Summary:Rare Mexican
place near St. Mary's College
(2 crabs out of 5)
Karen-Biologists will tell you that some
genes in our cells, after millennia of productive use, become
obsolete in the never-ending evolutionary rush towards the advanced
creatures we are and will most certainly become. These tiny encoded
instructions and compulsions lie dormant all our lives. Sometimes,
however, I can feel one in particular starting up again, and invariably
it happens while traveling or, in this case, while staying in
residence away from my non-college home. That gene is the tourist
gene, which begs me to carry cameras and remark quizzically, but
most of all to sample the true essence of the culture as exemplified
by the food. In this state I have gone to many a restaurant in
St. Mary's County, trying to appreciate the diversity of cultural
experiences. Seafood has been a must-have, but in going to Mattie's
(previously the Pure Luck bar) along ***, I feel I have witnessed
another chunk of the culture that has been said to have both the
most churches and the most liquor stores of any other county in
Maryland.
The building is divided into two neatly delineated sections-half
is a normal, dark-wood pub, which at noon was stocked with men
at the bar and ordering drinks and some lunch. The other half
reminds me of craft shows I have been to with my mother-dolls,
frills and quaint homemade-looking signs. The metaphorical significance
was almost too much to bear. We opted for the craft room, and
were served by a friendly waitress who reminded me slightly of
the motherly-yet-stern ones you will find in Baltimore's diners.
The food is mostly classic fare-BLTs, club sandwiches, etc.,
with fries or chips, and the special of the day, which turned
out to be surprisingly a bean or beef burrito. Not being able
to resist the sheer dissonance of eating Mexican in an American
craft-show atmosphere, that was the choice. As we waited for
our food, we listened to the country music floating out of the
kitchen and the sounds of "Wheel of Fortune" drifting
out from the bar.
The splendor of any Mexican food seems to be the combination
of tastes and textures. American hamburgers and french fries
start to go there with the classic beef and vegetable mix, but
the combination of rice, beans, the burrito and its coverings
make for all the instruments in the mouth's orchestra to go off
at once. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. In this
case, being served as it was in a small St. Mary's restaurant,
the whole orchestra was beautiful even if the individual instruments
weren't up to full potential. The burrito comes with sour cream,
salsa, Spanish rice and beans, and is itself covered in cheese
and filled with beef (in my case). The beef was strongly reminiscent
of chili in the flavoring and I found the rice to lack that certain
ethnic pizazz, to the point of being soggy. All together it worked
well, however. The cool sour cream balanced out the hot chili
taste, serving as melody, and the rice and refried beans filled
out the bass level, with the cheese acting as a the drum beat
that draws it all together.
Mattie's costs about five dollars a plate, give or take (more
for fries, less for chips). The major advantage of it is that
it is very close by to the college (maybe ten minutes away) and
quick if you are running out to the store and have your genes
are urging that McDonald's and Subway are as eternal and ubiquitous
as Walmart, but such samples of local ambiance and flavor are
on short-term supply only.
