Good Eats
Julia’s ... Meet your new amigo Story by David Myers Photos by David Moore
W
hen a server rolls a cart up to your table and starts chopping, juicing and mixing to your personal preferences, you know you are in for a treat. That’s exactly what Rose and I got after a drive up the mountain to Julia’s Mexican Restaurant in Guntersville. Keep this in mind, now … we’d just returned from a week in San Antonio. I couldn’t help but wonder how Mexican fare in Guntersville would stack up with true border cuisine. I’m happy to report that Julia’s does more than stack up. I’m still happy two days later. We had hardly slid into our booth before the salsa and chips were on the table. I’m a fan of that service because by the time I’ve entered a restaurant I am ready to eat. We dug into the wonderful combination of warm chips and spicy salsa. The salsa met my benchmark test of being not overly thick but not so thin it won’t stay on the chip. It was tasty with just the right amount of spiciness. The chips were thin and crispy, just as I like them. We intended to make quick work of it, but after a couple of minutes the guacamole cart arrived and we made a new amigo. He mixed the ingredients at tableside to our specifications. The result was a guacamole that was creamy but chunky and loaded with tomatoes, onions, fresh cilantro, garlic, jalapenos and, of course, avocado. We had to force ourselves not to fill up too soon. Here’s a tip that can make your visit fun. Learn a few basic words of Spanish and parley with your server. It’ll be fun for both of you. Don’t worry about getting it perfect, just enjoy. 42
The Jael Plate is a jumbo fried tortilla packed with grilled steak, chicken, shrimp, chorizo and special sauce. And at Julia’s, a large beer is exactly that.
I
’m known to be a beer man, but Rose favors girly drinks like wine and margaritas. She invited our server to choose a flavor for us from the list of margaritas. It took two hands to sip the generous concoctions of pineapple and strawberry. Not overly sweet, the drinks were delicious. We sipped as we perused the massive menu. Again, we asked for
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021
recommendations and our amigo outdid himself. My eyes popped out when I saw the Molcajete Azteca arrive smoking and sizzling. Molcajete is a hot volcanic stone bowl and is the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle. It was loaded with big slabs of steak, chicken, shrimp, chorizo sausage, cactus, poblano peppers, veggies and a pork rib. I had a ball sticking my fork in and
