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My abuela's neighbor on Menaul told me Central is a trap for tourists, and now I can't stop noticing it
I was out walking my dog near Menaul and Louisiana last Saturday when my abuela's neighbor, who's lived in that same house off Menaul for like 40 years, stopped me to chat about the dog. Somewhere in there she asked where I take out of town friends when they visit, and I said oh easy, Central, we do the whole thing, the food, the shops, the neon. She just kind of laughed and said that whole stretch is a trap, and that if I really want to show people what this town is she'd take them over to East Central for the tortas and the pan dulce at the spots she's been going to since the 80s, and honestly it hit weird. I grew up here, I've driven Central a thousand times, so hearing someone older say the version of the city I show off is basically the postcard version kind of stung. Since then I've been driving the east side on my lunch breaks and yeah, I ate a torta at some little spot near Wyoming that was better than anything I've grabbed on Central this year. It's funny how you can live somewhere your whole life and still be showing people the same five blocks. So where do you all take visitors when you actually want to show them the real city? Because I'm starting to think I've been doing it wrong for years.
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gavinp442h ago
That "postcard version" line got me. I take folks to Barelas for lunch, no neon, just good food and old houses. Central is fine but it's the same ten blocks everyone already saw on TV.
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