I have had the good fortune to have had an opportunity to meet and get to know Oscar Castro (in photo) and his brothers Alex, Raoul, and Reynaldo. They came to the Eau Claire area after being raised in both Mexico and California. I have also been lucky enough to meet their parents when they visited here. Oscar's dad is an industrious truck farmer and a very magnanimous man. I instantly felt comfortable with him even though he speaks very little english.
But let me start at the beginning. Eau Claire finally became saturated with one too many McDonald's franchises and the store on Water Street closed. This in itself was a wonder to me as it was situated right in the heart of college student country, just adjacent to the UWEC campus.
So I was more than just curious when I happened to be driving by and saw that a new sign was being erected: "El Patio Mexican Restaurant, featuring authentic Mexican cuisine". Eau Claire at that time was strictly a meat and potatoes town. I longed for cuisines I had found in larger cities: German, real Italian, Greek, Japanese. So when I saw this sign I hoped!
My first visit to the restaurant, I was in a hurry so I ordered chips and guacamole to go. I have a theory that really good guacamole is a true harbinger of great Mexican dishes. By the time I finished my "taste of El Patio", I was a believer.
The next day, I rustled up two of my home made pizzas, walked in, handed them to Oscar, who didn't know who the hell I was or why this guy was foisting pizzas on him upon opening his doors for lunch. I told Oscar that I had been in the day before and that I thought his food was great and hoped he would find the pizzas satisfactory, welcome to Eau Claire, and I left.
the next day I came in for lunch to see Oscar waving the two empty pizza tins at me. He said: "You can do that any time you feel like it!" We had found a common ground.
The next 6 months I was there so often it was embarrassing. I would come in for lunch and then when Kim was finished teaching, I would bring her down for dinner.
One night I hung around until they closed up and Oscar took the wheel of my "Rocket Action" Oldsmobile 98 and we rolled out onto Highway 94 and opened her up and roared around the entire city to the third and final exit. We lucked out. No state patrol. That car is a '65, but she will do 110 mph. You could see the gas gauge needle drop! I still have Oscar's black work apron as a souvenir and remembrance of that evening.
The Castros are a great family. I took Reynaldo small mouth fishing on the Yellow River near Cadott. We didn't see a fish all day but we had a great time. We even talked about religion!!!
One of my fondest memories of Rey was the night I walked into the restaurant wearing a tee shirt that my son David gave me that had a big "L" on it so that I would remember which subway to take to get to Brooklyn the next time I visited. I was telling Rey all about it and he said: "Knowing you, you will look down at it and say: 'oh, that's right, I take the 7 train.'"
I have had some great conversatons with Alexandro. He has a great head for business, always thinking, dreaming, scheming.
For a while, they were all here in town, but eventually they opened another El Patio in Menomonie with the same great cuisine. Currently Raoul is running one of their newer expansions out on the edge of the Twin Cities. I am proud to tell you that Kim and I were invited to Raoul's wedding, replete with mariachi band in church. It was "too cool"!
Oscar and Rey? They are too far away. They opened yet another great Mex restaurant I mentioned in my last blog, Casa Grande down in Mequon. If you are ever down that way, please stop in. Great margaritas. The guacamole ain't bad, either.
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