1. CHICO'S TACOS
My cousin Cassie and I would like to give Chico’s Taco’s a slogan, “It’s all about the experience.” No one can really experience El Paso, until they’ve tried Chico’s Tacos. This is a cheap fast food restaurant on the east side of town. It’s greasy, you don’t know if the meat is cow, cat, or human, it makes you feel terrible after consuming it, but it’s delicious and worth it.
2. DESERT AND ROCK YARDS
Funny Story. When Shane and I moved into our townhouse here in Pelham, AL, we were estimating what changes we would have to our utility bills going into a bigger place than our small apartment. I told him we needed to remember to water the yard so our grass would grow, and that would up our water bill. He thought it was so funny, he called his dad and told him the story (Shane’s family is from Louisiana). Needless to say, I found out you don’t have to water the yard to get grass here because it rains enough to make life greener here in the south east. Well, this is not the case in El Paso. People in El Paso have to water their yards to have grass, and if they want to conserve water, they have rocks put in their yards. I kind of miss seeing this.
3. FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS
I miss the mountains. If you look at the picture closely, you see some red dirt that in the middle of the mountain, and it’s kind of in the shape of a bird. The first high school I went to (Coronado High) got their mascot from this. They’re the Thunder Birds, which sounds like the lamest mascot ever if you didn’t know about the mountain.
4. BYLER’S HOUSE DURING HALOWEEN
If you have ever traveled down Belvedere Road on the west side of El Paso, chances are you have taken notice in an old white truck parked on the side of the road with “Jesus Saves” spray painted in blue on the back of it. This truck belongs to the Bylers, and I have seldom seen it anywhere else but parked on the side of the road by their house. Anyway, the Bylars are the coolest family ever, and their favorite time of year is fall, and favorite holiday is Halloween. They deck out, and it’s the best place to stop for anyone in the neighborhood on Halloween night.
5. MAGIC PAN
The Magic Pan is my favorite restaurant of all time. It’s kind of a girly place. It’s a little restaurant and shop tied together, and this restaurant has the perfect food for the perfect atmosphere. They serve soup/ sandwich kind of stuff (gourmet and delicious) and you have the choice of sitting inside or outside in their garden patio area. At one point in time my mom and I were coming in every Saturday for lunch, and had a the same waitress every time, whom eventually stopped asking us for our order and just brought what we wanted to us within 5 minutes of us sitting down. I love this place so much I wish I could influence them to set up a restaurant here in Birmingham
6. THE GREENERY
Oh, the Greenery. Think of any muffin you would like to enjoy. The Greenery probably has it, and it’s delicious. They, like the Magic Pan, are a soup/salad/sandwich kind of place, but they also have a really good breakfast selection.
7. CASA JURARDO
Casa “Jurardo” is hard to pronounce for my family, so we refer to this delightful restaurant as “Casa J’s.” Their salsa is my favorite, which is why I brought it into my “Top 20” list.
8. AVILA’S
There are two Mexican restaurants that are owned and operated by the same family have been around for years, and years, and years and they are Leo’s and Avila’s. My family, and my family’s family used to go to Leo’s on a regular basis, but then my family soon discovered their family’s other Mexican restaurant Avila’s. I would come with my family every Friday night to eat dinner at Avila’s. Not only do I love the food, and the free sopapillas, but what I really enjoy about this place is when I walk in I feel like I’m at my family reunion. Most of the staff has been there since I was an infant, and I delight in seeing everyone when I come visit.
9. THE MEXICAN STORE THAT'S BEEN “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS” FOR 3+ YEARS
This is probably Shane’s favorite thing about El Paso. There’s this Mexican Store in the mall that has been supposedly going out of business for probably 3 years now. Their stuff is fairly cheap, and Shane loves to pick up his El Paso souveniers here.
10. MARIACHI BANDS
Ok, this is obviously not a pure El Paso thing, but how often can I see Mariachi bands in Birmingham, AL? I remember seeing a mariachi band play at the first high school I went to during our lunch break. How many people can say that in the southeast?
11. JACKSON'S
There’s really nothing super special about Jackson’s, other than they are a local restaurant that has been around for years, and are really delicious. I like their burgers. And everything on their menu.
12. TAX-FREE GROCERIES
Enough said.
13. THE FACT THAT I LIVED IN TEXAS BUT WENT TO SCHOOL EVERYDAY IN NEW MEXICO
Where else can you go to TX, NM, and Mexico in the same day?
14. BLOWING UP 4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS IN THE DESERT
Cause we don’t have to worry about forest fires.
15. THE WALKING TRAIL ON RESLER DR. WHERE THE CITY IS TO YOUR LEFT, AND DESERT AND MOUNTAINS ARE TO YOUR RIGHT
16. THE FACT THAT WHEN IT RAINS, IT FLOODS
It’s obviously not cool for the semi truck in this picture, or any of the houses that get damaged, but it’s fun when you’re a kid and you get together with your neighborhood friends and basically swim in the street. There’s no real drainage for rain because I guess it doesn’t rain often enough to justify it.
17. SCORPIONS IN POPSICLES
Not an El Paso original, but not something you would see…definitely not something you would see kids eating here in Alabama.
- PUTT PUTT GOLF, ADVENTURE ZONE, AND BOB-OS.
I thought it was normal for people to have several places in their local town to play putt putt golf, go cart, and archade games, but apparently not.
19. THE CITY LIGHTS
You can’t see that when there are trees everywhere. The star on the mountain is pretty cool too. I miss seeing that.
20. COWBOYS AND RODEOS
I think any man that puts on a cowboy hat looks way hotter than without. Maybe that’s the Texan girl inside of me, but yeah.
