photo: Jamie Manser
It's 11 a.m. on a Saturday morning and I'm meeting my 2nd Saturdays compatriot Victoria to talk shop and work on the next event. Being big fans of South Tucson and its wealth of Hispanic culture and wonderful food, we easily agree to a lunch meeting at Crossroads. Neither of us have been there for awhile and we both have memories of enjoying it immensely. Today's lunch shellacks those memories in place.
Crossroads Restaurant, tucked into the southwest corner of 4th Avenue and 36th Street, is a delightful Mexican eatery that resonates with a family vibe. I fantasize about being adopted by a Mexican abuelita (grandma), and how this would be her castle of Saltillo tiled flooring, bright orange vinyl-covered booth seating, pale butternut-colored walls accented by decorative murals and tiles, hanging plants and wooden sculptures of dolphins, sword fish and parrots.
As I'm walking up, Victoria sends me an LOL text about the cheesy soft rock being performed live. I chuckle and know that this is going to be an awesome time.
It was on.
We enjoy friendly and prompt service; our sweet waitress with blue eye shadow and banana-clipped curls hips us to their buffet as we scan the menu. She says it's a breakfast buffet, but we are set on lunch fare. She assures us that it will have what we are looking for, and what we didn't even know we wanted. We know we want chili relleno, and our gal says it's a-coming.
We kibbitz a bit while we keep our eyes out for the fresh pan of chili relleno. When it arrives, we jump up, grab our plates and gleefully accept servings of queso smothered heaven. Victoria happily notes the light and fluffy crispiness of the dish - I concur with a mouthful moan and an affirmative nod.
All the offerings are palate pleasing goodness. The mini-chimis are heavy on the beef and light on the tortilla; the cheese quesadilla I don with frijoles y salsa caliente is muy muy bueno.
Victoria swears by the menudo rojo, and I believe her. As we discuss the event plans, we are sonically bombarded by a two-man banda rocking out on a tricked out keyboard. We giggle as the set ranges from silly songs to Top 40 music, from traditional Mexican ballads to the Elmo ditty and the alphabet.
We laugh, but we really do enjoy the music. I realize later that the keyboard player is blind, and I fall in deeper love with Crossroads and the talent in South Tucson.
Red menudo? Check. Chili relleno, dripping queso? Check. Meaty mini-chimis? Check. Salsa caliente? Check. High quality buffet for $5.99? Check.
Crossroads is located at 2602 S. 4th Ave. Call 624-0395 for more info.
