruary 18, 2017 at 3:45 PM

    If I am ever in the Ventura area I am stopping to see you first!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Linda dFebruary 18, 2017 at 4:00 PM

    Then I'll take you there. We'll have a blast💜

    ReplyDelete
  3. MarthaFebruary 18, 2017 at 6:07 PM

    Sounds like a great place. It's obvious the people make it that way. Let me know when Birdie is coming down and I'll join you all :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Debra She Who SeeksFebruary 19, 2017 at 9:06 AM

    What a wonderful place and wonderful people!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

What do you have to say about that?

Popular posts from this blog

A Journey To Home

Image
My tender hearted girl decided she wanted to foster an old lady. Selkie is 14, is nearly deaf and nearly blind, has a hard time walking and uses her bark to get her needs met.  She got her home, took her for a bath and then basically loved this old girl for three weeks until the property manager decided that it wasn’t a good match (barking too much AND because she is a pit bull).  My girl knew it was probably temporary but she gave that dog a comfortable loving home, away from the chaos of the shelter, for a short time.  Ideally, she would have walked her home but that’s not how it worked this time.  Last night she stood and ugly cried on a strangers shoulder after giving her back.  I love that girl and her sweet heart.  I wish Selkie a new final home full of love. 
Read more

Private Eye

Image
We pass by the house frequently since it sits on a busy thoroughfare. We know to look every time we pass and guess what will we see. Will it be the two Dalmatians, sitting on the couch that backs up to the giant panel window, waiting for their human to come home? Or will it be their human, sitting slightly to the right of middle (allowing for a better view of the giant mounted tv across the room) of the said couch. They are never there at the same time. It’s one or the other. One sleepless night, when my body was willing but my brain was not, I did a little sleuthing. It’s amazing what you can find out about a complete stranger.   His name is Gary and, from what I can tell, he’s never been married. He has worked his way up in a air duct company. He’s now the senior VP but it’s a small company and he still goes out on jobs, judging from  the reviews on Yelp. I know he has two siblings and that their father passed away in 2018. His memorial was held in a Buddhist temple and Gary...
Read more

Go!

Image
 Vai. E, se der medo, vai con medo mesmo. When one is raised in an angry family, it’s not enough to say I don’t want to be angry. You must learn how to do it differently. That’s no easy task. If judgment and self hatred became a way of life, a new way to live has to be taught. There are many ways to do it. Reading, writing, sharing, practicing all help the change. Counseling, psychoanalysis, religion, meditation, gratitude, have the ability to transform but I needed to see it in action, it needed to be more tangible, visual, accessible. I needed to understand the possibilities. There is a YouTube channel that I watch over and over again in order to absorb how to live more fully, more open and from the heart. One of the first episodes that I stumbled on is this…. The channel is Reflections of Life and through it we get to meet people who are doing life a little differently, often more soul based. People who are living life, healing wounds and finding what is truly important.  I...
Read more