by Melanie Pineda
The pandemic not only affected learning at school, it also affected several local food establishments that have been traditionally popular with St. Mary’s students. As the pandemic began several restaurants had to close and lost their customer base. The families, friends, couples, teenagers, sports teams, and others who in the past had regularly gone to restaurants for celebrations or a fun night out suddenly stayed away. Now that we are all trying to get back to “normal”, many restaurants are opening back up and would love to have you stop in for a bite. The next time you’re out with your friends, you might want to consider some of these places.
Due to COVID-19 this vintage diner with a 1950’s theme is currently closed down but is coming back later this month. It has been serving the local community since 1938, MacAlpine’s Diner & Soda Fountain. While you eat, 50’s and 60’s music is playing in the background. This retro diner offers burgers, salads, sandwiches, sundaes, pies and more. Drinks on the menu are soda pop, Italian soda, French soda, Egg creams and phosphate, which is soda water with tart citric acid it, and you can choose from a variety of flavors.
Have you ever had dinner in a trolley car? Now’s your chance! The Old Spaghetti Factory, with turn-of-the-century decor and the food is served as a three course meals that includes bread with soup or salad, a traditional Italian entree, and spumoni or vanilla ice cream for dessert. This restaurant also offers unusual drinks such as Cotton Limeade, Italian Cream Soda, and an orange cream soda milkshake. The Old Spaghetti Factory closed at the beginning of the pandemic and reopened in April, 2020, for pickup and delivery. The restaurant is now completely open, offering sit-down service. The Murder Mystery Company, a national award winning theatre company works with the old spaghetti factory and offers murder mystery dinners. This is a perfect place to take your family and friends for a fun night out!
Visit Coach Hollerbach’s family restaurant, Comedor Guadalajara! In addition to terrific Mexican cuisine, this restaurant offers a variety of Mexican desserts such as flan, plantains with ice cream, churros, and capirotada w/ ice cream. With entree prices ranging from $10 to $20, such as tacos, enchiladas, chimichangas, soup, seafood, and more. This place has a very welcoming environment and will make you feel like you’ve taken a quick trip south of the border.
Are you thirsty for some real horchata? Tacos Tijuana has just what you need. Offering affordable, authentic Mexican food, with a simple menu and a long history, the restaurant offers a wide variety of taco choices with prices starting as low as $2.50. Additionally, the menu includes Mexican drinks such as, horchata, jamaica, manzanita, and more. Although restaurant operations were cut back to allow for social distancing and other hygiene measures. Tacos tijuana did not close during the pandemic and now they’re ready to get back to pre-pandemic operations. If you’re in a hurry and want to stop for food, Taco tijuana serves small portions of food, as well as big. The tacos are small because when this taco business first started, it was meant for workers on a run. However, once you enter this restaurant, you won’t want to leave!
