Last week my wife and I tried the new location of Los Compadres on west College Avenue. It's the brightly colored building that used to be the less colorful Friar Tuck's. I was impressed with the food and the prices. First, they are one of the few places in the Fox Cities with authentic horchata, the rice drink with a little cinnamon in it that I'm crazy about. Other places make horchata from a ghastly powder with artificial ingredients, but Los Compadres starts with actual rice and makes the drink fresh - daily, I think. Second, the new chef is excellent and has some items on the menu that are hard to find elsewhere. The dish I had, for example, was a surprisingly good "Enchiladas Bananas" containing perfect plantains inside corn tortillas with a delightful dark mole sauce. My wife had a hearty burrito with great flavor also. Side dishes were also good. And the bean dip and salsa for the chips are among our favorites. Our entrees were both $10 each - surprisingly inexpensive for dinner.

Service was excellent. Our waiter spoke great English and was very outgoing and personable. We'll be back.

The original location on Appleton Road in Menasha is now Solea, another good choice for Mexican food. The three locations for Los Compadres in the Fox Cities are (1) just east of Wal-Mart in Darboy, next to Radio Shack, at 3825 E Calumet St, Appleton, (920) 733-3010 (my least favorite of the three); (2) on West College Avenue (the former Friar Tuck's building) at 2120 W College Ave, Appleton, (920) 882-9331 (my favorite of the three); and (3) in Neenah near Town of Menasha, just a couple blocks west of the intersection of Highway CB and American Drive, at 1575 Plaza Dr, Neenah, (920) 722-6572 (pretty good and very new). For the Neenah location, note that Google Maps shows the wrong location (as of Jan. 19, 2007).

Here are a couple photos from the West College Avenue location:





Of the three locations, the one by Wal-Mart is my least favorite. They have a different, pricier menu that lacks some of the best and most authentic foods of their original place. Their tacos were poorly cooked--the most disappointing food that I've ever had from a Mexican restaurant. The soft corn tortillas were not stale and not well cooked, in my opinion, maybe just lightly steamed, and thus were flavorless and unpalatable. I politely pointed out the problem, asking if they could be lightly fried. I was treated like I was from Mars. Three different employees came, each time asking why I was unhappy with the tacos and each time, instead of fixing them, explaining that this is they way they are supposed to be. (Hey, mis amigos, go to Huaraches in Glenview, Illinois to experience some real tacos with great freshly made corn tortillas! On Milwaukee Street just north of Lake Street.) I've had tacos cooked by Mexicans many times without ever running into something like this. Plus, the second place is more expensive--you're paying for the nicer location and decor. I've been disappointed there twice now and won't be going back. But the other two Los Compadres are awesome!

Appleton will be much busier than normal this week as over 12,000 people flock to our community for a huge soccer tournament. As reported in today's Post-Crescent, The US Youth Soccer Midwest Regional Championships is coming to town, June 23-28. The many soccer fields at the USA Youth Sports Complex on the north side of Appleton, plus eight additional fields at Neenah High and Memorial Park will be used by over 4,000 teenaged players this weekend, and they come with parents and others for an estimated total of well over 12,000 visitors.

Appleton has long been a great place for soccer, with outstanding teams and soccer facilities. The USA Youth Sports Complex is a tremendous asset to the Fox Cities, and I'm sure that without it, we would not be able to host such a massive tournament successfully. Kudos also to the Appleton Soccer Club for their leadership in making soccer so successful in the Valley.

This morning was the opening season of this summer's farmers' market in Appleton. The farmers' market occurs every Saturday morning from now until the end of August, 7:30 Am to 12:30 PM, on College Avenue in the heart of Appleton, near Houdini Plaza. I took my oldest son and my daughter-in-law there this morning. It was her first time there, and she said it was "like Octoberfest without the beer." That's a good way of describing the booths and the fun and walking along the busy pedestrian-only section of the Avenue on a beautiful day.

We bought a quart of fresh strawberries, a potted lily and some yellow annual flowers, some basil and cilantro, some exotic and delicious tomatoes, some maple syrup, a pound of fresh snap peas, a couple pieces of baklava, three samoosas and two empanadas (Mr. Churro's!), and I took some photos I'll post soon.

We have an awesome farmers' market in Appleton. Be sure to try it!

One of the most beautiful parks in the state, in my opinion, is nearby Calumet County Park on Lake Winnebago. In addition to the beauty of the park and the lake, one can encounter interesting life forms. My photos from Saturday include a deer, a turkey vulture, and a couple of interesting insects, shown below. It's a great park for camping (even has a store with lots of items), fishing, hiking, and lounging around. (Click to enlarge photos.)