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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

You don’t need Spanish to eat at Taco Del Mar

Dan Webster

I've been studying Spanish for a long time. And the frustrating thing is that I'm still only in survival mode, which means that if left on my own in a Spanish-speaking country I probably wouldn't starve. More important, I know how to order beer. I just can't discuss, say, the specifics of quantum mechanics. Or even how to take a bus from Tijuana to Guadalajara.

Anyway, I've always been entertained by the franchise name Taco Del Mar. It means either "taco from the sea" of "taco of the sea," both of which make sense when you live near the ocean and you're interested in ordering, say, fish tacos. It makes far less sense when, no matter how much you crave a fish taco, you live some 300 miles from the sea. As we do in the Inland Northwest.

Still, literal definitions aside, you'll find two Taco Del Mar stories in Spokane. And I'm thankful that we do. One is located on the North Side, in the Wandermere Mall. The other is in River Park Square. (A third used to be located in Veradale, but has closed.)

The photo above was taken at the River Park Square location. It shows the special discounts that are available to students and faculty of Gonzaga and Eastern Washington University. It also shows one of the store's workers making my wife's burrito before working on my brother's beef quesadilla.

By the way, you pronounce that Kay-sah-DEE-yah. Or so my first Spanish teacher used to tell me.