Hidden El Paso Gems – The Mission Cafe Edition

The Mexican Food Cook-off is Saturday at the San Jacinto Plaza in downtown El Paso, and Monika told us about the Battle of the Rock and Roll Mariachi's, Patty Campos let us in on the secret to her mom's famous salsa, and Mike gave us the Best 5 Hole in the Wall Mexican Restaurants.  My turn!

I hipped you to this excellent hole in the wall last year, and I thought I'd throw it out there again because it is the best Mexican food in the city!

Darren doesn’t work on Fridays, so after I get home from work, we tend to go out somewhere to have a late breakfast or an early lunch.  One of our favorites on the east side is the Mission Cafe.  The food is outstanding, and the family that runs it has the whole customer service thing down to a T!

As you can see, the front of the restaurant isn’t much, but that’s because it’s all about the food at The Mission Cafe at 3350 Wedgewood, right next door to Macadoo's.  They are open for breakfast and lunch, and let me tell you, make sure you're very hungry when you go!

Darren got the ham and cheese torta, which got us talking about Fred’s in Juarez and eating one of their sangwiches after a long night of, um, studying, yeah, we were studying Mom!

The torta was made with a bunch of the really thin Mexican ham that had been perfectly griddled before being slathered with what seemed like a pound of guacamole and carefully placed on the best bolillo, like, EVER!  I ordered a bowl of caldo de res and got a vat of delicious beef, tons of potatoes, carrots, cabbage and a huge portion of rice on the side.  We ate like crazy!

The Mission Cafe is one of those places where you would swear your grandma is in the kitchen, but in reality, it's Jose Alvarado who is dishing up the magic!  It may be a restaurant, but Jose and his wife Marta and their family will make you believe that you’re the only one they’re cooking for!

Check out the Mission Cafe, a Hidden El Paso Gem!