Battling the Bell: Is it worth the upgrade?

Taco Bell

2197 W. Broad St.

706-548-7160

2075 Barnett Shoals Rd.

706-543-5355

By STEPHANIE JACKSON

We all have our favorite foods. We have that food that makes us happy, even if it’s done badly.

So it’s not that surprising that so many of us order the same thing no matter where we go. For me, that food is a chicken quesadilla. It’s a safe bet that no matter what Mexican restaurant I go to, that’s what I’ll be ordering.

But let’s face facts. I’m a college student, I’m poor and I’m overloaded with work. I don’t do a whole lot of dine-in ordering.

That’s why my quesadilla favorite often take the form of Taco Bell combo number seven: a chicken quesadilla, taco and large drink. Add in some nachos for a side dish, and I’ve got my favorite meal in fast food form, all for less than $6.

Make all the jokes you want about quality, but I love Taco Bell. It’s not just about price; I love the whole experience. I get a kind of pride in spending fewer than five minutes to pick up food on a study break. I enjoy the loud, argumentative cooks and cashiers at my local Taco Bell – they always fill you in and let you join the argument.

The place isn’t caught up in itself. Managers don’t care if the drive thru guy calls a lady “sweetie,” and for some reason, not even my feminist side can convince me that I’m no okay with a well-placed “honey” on my way past the window.

To be honest, if you didn’t know you had a $2 quesadilla in your hands, you wouldn’t guess. No, there’s nothing fresh about it, but all those herbs and spices an upscale place might use are covered in the extra tangy jalapeno sauce slathered over the bits of chicken. I’ve never had a Taco Bell quesadilla that wasn’t cooked to the perfect crunchy-soft balance, and believe me, I’ve had a lot.

It’s a pajamas at 1 a.m. place, and in this college town, we’ve all been there a time or two well past our bed times.

But I know this isn’t a real quesadilla. Its not overstuffed with real white meat chicken and covered in melted Monterrey jack cheese. It’s not so thick that I have to use a knife and some amount of force to cut it. It isn’t a Mexicali quesadilla.

On the nights that I don’t wind up in my pajamas, hunched over my computer, writing another paper, I might just make it out to Mexicali with a few friends and indulge in some margaritas with my quesadilla.

The place is loud. It’s crowded. It takes awhile to get you food. Which makes it the perfect place to sit around with friends, yell across the table, and share a big bowl of somewhat overpriced but utterly delicious cheese dip.

It’s a bit of a splurge. The same meal (in title) costs just under $12 at Mexicali. And no one there winkingly calls me “honey.”

But it’s a good time, and a good quesadilla, I must admit. Where the Taco Bell meal is half-gone by the time I make the one mile trip back home, the Mexicali monster normally takes a good portion of the evening, and I hardly finish it all.

Days later, I won’t be craving Mexicali again. I won’t be thinking that I should call ahead and place an order so I can pick it up in 30 minutes when I finish that last chapter in my readings. I’ll be throwing on the filp-flops, grabbing the change jar and heading back to see my boisterous friends at the drive thru.

I know it’s not the gourmet example of fine Mexican cooking. I know it’s not even comparable to an Americanized Mexican joint. But it’s the one taste I crave when I want my favorite meal. That spice from a tube, meat from a jar goodness that will kill me in the end, is keeping me going now.

Agua Linda draws in customers with pleasant atmosphere, quick service

Agua Linda
1376 Prince Ave.
706-543-1500

2080 Timothy Rd.
706-543-0154

By KRISTEN CALLIHAN

Every Southern town has a handful of good Mexican restaurants, and there’s always a debate over which is the best. This place has the best chimichangas, this place has delicious quesadillas, this place is the best for margaritas. Athens is no different, and Agua Linda is one of the heavyweight contenders for best Mexican food in town.

Mexican food is synonymous with tasty, affordable and quick food — food that was made for a college town. And Agua Linda, that bastion of cheese dip, provider of delicious burritos, south-of-the-border eatery of Normaltown, dishes up food that is, for the most part, in keeping with the delicious and fast meals that people expect from their local Mexican restaurant.

The last meal I ate at Agua Linda was not the best I’ve had, but one thing that remained consistently good was the cheese dip. This creamy queso goodness is the ideal start to my Mexican feast. What could be better than dipping those little salty vessels called tortilla chips in this nectar of the gods they call cheese dip? It’s the perfect combination of creaminess and spiciness that keeps hands returning to the chip basket time after time. And the $2.75 price tag for this appetizer is well worth it.

After nearly reaching my limit on chips, salsa and cheese dip, the entrées arrive. Saved from about-to-burst-balloon fullness by — what else? — more food.

The chicken enchilada was a tomato sauce and cheese covered vessel of juicy chicken. The chicken was tender and flavorful, the red sauce well seasoned. Agua Linda has arguably one of the best enchilada sauces in town; where others tend to have the overwhelming taste of cinnamon or nutmeg, giving the enchilada an unwanted sweetness, Agua Linda’s sauce is savory with a hint of spicy peppers. Combined with the cheese melted on top, it was a tasty topper for both my enchilada and mixed with refried beans.

Refried beans accompany many of the meals on the menu, and these frijoles were just what they should’ve been. As somewhat of a refried bean connoisseur, I must say that Agua Linda does them right. Not soupy at all, these beans had a thick texture that made them seem like beans rather than the leftover juice in the bean can.

Consistency may be Agua Linda’s faltering point. From visit to visit, staple menu items vary in their taste and preparation. There’s much more to be said for the refried beans than the rice, which was lackluster at best. Dry and bland, the rice was a dish that garnered only one or two bites before falling by the wayside of superior eats.

The spinach and mushroom quesadilla was another disappointment. The flour tortilla was filled with a slimy suspension of spinach and mushrooms glued together with cheese that was not of the freshest tasting variety. This sad menu item, which on the plate looked more like a giant pancake than a Mexican dish, is one of only a few vegetarian options on the Agua Linda menu.

Non-vegetarians have much to enjoy though, especially with Agua Linda’s Mexican tacos. Made with corn tortillas, these beef tacos had an authentic and fresh — thanks to the lime juice and cilantro — taste, making them one of the restaurant’s stand out menu items.

While there were both good and not so good dishes to be had during this meal, Agua Linda’s wait staff made up for almost any blunder in the food’s taste. The ever-smiling waiters and waitresses never left me wondering when my water glass might be refilled or dying for more chips to finish off the last drops of salsa.

So even though some of the dishes fell short, this visit to Agua Linda was still a delicious meal that left me with the overstuffed burrito feeling I’m expecting after a Mexican meal. The pleasant atmosphere, quick service and good food will keep this customer going back to Agua Linda over any other Mexican place in town.