Santa Fe vs. Las Cruces: You can have both

As a rule, I avoid attempting to eat any real food at a convenience store. My stomach still turns at memories of microwave burritos from 7-11 in the 1980s. And have you seen those unidentifiable fried things under the heat lamps at Allsups? My blood pressure and cholesterol go up just by walking by the the little glass window on the counter. I've never had the nerve to actually try to eat something at Allsups.
For me, the only real purposes of convenience stores (especially on road trips) are to:
1. use the rest room
2. fill up with gas
3. get an RC Cola (if they have them)
4. get a water (if they don't have RC)
5. grab a Moon Pie or peanut butter cheese crackers (the kind with the unnaturally orange hue) or a banana (usually harder to find in a convenience store than RC Cola)
But here in Las Cruces, I found another genuine reason to visit a convenience store.
It's the Santa Fe Grill inside Pic Quik. And you have your choice of several locations in the area.
I visited based on the recommendation of co-worker Eric Seo. In fact, a fair portion of the Sun-News newsroom seems to subsist on the Santa Fe Grill burrito.
I was skeptical, however, those 7-11 memories still burning in my gut.
Walking in the Pic Quik on Avenida de Mesilla (near the Valley intersection), I felt OK. The store is nice, roomy and airy. I walked over to the Santa Fe Grill, surprised to find, well, an actual grill there.

Working the grill this evening was a young man named Tony. Eric had suggested I try the Mario Brothers burrito. For a while, I thought he was just making up the name, so I'd feel goofy when I ordered it and got a blank stare.
But at Pic Quik, I saw the roster of about 52 burritos, and Mario Brothers was about the most normal-sounding name. The list read about like the list of band names from the Warped Tour. I'm looking forward to trying the Deer Hunter and the Devil's Breath in the future.
Tony was friendly and helpful, and he actually asked me how my day was. Not typical convenience-store employee behavior.
The Mario Brothers burrito is surely no healthier than an Allsups chimichanga, but at least it's fresher.
Tony tossed what seemed like a pound each of ham, bacon, beef, potatoes, and green chile on the grill and started working it, with the tortilla warming on the side.
When the meat was cooked, Tony started gathering it to put on the tortilla. I glanced at the giant mound of meat, then back at the tortilla. I glanced again at the meat, and again at the tortilla. I thought, There's no way he's getting all that meat on that tortilla. He did get it on the tortilla, however, then tried something even more daring.
He lifted the tortilla, meat and all, and carried it over to the other counter to top it with cheese. I just knew he would spill the meat, or the tortilla would break and everything would fall on the floor.
But everything made it safely, as if he'd done it 100 times already that day, which he probably had.

Then he began his boldest move: Trying to fold the tortilla.
Yeah, right, I thought as he began to fold, but fold he did, and almost everything stayed inside. Though I feared that later, when I bit into it, it might explode.
"Do you want salsa?" he asked.
"Yes," I said, and he reached for the small plastic containers of salsa.
"I'll give you three," he said. "That's a big burrito."
Tony does not lie.
When I actually got to eat it, I was even more impressed. Tons of flavor, the right amount of heat, and the salsa was a good complement.
I've heard people brag about Santa Fe Grill cooks at other Pic Quik locations. But as another co-worker, sports editor Teddy Feinberg, said, "Tony's our man!"
I smell a competition coming on ...

Shifting gears a bit, I wanted to follow up on an earlier blog comment about the crazy streets in Las Cruces.
The crazy street situation is exacerbated because, at times, there is little or no indication when a street may suddenly go from four lanes to two, or two lanes to one, or if a lane is a turn-only lane or a straight-only lane. More than once, I've had to go a block or more out of my way because I was forced to turn when I didn't want to, or missed a turn lane and had to go straight.
But here's the thing: Almost everybody in Las Cruces is aware of this, and they are extremely friendly about letting you squeeze in.
Some of the maneuvers I've done here would have gotten me multiple honks and hand gestures in Dallas or LA. But here, every one slows down and waves you in.
Very cool.

And naturally, that stuff is contagious. Now I find myself letting someone in at times normally I would have thought, You have to wait your turn, too, buddy.
The nice traffic behavior seems to contradict something else I've discovered about Las Cruces: People like to curse.
I lived in nearby Alamogordo for 11 years, and I think people in Las Cruces curse about 137 percent more than people in Alamogordo. But they don't do it in an aggressive, nasty way. It's just part of their everyday conversation. In fact, I don't think I've seen anyone in Las Cruces yet who wasn't smiling or happy when they cursed. They do it in professional settings, public settings, private settings, just about anywhere.
Obviously, I know there are times when people in Las Cruces — as everywhere — curse in violent anger. I have not witnessed that yet here, but that's not what I'm talking about anyway, dammit. Unfortunately, that stuff is contagious, too.
It's just a freaking observation that people in Las Cruces seem to really enjoy their cursing. Hell, yeah!