March 2009 Archives

Waterloo Region has, for as long as I’ve cared about the issue, had a dearth of good, authentic Mexican restaurants. The food that calls itself Mexican is either fast food, or of the heftier, greasier Tex-Mex variety. There was Guelph’s Latino’s restaurant to fill some of the cravings, but its style was more Latin American than specifically Mexican.

So, it was with some anticipation and a little bit of dread that my wife Erin, my mother-in-law Rosemarie and I gathered up the kids and tried out Taco Bite, an authentic Mexican restaurant that has just opened up in the heart of downtown Kitchener. The good news was, the food was authentic, and worth the wait. The bad news is, if you go, you have to expect a wait.

Taco Bite is located on the second story of a small commercial building on King Street, just east of Queen. You have to go up a steep set of stairs to get to the restaurant (which is not wheelchair accessible, I believe), giving it the feel of a secretive little find. That said, the restaurant itself is spacious and although it is sparsely decorated, it manages to evoke a decent Mexican atmosphere.

Vivian ordered the chicken enchiladas, while Erin decided to try the nachos supreme. Rosemarie and I each had the Mexican fajitas. Each dish was expertly prepared, and Erin’s nachos supreme put Taco Bell’s offering of the same name to shame. The food in all cases was delicate (although the red sauce of Vivian’s enchiladas had quite a kick to it), with the ground beef on the nachos bearing a faint hint of cinnamon. The fajitas offered sizable chunks of beef, chicken and a good portion of shrimp, along with onions, green peppers and red peppers that were caramelizing on the hot plate. We ate everything and had no left overs.

The only drawback of the evening was the service. The servers seemed a little overwhelmed by all the customers, with our server taking several minutes to come to the table to take our order, but it was the kitchen that appeared to be struggling the most, almost as if each dish was worked on one at a time. My father, coming to the restaurant with two friends, noted a twenty minute gap between his first friend receiving his meal to the last meal (his own) being served.

Erin, Rosemarie and I were able to make the best of this situation, by eating our dinner family-style, with everybody sampling from every dish as they came. This provided us with a good selection of wonderful tastes which salvaged the evening and made it special, but the restaurant needs to work on their service problems, or adapt to their limitations (perhaps by encouraging family-style eating), so that fewer customers are disappointed.

This restaurant serves excellent Mexican food and deserves to stay in business. And although the place seemed busy enough when we were there, I hope that these customers remain satisfied enough to keep coming.

Taco Bite is located 24 King Street East, 2nd Floor, Kitchener.Apparently a location exists in Cambridge at 1203 King Street East, near Union Street.

Further Reading

• Waterloo Region Record: A Real Mexican Comes to Town
• Further details from the Waterloo Region Record

Had an interesting experience last Wednesday. Just as I was getting ready for bed, a police car pulls into my drive. I also saw another one across the street. An officer rang my door bell. When I answered he informed me that a phone in my house had called 911 and that is why he was here. He asked me if I was all right and if everything in the house was fine. “Yes,” I replied quite surprised at the situation. He told me to check my phones as some phones dial 911 when their battery is about to fail. It was my main phone beside my computer - it’s battery was dead and there was no dial tone. It hadn’t given me any warning; just dailed 911 and died. Now that is not an emergency so why is it allowed. It was a GE phone with a lithium battery. Rather than replace the battery and have this happen again in five years I bought a new phone that takes regular AA batteries and gives me a warning when the battery is running low. Though very disappointed in my old phone (and embarrassed by it) I am very impressed with the 911 service and the understanding and polite officer they sent.

What is a maker you ask? A maker is a person imbued with the do-it-yourself (DIY) spirit, someone who would rather create than buy. A maker is bold and creative and they blur the lines between technology and art. O’Reilly Media has been capturing the maker spirit for awhile now with their Make: magazine. I’ve been an avid follower of the magazine’s blog. It’s full of more-than-interesting accounts and pointers to how-to instructions for projects that boggle the mind. I’ve written on my personal blog calling out to makers to form a group in our area. This, however is a public call out to local people of the maker persuasion to band together and find a space of their own, a “hackerspace”.

A hackerspace has been described as “a YMCA for geeks and artists”. In short, it’s a shared workshop with tools and equipment necessary to make stuff. But a hackerspace is more than the physical building and the tools it contains. The real value is the community involved, how they learn from and inspire each other, and how they reach out to the community.

If you’re interested in this idea, take a look at the wiki setup to describe the effort to setup a hackerspace in the Region of Waterloo…

http://watspace.pbwiki.com/

… and be sure to spread the word.

On Tuesday March 24, 2009 the Grand River Conservation Authority is holding a charity event. It’s the President’s Gala - A Celebration of Youth and Conservation, where you will be able to hear from the renknowned Severn Cullis-Suzuki, daughter of environmentalist David Suzuki. Severn, active in environmental causes since age 9 speaks around the world, encouraging youth and adult alike to think hard about our world and how we treat it.

Tickets are $150.00 each. For details, check out the information page at the GRCA site.