Diego’s Mexican Restaurant
There’s a Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood! I realize that in many areas of the states a new Mexican restaurant is nothing special and certainly nothing to get excited about. But you’ve got to understand; I live in Hawai’i. We here in the islands have several fine restaurants and a wide variety of cuisines, but for some reason there are a few ethnicities with very little food representation.
Years ago when I was twelve years old, my parents sent me off to California to spend summer vacation with my grandparents. It was a great opportunity for my grandparents and I to spend time with one another. There was only one catch to my going to California; before returning to the islands, I needed to get burritos from a certain Mexican restaurant. I bought as many burritos that could fit into a large shoebox, and carried them onto the plane. Yes, my parents were happy to have me back, but they were excited about those burritos. It’s just a guess, but it may have been the longest take-out order for burritos in modern history.
Since that time, there have been a couple of good Mexican restaurants to pop up in Hawai’i, but still they are far and few between. When I first saw the sign of Diego’s in my neighborhood, I did a double-take. The place is literally a hole in the wall, seating a maximum of sixteen. Most of the orders appear to be take-out. It’s certainly not fine dining, and they don’t serve margaritas. But the place is clean and nicely decorated, and the staff is very friendly and from what I have seen, always busy. One promising sign for me was when I overheard the people in the kitchen speaking Spanish.
There are a number of selections on the menu, all of which are inexpensive. I did the taste-test yesterday of their beef burrito with homemade guacamole, which is so big it requires two hands to hold. The beef is spicy marinated steak, not that ground beef Taco Bell stuff. Delicioso y sabroso. Diego’s is certainly a great place for lunch. I’m so glad to see a little bit of Mexico in my neighborhood.