Sparse Crowd, the Target's notes.

Eye on avoiding landfall. Holidays backside, 7/11/2018.

   When you live near the beach you become very accessible. Watt and Wife are into their second summer near the water, but both seem to relish their visitation opportunities. This week they were especially enjoying it...straight out of Oswego (IL), the good side of the family came to visit. LWatt's sister and nieces were here all week. However, before I could meet them they had to make it to the beach. It seems the near perfect LWatt had mistakenly left her keys in the car for the entire week resulting in a battery that was down for the count. But exhibiting skills few thought he possessed, boosted by a little surf adrenaline, Wattman had the battery jumped in a jiff and they arrived only a few minutes late. Six heading to the beach looked to be more of a caravan than quick jaunt. Still, we  managed to settle in quickly on a relatively sparsely crowded shore as Watt headed out into the surf. Not real big, the swell was maybe two feet or so. With the tide coming in, it was obvious that the conditions were weakening. And breaking close to shore. For Wattman, with this crowd watching, the pressure was on. Surprisingly, he delivered, picking off several decent rides. A couple of the early falls did bring laughter from the beach-side peanut gallery, though he mounted a comeback. Carving into a handful of workable rights, and a backside quickie proved enough to mildly impress the beach crowd. Scratching into a mini cruiser, he did a last call and we closed up shop for the evening.

   With this size group we needed somewhere new and affordable. Wattman's first choice had been the Phillips North experiment in Mexican style shore-food; the Bayside Cantina at 130th street. Upon arrival I had immediately sensed trouble in the research lab. Only 8:30pm, and there were only three cars in the lot. It's now mid-July in O City. Prime time for all bars and restaurants, but here the crowd was so sparse there weren't enough people in the place to pay the light bill. After a short debate, Watt already had a second choice in mind. Another new Mexican joint...Loca Madre. Part of the Crab Cake Factory chain, we had high hopes as we entered.

Once again we encountered a very sparse crowd. After a bit of a Mexican dance between tables, we ended up at a tall table against the wall. Watt and I ordered a couple of beers which were served in plastic cups...and we weren't even outside. With this being a Mexican themed locale, I was expecting a free bowl of chips and salsa to munch on as we decided on our meal, but it didn't happen. After some indecision, we ordered the Chicken Fajitas, Spicy Texas BBQ Wings, and a couple of Spicy Beef Tacos.

The fajitas, while served very hot, were lacking flavor and we had to ask for cheese. The wings were over spiced, over sauced, the meat was dry (which was plausibly why they were over sauced),and breaded. Once again we have encountered the dreaded breaded wing. Have we not suffered enough? Can not the simple wing be left as it was meant to be...naked? A wing is so simple yet so many do such terrible things to it. The tacos were just average.

I have nothing to say really. I ate it and it was gone. Thus the Patrol ended with few highlights in the foodie division. The interior was nice. Plenty of big flat-screens. Music. But we had to ask, will this place be open in a year? Are Mexican restaurants past their prime, with no place in a resort's prime time? The only answer we had was we would not be back anytime soon.

THE RATINGS-

Chicken Fajitas: C+

Texas BBQ Wings: C-

Spicy Beef Tacos: C-

Beer: C

Atmosphere: B-

Value: C+
Overall Score = 2.13