Worth the trip

Mrs. Bob and I have lived in a number of places in this country, and have grown up with a love of good Mexican food. You can imagine our disappointment on moving to Pittsburgh at the lack of good Mexican restaurants. Sure there’s Taco Bell, but that doesn’t count. There used to be a few Chi Chi’s, before they killed three people in Pittsburgh, and then they all closed. But then they didn’t count anyway either. There’s El Campesino which isn’t bad, but isn’t particularly satisfying either. And there is Mad Mex, which we do like. But they are really boutique specialty restaurants, which have great burritos, but not a wide variety of Mexican offerings. So, nine years later, we had pretty much given up on the Mexican food we yearned for IN Pittsburgh.

Well, I am happy to report that we have found a Mexican restaurant that we actually like. It comes in the most unlikely of places, with the most unlikely of names: The Franklin Inn. The picture of the restaurant on their web page makes it look like what you might expect to be a Mexican restaurant. However in two visits we have never seen the cactus nor the lone burro rider pictured. And the sign depicted in the drawing with an indistinguishable image on it, has when you see it in person, a line drawing of Benjamin Franklin on it. A curious image for a Mexican restaurant. I am sure the name comes from being in the borough of Franklin Park. It was apparently a restaurant specializing in colonial American cuisine (whatever that is) before being bought by a local couple in 1978, and turned into a Mexican restaurant. Apparently it was also featured as one of the filming locations in the 1999 film Dogma. Have to go back and look at that one again. But I digress (what else is new).

It is a homey little place, way off the beaten path, unless you live in the northern boroughs. Both times we have been there, it has been packed, with the colorful locals, which I guess includes us by now. It is friendly, and homey in a uniquely Pittsburgh way. The bar is small, with an oversized flat panel screen. But then that’s all the better to watch the local sports heroes do their thing (this IS Pittsburgh after all). They serve their delicious margaritas, mixed or blended, in mason jars, which we find charming. The menu has a good variety of tex-mex standards, alongside more traditional Southwest and Mexican offerings. We’ve only been there twice, so we can’t recommend the entire menu. Most of what we have sampled has been quite good. In our second trip, the chicken in the burrito was rather flavorless, but everything else was delicious. I have been hankering for a good chile relleno since leaving West Liberty Iowa, where we lived in a town of 3,000, that had 3 amazing Mexican restaurants. Chiles relleno are as individual as the restaurants that serve them, and I am happy to report that theirs are tasty. All in all, we are happy with our new find. It is not haute cuisine, but we will happily return.