Chapter 25 – Tetrahedron

Al Pastor – 6200 W. Burnham St., West Allis, Wisconsin

I took the bus out here, South Side, West 60s, and it's like traveling to another town—it's West Allis, so it technically is—but it's also technically not—it's still Milwaukee—but it feels like another town. If you're in a car, or even on a bike, it doesn't feel very foreign, but when a bus drops you off somewhere you've never been before, on foot, it feels like you've beamed down from the Enterprise, though without McCoy, Spock, and the poor guy with the red shirt. When Kirk, for whatever reason, occasionally goes alone like that he usually “falls in love”—meaning there are humans there, or an enticing humanoid in a very revealing dress. This never happens to me, kind of sad, but then Kirk never comes upon four Mexican restaurants in a few block area. Choosing is hard, it's rolling the dice; I went with Al Pastor because it was number four, it was time, and I liked the friendly look of the place, a simple freestanding brick rectangle with a flat roof sloping dramatically upward in front like a dairy-bar from the Sixties—though I have no guess how old the place is—I'd say it's either fairly recent or kept up very well. There are maybe eight tables inside and a few were occupied temporarily by people waiting for takeout. People and their takeout—well, I suppose some are returning to their spaceship. I didn't examine the menu for too long before settling on my old standby, Huevos a la Mexicana, but then kind of regretted not at least considering the weekend special, Menudo—though I'd have had to figure out its gluten-free-ness, and see if “beef stripe” is something I can stomach. I got the impression this is a family owned and run place, very warm and friendly, and at least one of them is an excellent cook, because the food was delicious, including the salsas, especially this green one in a squeeze bottle that I couldn't get enough of. The only negative thing I have to say about the whole visit is that there were two TVs (what else is new?) with the sound on, some hideous show called “Criminal Minds”—though I guess I wouldn't have complained if the TV had on soccer, or even better, the original Star Trek.