Restarante Mas Fino

Mazatlan madness

Topolo Restarante Mas Fino

Mazatlan Garden Dining

November 2008

Mazatlan Mexico

Unwinding after our trip across the Mar De Cortez, Naty and I were just bumming around Mazatlan, checking out the sights and being gringo tourists. We were wandering around the center of town, ciudad central, doing some shopping. Or at least Naty was doing some shopping. It's one of my least favored activities, as shopping is not the same as wanting to buy something. For example, when I want to buy something, such as a hammer, I go to a hardware store, evaluate the product and buy. Shopping is entirely different... Whatever. Naty was shopping and I was her bodyguard.

It started to get warm, and although late for lunch, it wasn't too late for an early dinner, but I wasn't too hungry. You know how that goes. And then we stumbled on the most delightful garden spot of a restaurant, called Topolo, just a few blocks away from the central shopping district. Wandering through the garden entrance, the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit, relative to the desert like conditions out in the street. Such a lovely spot I thought, so we sat down for a drink to bring the temperature down even further. Discussing the pros and cons of various drinks with the owner/waiter, we settled on a Mexican Margarita after he responded with obvious consternation when I asked what went into a Mexican Margarita. 'Well sir', he asked. 'What would you put in a margarita other than tequila, Controy, ice and limon?', limons being the smallish limes that are referred to key limes in south Florida, and Contry would be the delicious Mexican knock off of the French Countreau.

I was sold, and it was a great margarita, after which Naty wanted to go shopping again! Not ready for that just yet, I kept putting her off until we struck a bargain for her to go shopping and I'd wait for her at Topolos. Great idea I was thinking at the time. So Naty took off on a shopping bender, and I ordered another Mexican Margarita just to be sure I wasn't wrong about how good the first one was (a different sort of bender).

An hour later and developing a pretty good buzz, I was wondering if I should order another, or call in the local gendarmes to go find Naty. I thought about giving her a holler on the cell phones we carried, but knowing Naty and her cell phone battery being a little low, I was doubtful that would work. The owner meanwhile starting to get maybe a little nervous about the loss of his two gringo dinners, wandered over to find out if he could be of help. There was a moderate language barrier between us, but I was able to make myself understood that 'mi espousa' was missing in action, and I couldn't order diner until she returned. So there we were, wondering what to do if anything, when my phone rang! It was Naty and she was lost. This could get serious in a hurry, as Naty has a somewhat anomalous sense of direction, even when the road signs are written in English. By this time, we were standing in the road and looking every direction to see if we could see Naty, all the while the owner giving me directional hints that I was forwarding to Naty, perhaps not to successfully, two margaritas remember. When who should appear around the corner a couple blocks away, but Naty, looking just slightly bedraggled and moderately contrite. It's not very often she starts a shopping trip with a margarita, and the work involved and losing her sense of where she was had gotten to her.

No matter. She was finally here at Topolos, dinner was ordered and we ordered another Mexican Margarita, just to be sure the first two weren't mistakes. A wonderful dinner followed, and punctuated the end of a wonderful day.

All's well that ends well!