Tex Mex

Here's what I liked about Don Pablo's: It is determinedly unpretentious. The food, the menu says, is "brought to you by a Texas outfit with a true native Mexican Border Chef trained by his Mamacita - not the culinary. " In short, don't come round here looking for mole poblano, pal. The food is strictly Tex-Mex. This border cuisine is traditionally hot, heavy and ridiculously oversalted. The lengthy menu certainly includes some of that, but offers a variety of lighter fare as well, including shrimp, tuna and vegetarian dishes.

There's a lot more to Mexican cuisine than just burritos, enchiladas and tacos, as you will learn from visiting Los Jalapenos. Instead of the familiar Tex-Mex cuisine so popular in this area, the new Conshohocken restaurant offers authentic Mexican dishes that fairly glow with inherent delicacy, even refinement. Dinner begins with a complimentary dish of crisp corn chips and thinly sliced carrots and cucumbers with a thin, surprisingly delicate, subtly fiery salsa, an eye-opening dipping sauce markedly different from the rough-chopped, harshly peppered version we usually get. That same high level of culinary accomplishment characterized the entire meal.

For a good number of years, business has been bustling at the South Second Street Los Amigos, one of the city's very early Tex-Mex restaurants. The cavelike cantina seems to be perpetually crowded, and it pumps out nachos like low-octane gas at an all-night service station. For those unfamiliar with Los Amigos' history, the restaurant opened way back in 1976, when a lot of Philadelphians still thought that south of the border was anywhere between Snyder Avenue and the Naval Shipyard.

Zocalo, at 36th Street and Lancaster Avenue, has been open only four weeks, and many diners are already applauding it as a top-notch Tex-Mex restaurant. The streets are humming with praise equaled in sweetness only by the chocolate in Oaxaca. Top-notch? I wouldn't argue with that. But Tex-Mex? Well, I'm inclined to say that Zocalo is definitely much more Mex than Tex. Zocalo is what you might call a Mexikatessen. Its strength is the quality and variety of its well-prepared antojitos - which in Mexico is the stuff the natives like to nosh on. Some of these dishes are served purely as appetizers; others can be ordered as appetizers or entrees.

The design on invitations to a "Tex-Mex" fund-raiser for Mayor Goode has drawn ire from some members of the city's Latino community, who say it depicts offensive ethnic stereotypes. The cards, sent to about 1,000 people by the Friends of Mayor Goode, have a cover illustration of a faceless man wearing a large sombrero, playing a guitar. A smaller version of the same figure appears inside the card, along with a thumb-sized woman wearing a Carmen Miranda-type outfit. The card requests a $50 "subscription" from those planning to attend a Tex-Mex barbecue at the mayor's Overbrook home on Sept.

At the "all new" Binni & Flynn's on Roosevelt Boulevard, there seems to be a bit more of Flynn these days than Binni. It has become the type of eatery where prime rib of beef enjoys more than equal status with chimichangas. For those unfamiliar with the restaurant's format, marketing legend has it that Binni the Mexican Bandito and Flynn the Gringo met in a Mexican jail, became pals and opened an eatery. Perhaps Binni's back in jail and Flynn is taking advantage of his absence.

It's a standard lament among my transplanted Westerner friends: "You just can't get good Mexican food around here. " There's no doubt that, unlike Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and other points west, authentic Mexican food doesn't exactly abound along the banks of the Delaware. But, given our rich restaurant scene, could there really be a total lack? Was there no place able to turn out a fair rendition of Mexico's fabulously flavored, extraordinarily varied cuisine? To find out, I mounted a fact-finding expedition.

The droll, oddball "Olympia" spins a Tex-Mex love story that is one part Wagner and two parts tequila. The title carrier is a Mexican soap-opera actress, Olympia Miraflores (Carmen Nogales), who dreams of throwing the javelin. To the chagrin of her show-biz manager (Damien Young), she abruptly quits her lucrative and steady soap-opera job and decides to devote her life to spear-throwing. She wades across the Rio Grande to Texas, where she hopes to attract the attention of a legitimate track coach.

Los Amigos in West Berlin has been a favorite South Jersey watering hole and cantina for 22 years. It delivers traditional Tex-Mex and Southwest specialties at prices that won't break your budget. Tex-Mex cuisine was new to Pat and Mike Shemely, who discovered it in the '70s on a trip to the West. The pair, who share responsibility for the business with Mimi and Curt Taylor, figured south-of-the-border cuisine would fly here - and it has. At Los Amigos, the atmosphere is comfortable and relaxed.

The Xfinity Live! entertainment complex, rising on the site of the old Spectrum, is on target to open a week early - in time for the Bruce Springsteen concerts in late March. The Boss is scheduled to perform with the E Street Band on March 28 and 29 at the Wells Fargo Center - next door to what Comcast-Spectacor hopes will become a popular destination to dine, view sports and attend performances. Xfinity Live! expects to soon name a "national recording act" to be part of the official grand opening celebration on March 30. April 5 was previous launch date for the joint venture of Philly-based Comcast-Spectacor and the Cordish Companies, based in Baltimore.

The Xfinity Live! entertainment complex, rising on the site of the old Spectrum, is on target to open a week early - in time for the Bruce Springsteen concerts in late March. The Boss is scheduled to perform with the E Street Band on March 28 and 29 at the Wells Fargo Center - next door to what Comcast-Spectacor hopes will become a popular destination to dine, view sports and attend performances. Xfinity Live! expects to soon name a "national recording act" to be part of the official grand opening celebration on March 30. April 5 was previous launch date for the joint venture of Philly-based Comcast-Spectacor and the Cordish Companies, based in Baltimore.

The way his latest album turned out was one of those "happy accidents" for Raul Malo. The former front man for the country band the Mavericks cut the basic tracks for Sinners & Saints at his home studio in Nashville - playing most instruments himself and, for the first time, working without a coproducer. "I was in the studio recording 'San Antonio Baby,' " Malo recalls from his Music City home, referring to a jaunty Tex-Mex number. "And I wanted an Augie Meyers-type of keyboard sound.

'So, you guys wanna do a round of shots?" asked our perky, apple-cheeked waitress out of nowhere at El Camino Real. I turned around for a moment, thinking she was asking the table behind us. I looked back in the direction of the bar, where a Friday-night throng of hat-backward twentysomethings were screaming "Woo-hoo!!" in their best, margarita-soaked spring-break hollers. But no. She was talking to us, all right, me and a handful of other dads from the block on a guys' night out. Don't get me wrong: We're a fun-lovin' posse when we're loose on the town.

Spy Diner is being discontinued. As a farewell, I have come up with a list of some of my favorite restaurants in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. With so many places to choose from, it's not an easy task, but here goes . . . Special Occasion Creed's Seafood & Steaks, 499 N. Gulph Rd., King of Prussia. 610-265-2550. www.creedskop.com. The two-pronged menu could be described as light and airy; even the desserts seem relatively low in calories. Upscale Neighborhood Places (Fine dining at reasonable prices.

It would seem that a restaurant with such an obvious name as the Tex Mex Connection might be open to a few dining cliches. The phrases killer margaritas or best chile con queso this side of the border or add some spice to your life come to mind. In fact, only the "margs" - as the connoisseurs who flock to this restaurant call them - demand such a catchall phrase. Perhaps I was misled by the entertainment - karaoke and open-mike night - and a notice requesting that patrons refrain from using cell phones in the dining room.

The name might trigger thoughts of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but the Mexican Food Factory, it's safe to say, is simply a very agreeable Marlton restaurant landmark. When it comes to executing Tex-Mex with style, this popular Route 70 spot has been turning out the combinaciones and especialdades for nearly 20 years. Which means a series of generations is saying the place is doing something right. The Factory has maintained its good looks over the years. The dining areas are wide and comfortable, with high ceilings that give a feeling of space even when the crowds are thick.

Every so often, against considerable odds, somebody with a sense of humor emerges from the Sundance Film Festival scene. One such filmmaker is Lisa Krueger, whose "Manny and Lo," about two orphaned runaways who kidnapped a surrogate mom, was one of the gems of the '90s independent scene. Krueger took a conceptually troubling situation and made it unexpectedly funny and poignant, employing a meandering style that paused often for amusing non-sequitur scenes (the sloppy Joe sandwich bit is a classic.

You might have a hunger for the delicate pan-fried boneless rainbow trout they serve at Arroyo Grille, in Manayunk. But when, even in the parking lot, soft, fruity and smoky aromas tease the senses, it's tough not to think barbecue. Platefuls of slowly smoked barbecue. Dry-rubbed and tender meats brushed with the sweet-and-sour flavors of molasses and vinegar. Mustard and tomato. At Arroyo, the choices are many: Moist chicken hiding under a crisp mahogany skin ($11.50); pulled pork in sauce ($12.

The last two years, one of the more extraordinary events at March's South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, occurred in the rear courtyard of the Mexican restaurant Las Manitas. Sitting on stools before a small crowd feasting on tamales, fajitas and enchiladas, an assemblage of Texas musicians - country star Rick Trevino, roots-rocker Joe Ely, mariachi band Campanas de America and others - took turns performing frontera songs of the Mexican border. As Trevino sang tunes such as "Mi Rachito," backed by the 14-piece Campanas, with Ely, Doug Sahm, Rosie Flores and his father, Rick Sr., joining in, the sense of discovery that accompanied their cultural exchange was palpable.

Los Amigos in West Berlin has been a favorite South Jersey watering hole and cantina for 22 years. It delivers traditional Tex-Mex and Southwest specialties at prices that won't break your budget. Tex-Mex cuisine was new to Pat and Mike Shemely, who discovered it in the '70s on a trip to the West. The pair, who share responsibility for the business with Mimi and Curt Taylor, figured south-of-the-border cuisine would fly here - and it has. At Los Amigos, the atmosphere is comfortable and relaxed.