As promised, this On the Menu features three items I have not had the pleasure of enjoying for the column so far.
To be fair, two are technically the same, but they are typically eaten at different times
of the day.
This time around, I had lunch with my mom at a cafe on Alameda Street, enjoyed a shake and a smoothie at two locations of one business and had breakfast on the Southside with my husband.
Is there a place you think I should try? Send a suggestion to john.oliva@caller.com.
Town and Country Cafe
4228 S. Alameda St.
My mom has always been supportive of my endeavors.
Whether it's my past volunteer work with Pride Corpus Christi or my career with the Caller-Times, she's always there cheering me on. She also tries to get involved as much as she can.
In April last year during a food truck festival, I wrote about her thoughts on six food items at the downtown event.
Well, after being featured in my last column, she started planning our next outing right away. She had a list of places for us to grab lunch at, and we eventually decided to visit Town and Country Cafe on Aug. 10.
I met my mom at the cafe around 10:30 a.m. We were seated at a booth right away and started to look over the menu.
I saw that they sold breakfast all day, but I knew I had done a breakfast plate review from Andy's Kitchen in the past, so I decided to look at the lunch/dinner section. While scanning, my mom pointed out they served meatloaf, and you don't understand how hard it was to not opt for the meal.
Our server came to take our order and I decided to try the Taco Trio plate (three tacos, refried beans and Mexican rice). My mom chose the Traditional Migas plate.
I had never been to Town and Country Cafe before, but it seemed like a nice down-to-earth spot. The only issue I had was the country music playing, as the only country music I enjoy is Kacey Musgraves and Shania Twain.
As we finished talking about family and a recent trip out of town, our food was delivered.
Now, I love tacos so much. When I was a child, I remember being so excited when my mom would make tacos for dinner. Honestly, I would usually eat six tacos because of how much I love tacos.
I took a bite of my taco plate and thought it was good. I think some more seasoning would've been great, but they were still delicious. The beans were really good, but the rice was my least favorite thing. The tomato sauce was very overpowering and made it taste watery.
My mom said she thoroughly enjoyed her migas plate. She also tried my rice and agreed with my statements.
The bill came out to $29.38, which my mom paid for, and she tipped $10.
We said our goodbyes and I told her we will have lunch again soon. I also wouldn't mind returning to Town and Country Cafe again — mainly so I can try their meatloaf.
And yes, I know how fortunate and lucky I am to have a mother so caring, supportive and loving.
Coco Cabana Açai & Smoothie Co.
3809 Airline Road, 309 N. Water St.
I love smoothies and shakes. While I know one may be better for you, both are just so delicious.
Back in the day, I used to work at Keva Juice in the Saratoga Town Center. I think my love for smoothies started there because employees could have a free smoothie every day and come up with specialty drinks all the time.
Since then, I just make fruit smoothies at home or grab a peanut butter and banana shake at Five Guys or Sonic.
While on social media, I saw a friend of mine share on their story a drink from Coco Cabana. I had never heard of it before, so I looked into it and saw they had two locations: one near the V Mart on the Southside and another downtown in Water Street Market.
On Aug. 12, I made my way to the Southside location to grab a drink. The site was a food truck establishment with picnic tables under a canopy. There was even a cornhole board for people to play with.
The weather was pretty warm, but I'm sure it would be more enjoyable during more mild weather.
I had already looked the menu over before I got there, so I had an idea of what I was going to get. I opted for the Peanut Butter V. shake, which comes with peanut butter, bananas, vegan vanilla protein powder and a milk of choice. I asked for coconut milk and for the protein powder to be switched for chocolate instead of vanilla. I also hadn't had breakfast, so I went for the 32-ounce option.
I paid $9.95 and tipped $5 for my drink.
After a few minutes of sweating from the unbearable sun, my shake was ready. I picked it up and quickly dashed to my vehicle to enjoy some air conditioning. As I drove off, I took a sip of the drink and immediately tasted the protein powder.
I know I ordered a protein shake, but I was more drawn in because of the peanut butter and banana ingredients. It was still good, just a bit chalky because of the powder.
Two days later, I was taking photos in downtown Corpus Christi and I decided to swing by Coco Cabana there to try a smoothie this time.
The downtown spot is a brick-and-mortar location that felt very tropical. The walls looked like terracotta clay and made me feel like I was not in Corpus Christi anymore.
This time around I decided to get the Tropical Wave, which came with mango, banana, pineapple, coconut milk, orange juice and agave. My total came out to $9.95 and I tipped $4.
As I finished checking the notifications on my phone, my smoothie was ready.
I took a sip as I made my way to my car and stopped in my tracks at how heavenly, refreshing, smooth and amazing it was. I don't know how to describe it, but I felt so at peace by how delicious it was. I was just upset because I had selected the smaller size this time.
I'm looking forward to returning to Coco Cabana to try other fruit smoothies and feel refreshed.
Cancun Mexican Restaurant
6314 Yorktown Blvd.
Whenever my husband is off, we usually pick up breakfast tacos from Cancun on Yorktown Boulevard. I get two potato, egg and cheese tacos while he gets two potato, egg and bacon.
We think they have the best breakfast tacos in town.
On Aug. 16, we decided to dine inside for breakfast. When we walked in, an older couple walked straight past a sign that said, "Please wait to be seated." We followed the rules and a server led us to a booth with menus. We ordered our drinks and decided to take our time looking over the menu.
I already knew I wanted to order my go-to breakfast tacos, but my husband wanted to switch things up. When our server came back, I placed my usual and my husband chose the barbacoa plate.
As in any other Mexican restaurant, regional Mexican music was playing (I made sure to look up the correct genre because I know Tejano music is different). All the other tables were older customers. To be fair, I feel like my husband and I have old souls because we usually eat dinner around 4 p.m., go to sleep around 9:30 p.m. and are awake by 7 a.m. — even when we're off.
Our food came out shortly afterward, and my tacos looked fuller than when wrapped in foil. My husband's plate came with refried beans, potatoes and a plate of cilantro and onions.
My tacos tasted delicious as usual, but I realized I had never thought of adding cilantro and onions to my normal breakfast taco order, so I decided to try it out this time. It made them taste even better.
The only issue we had was our server was nowhere to be found after we received our plates. Fortunately, we didn't need any refills, but we had to ask another employee to get her so we could pay.
Our total came out to $26.49 and we tipped $10.
I love breakfast, as I think it's the most important meal of the day, but I think we'll just continue picking up our tacos through the drive-thru from now on. And I might be adding cilantro and onions to my order from now on.
John Oliva covers entertainment and community news in South Texas. Have a story idea? Contact him at john.oliva@caller.com.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Refreshing, heavenly drinks at Coco Cabana | On the Menu
