Place: Viva La Bamba
Lunch: Lunch buffet, Coke
Viva La Bamba is the new Mexican joint in the old Urbandale Happy Joe's space that Happy Joe's occupied probably two years longer than they had any right to. (Happy Joe's actually moved into a smaller location over on Douglas Ave, which may as well be renamed the 'Urbandale Pizza Mile'. Does Happy Joe's really do any business?)
Viva La Bamba is a family-owned restaurant, but this is their second location. Their first location is in an old KFC building. When they initially started that one back in 2004, the building 'remodel' was so haphazard that they just painted over the Colonel in the tower on top of the building, and the Colonel's silhouette was still visible. They've come a long way... the new place has been extensively remodeled with a lot of wood and stone. It's easily the nicest decor of any of the local Mexican joints.
One of the things they did was use Happy Joe's old buffet bar to do a small lunch buffet of their own. There's a big pan of beans, taco meat, usually some fajita meat, some enchiladas, and deep-fried tacos (where they fold meat into a shell and deep-fry it). Plus the usual garnishments...lettuce, cheese, some salad dressings, taco and tortilla shells.
The ultimate attraction for me is the beans. I love their beans. Wet soupy beans. And I can have as much of them as I want. Bowls of beans. Beans with cheese. Beans with taco meat and cheese. Beans beans beans. All the freaking beans.
Beans.
They've caught on quickly. They're doing a good business.
So much for the mild weather. It snowed early in the week and we've been in the 0-20 degree range ever since.
But that's January for you.
