Yet Another Post Where I Eat a Delicious Supper at a Very Nice Mid-Range Restaurant

Lime Beef. It's what's for dinner.

What do I like to do when I travel? Go to strange places that most people have never heard of. And eat. That's it. That's my basic travel itinerary. I like my sights weird and my food normal. Is that too much to ask? Tasty, delicious food. But within the range of what we would call "normal." I don't like my food to be "challenging." But I want it to have normal flavor, but the tastiness kicked up to 11.

Tonight's chosen meal was at El Pilón de Los Arrieros, which translates, roughly, to "The Pylon of The Arrieros." Not sure what an "Arriero" is, but I always was a big fan of the band Pylon, who I saw playing the clubs in Atlanta many times during my Georgia Tech years. And while I suspect there is no connection between the band and the Guadalajara restaurant, I'm taking no chances. Off to the Pylon!

While coming back from Guachimontones, my driver passed through this restaurant and nightlife district just south of my hotel. So I picked a restaurant in this neighborhood. Walking to it, I walked through the plaza with Los Dos Templos. Both were open! I peered into Templo y Convento Franciscano de San Francisco de Asis (Temple of St. Francis of Assisi), the larger of the two churches. It was nice. Then I looked into Templo de Nuestra Señora de Aranzazú:

Wow.

The smaller of "Los Dos Templos" is the star attraction.

Each side of the altar was a masterpiece.

And looking out into the main entrance at the statue of St. John Paul II:

And looking out the door of the side entrance at the exteriorly more interesting Temple of St. Francis of Asssi across the way:

Working up that appetite with all that church majesty.

Just a short three blocks south on Calle Colon is Plaza de las 9 Esquinas.

Translation: Plaza of the 9 Corners. And here is the restaurant I selected for this evening's dining: El Pilón de Los Arrieros

I opted for it instead of the adjacent Birriería las 9 Esquinas, which also got excellent google reviews.

I'm glad I did. I later found out "birrieria" means goat restaurant. They serve goat. They also advertise their barbacoa. In Mexican restaurants in the USA, barbacoa is barbecued beef. In Jalisco, Mexico? Sheep.

Like I said, I am not that adventurous of an eater. I want normal food that tastes awesome.

But before we go into the restaurant, let's say hello to the statue of a man holding a book here at Plaza de Las 9 Esquinas.

At The Pylon, I got a table near the window.

I'm eating supper early, I guess. The restaurant is not crowded.

Chips and salsa Jalisco style.

The pickled onions on the far left were particularly delicious.

I ordered an appetizer because I had no lunch and I was "tengo hambre," as they say in these parts.

Tortilla soup, which I guess is a thing here, too, and not a "made for Mexican restaurants in the USA" thing, like hard-shell tacos or frozen margaritas in wacky flavors. The tortilla soup had avocado (!) and cheese.

Then came the main course:

 

Lime beef. It does not look like much, but who cares? It was awesome. The lime flavor was intense without being overwhelming. I was debating between this and the mole. I figured most decent Mexican restaurants in Las Vegas have some form of chicken mole dishes. And mole is not indigenous to Jalisco and Guadalajara (it's from Oaxaca, I believe), so I went with lime beef. And I did not regret it for a second.

Dessert? Mouth was on fire so the doctor ordered a cool tall cerveza.

 

Mexican beer is too light for my tastes, generally, so I asked for the darkest Mexican beer they had. It was this: Victoria. From the Modelo people. Quite a nice way to end the meal.

Another interior shot of The Pylon:

It was getting dark and it was time to stumble back to the hotel, high on the pure intense "sabroso" of the lime beef.

Got back to the hotel and remembered I had not yet visited the rooftop terrace.

Nice view of Los Dos Templos at night.