5/5 Nicholas M. 4 years ago on Google
The
Pastry
War
was
a
loss.
That's
what
it
was
supposed
to
be.
The
newly
minted
Mexican
Republic
lost
to
France
back
in
the
1840s
but
held
onto
a
grudge
for
20
more
years
before
engaging
in
an
armed
conflict
again.
And
win.
As
if
struck
by
the
Light
Rail
bolting
by,
I
stop
in
my
tracks
&
gaze
at
the
neon
sign
beckoning
me
into
it's
dimly
lit
vibrancy.
What
history
are
they
sharing
with
that?
Green
neon
glints
off
the
two
slender-framed
bike
racks
out
front.
In
Downtown
Houston,
it
was
weird
to
see
a
bar
referencing
a
19th-century
conflict.
The
past
isn’t
one
thing
to
any
one
person,
on
either
side
of
the
border.
So
I
obviously
have
to
go
inside.
I'm
on
my
way
somewhere
else,
but
who
cares.
Days
pass
by
before
I
enter.
But
I
go.
The
small
entryway
room
has
two-toned
walls:
white
on
the
top
horizontal
&
red
on
the
bottom.
It
reminds
me
of
any
quaint
town
in
Latin
America,
not
solely
the
interior
of
Mexico.
The
opposite
wall
of
this
antechamber
has
exposed
brick.
But
this
room
is
filled
by
a
pool
table
with
unbalanced
pool
sticks
jutting
out
of
their
stand.
The
entryway
window
transoms
are
tied
open
with
string.
I
pass
under
their
single-line
marquee
says
"Mezcaleria"
in
a
blocky
Futura
Condensed
font.
History
is
messy.
The
US
helped
the
French
blockade
Mexico
for
their
600,000-peso
complaint
of
damages.
Like
Remontel,
there's
no
recourse
for
Mexico
being
more
than
one
thing.
I
see
Nahua
masks
behind
cages,
hidden
from
the
cultural
exchange.
Unlike
the
limes
and
lemons
in
their
cages
free
to
grab
at,
for
us
to
consume.
These
masks
are
locked
away.
You
could
almost
forget
that
history
is
a
bunch
of
stories
at
the
same
time.
Like
that,
by
the
end
of
the
Spanish
conquest,
mescal
was
produced
in
secret.
I
walk
into
the
main
room
with
the
bar.
On
the
wood
slat
wall
flanking
the
bar,
they're
projecting
a
B&W
reel
of
amateur
rodeo
footage
spliced
together
with
scenes
from
the
2005
film
"The
Three
Burials
of
Melquiades
Estrada".
My
memory
flashes
back
to
me
watching
that
movie
with
my
then-alive
abuelo
in
the
Spanish
Meadows
Nursing
Home
in
Brownsville.
I
snap
out
of
it
as
the
barkeep
asks
what
I
want
while
she's
in
the
midst
of
compiling
another
set
of
3
cocktails.
I
figure
that
the
house
margarita
makes
the
most
sense
to
start
out.
On
the
rocks.
Salt
on
the
rim.
I
step
back
toward
the
wall
across
from
the
bar
&
see
a
framed
map
of
Mexico.
I
study
it.
The
barkeep
quickly
passes
me
my
predictable
order.
I
walk
to
the
booths
with
scenes
using
the
iconography
of
Día
de
Muertos,
depicting
a
Mexico
with
bandoleers,
sombreros,
and
floral
dresses
placed
on
the
campesinos'
esqueletos.
It’s
a
knock-off
of
the
Jarabe
Tapatio
etching
by
Jose
Posada,
born
in
Aguascalientes
14
years
after
The
Pastry
War
ended.
I
can
also
see
a
skeletonized
riff
on
that
painting
of
Santiago
Matamoros
charging
thru
a
band
of
Moors
at
the
Battle
of
Clavijo.
House
marg
is
absolutely
delicious.
No
question.
A
perfectly
balanced
blend
of
silver
tequila,
limes,
&
agave.
Even
the
salt's
got
citrus
to
it.
Before
taking
a
drink,
my
grandpa
would
press
his
thumb
into
a
small
pile
of
salt
he’d
poured
onto
a
saucer.
He’d
lick
his
thumb
then
drink
his
beer
&
tell
me
a
story
of
his—one
I’d
most
likely
heard
many
times
before.
I
always
thought
the
licking
was
gross.
For
my
2nd
drink,
I
order
an
Alipus
San
Baltazar
mezcal
in
a
cup.
The
backroom
has
the
same
metal-top
porcelain
tables
seen
thru-out
the
bar.
The
same
string
lights
strung
up
hanging
down
criss-crossing
across
the
ceiling.
There's
also
a
2nd
pool
table.
And
there’s
that
half-VW
Beetle
I’ve
seen
on
Instagram
before.
They
wallpapered
the
back
wall
with
lowbrow
newspapers,
comics,
adverts,
&
lucha
libre
graphics.
Like
the
caged
religious
masks
greeting
you,
the
lucha
libre
masks
are
the
religious,
mythological,
&
economical
vehicle
they
need
to
operate
like
they
need
to.
I
finish
my
copita
of
mezcal,
but
not
before
pouring
a
little
salt
onto
the
bar
counter
and
taking
some
up
with
my
thumb.
I
lick
it
and
leave.
Pastry
War
FTW.