Posted on by Phil Strawn

The Truth About Ambiance in Tex-Mex Restaurants


After a trip to Frisco Texas for a doctors visit today, Momo and me stopped off at a local Fort Worth Mexican restaurant for an early supper before taking the cattle trail back to Granbury.

Seated, beers in hand, decompressing from two hours of hell on earth Dallas traffic, our Senorita waitress stopped by to drop a bowl of chips and salsa at our table; the usual fare for Tex-Mex food.

Over the years I have told my readers that my social filters have left on the last train to Clarksville, so I’m apt to blurt out any number of insults to no one in particular. The damn music was so loud I couldn’t understand a word the young miss was saying.

“Miss, can you turn down the music, or maybe give me a tablet and a pen so I can write out my order?” I say.

She was well indoctrinated. “Sir, the music is here to add to the ambiance and to make the food more tasty. We want our customers to think they are in old Mexico enjoying a meal while gazing at the Pacific ocean or the Gulf of America.”

Momo is giving me that ” you had better not say it” look, but I did anyway.

In my best old man I mean business voice I say, ” lookey here, Senorita, your food ain’t that good, and the music sucks, I can’t speak Spanish so why do you think I can understand a word that girl is singing? As far as ambiance, I’m looking out the window at the traffic whizzing by on Hulen Street and there is not a palm tree or a beach, or a dude leading a burro with a margarita machine strapped to its back. It’s Fort Worth Texas, not Cancun.”

Thoroughly insulted, she turns and stomps away. A few minuets later, Dire Straits is playing Money For Nothing. I notice all the folks our age are tapping their feet and digging the music. A few words of wisdom: music doesn’t make the food taste better.

Discover more from Notes From The Cactus Patch

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

10 Replies to “The Truth About Ambiance in Tex-Mex Restaurants”

  1. Thanks for this. It is like having cyber old man therapy reading exactly what I go through in a restaurant nowdays. Dodie will be sitting right across the table speaking because the ambient noise is distractive. I can’t tell where all the competing noises are coming from & it sounds like a cross between the Beatles #9 distortions played bavkwards, scratching long finger nails on a chalkboard & the similar ambience you described. Seriously, I try to avoid eateries that feature TV screens, ANY music & none to little accoustic buffering. When I do taking a bite of a tortilla chip, I can’t even hear the crunch in my head.
    Hope the doctor visit was worth it.

    Like

    1. The doctor visit was good. The restaurant was not, and we decided to visit that joint again. Sometimes the best ambiance is silence. We could not hold a conversation because of the screaming music in a language we don’t understand.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Nothing is going to make lousy food taste better but at least you won’t have indigestion AND a headache! Music in restaurants isn’t necessary but if it’s on, it should be in the background; I don’t want to shout at my dinner companions or feel like I’m at Epcot. And we certainly shouldn’t have to read the riot act to our servers (or whatever the PC title is these days). I’m with you, Phil.

    Like

  4. Phil I’m an IT Director for a restuarant chain and other businesses the owner owns..
    They really take that music seriously…the workers do…the guests usually tell them…basically nicer version of what you said. I dont’ get why they think people want it and want it loud… what do they want us to do? Eat in rhythm?

    Like

  5. Come on, Johnny! At least you didn’t have 4 guys in sombreros circling your table, staring at your face, singing and playing accordions and guitars!

    Like

Comments are closed.