Day: March 4, 2021

Bar & GrillBurgersTexasUnited States

The Golden Light Cafe & Cantina – Amarillo, Texas

Gil Garduno

Published in 1938, John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novels ever written. Replete with timeless themes of struggle, destitution, injustice, and the pursuit of a delusive “Promised Land,” the novel centers around the trevails of the Joad family.  Along with thousands of other tenant farmers from Oklahoma who lost their livelihood and property because of the Dust Bowl, the Joads travel the relatively nascent Route 66 toward California and the pursuit of a piece of land to call their own. Every night on their journey, the Joads and their fellow migrants witnessed man’s inclinations toward desperation, violence, and murderous anger as well as generousity and respect.   We couldn’t help but think about…

BarbecueDog FriendlyNew Mexico

Watson’s BBQ – Tucumcari, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

The Wikipedia article on Eastern New Mexico describes the region as “mostly characterized by flat featureless terrain,” even likening it to West Texas: “Like much of the Llano Estacado region, Eastern New Mexico is largely agricultural and resembles West Texas in geography, culture, economy, and demographics.”  While Eastern New Mexico may not be back-dropped by spectacular mountain ranges or bisected by the murky Rio Grande, it’s got an enchantment all its own even if the Wikipedia writer can’t see it.  It’s also got something else the Rio Grande Corridor, for all its population centers and cultural diversity, can’t match.  It’s got long-standing barbecue traditions that, not surprisingly, have their roots in Texas.  By comparison, barbecue along the Rio Grande Corridor…