El Mariachi

    We are probably the only people you know who would make a quarter-year together celebration out of a visit to a Mexican grocery. But what a Mexican grocery! I mention it, though, because anyone who might be surfing in from our hometown Columbia SC might have a little trouble finding it, even online. El Mariachi as far as the Internet is concerned is a store on US 378. It's a fine store, too, but a little small. Their newer location on Decker is still listed under its former name. This one, though, is vast. Described in the one article about it we found online as "larger than Trader Joe's." Tamara called it the Whole Foods of Mexican stores, although I think she did it in Spanish. She was looking for some fairly obscure ingredients, popular in Latin America but impossible to find here. They were all in this El Mariachi, none in the other one nor in the other store I searched. So if you're in the 803, take the Decker Boulevard exit from I-77 and look out on your left. What a place!
    We also found authentic Latin food very nearby at Taqueria Jalisco I think it was. El Mariachi also had a restaurant but it was a little weird since no one was there. The checker said you walk up and tell the lady (whom we hadn't seen when we were back there) what you want and they cook it. Might be great, but we went with the better-reviewed place. Tonight, we go swanky. Hey, you only have one quarter-year together celebration!