What the Doug's mean: 

Exceptional; Memorable; almost perfect   Generally excellent   Very good   Good   Just OK   BAD - don't recommend

Beach Store Cafe - Lummi Island 2200 North Nugent Road Lummi Island, WA 98262 360-758-2233

A lovely trip across the water on the Whatcom Chief ferry. Fun on days foul or fair. A short walk up the road from there and prepare to enjoy some locally caught Lummi salmon fish and chips, fresh local oysters, delightful pizza, or a number of other delicious treats with a local focus at a place that has existed in some fashion since 1901. Revolving selection of seasonal northwest microbrews. Wait staff is friendly and easy going. Ferry schedule is helpfully located on the menu, so you can time the trip back. Lovely gas fireplace in the back for winter warmth and if you prefer a view of the water, sit up front. No matter where you sit though this place is sure to please.

Taco Lobo  117 W Magnolia St Bellingham, WA 98225 (360) 756-0711

Fresh salsa bar, hand made tortillas, homemade masa tamales, slow-cooked birria, outstanding mexican rice, my personal favorite "tacos al pastor" (pork with pinapple), fresh, fresh, fresh Jalisco style Mexican food, and courteous wait staff. We want to eat elsewhere, but we usually end up here. Yes, it does take a little longer to get your food when it's this fresh. Quit fidgeting and enjoy the homemade warm chips, fresh salsa varieties and listen for the cleaver in the back as they chop the meat for your taco... Ole'!!

Jalapenos  501 West Holly, Downtown Bellingham, WA 98225 (360) 671-3099

This place was recommended to us by co-workers. (Perhaps the inexpensive margaritas went to our friend's head or something.) It's a bit frayed on the edges inside, a little dirty and worn, but we thought initially, maybe a diamond in the rough here! We've certainly discovered a few gems like that in our day, so we of course wanted to give them a chance. The menu was typical Tex-mex, nothing too special, prices a tad high compared to other Mexican restaurants I thought. We ordered combo plates, I believe I tried an enchilada, tamale and taco all beef. Hard for anyone to screw that up. We weren't in the mood for drinks, too bad, because maybe that would have helped. Right after we ordered I headed to the restroom. This took me down a narrow hall, by some booths near the kitchen entrance, where a group of male kitchen crew members lounged while watching a mexican soccer match on an overhead TV. Once I'd skirted the bunch, I hit the women's room. Again, shabby, a tad dirty, lingering urine smell. I confess for a moment I wondered why we hadn't just gone to Taco Lobo as I pondered navigating through the rough looking kitchen crew to get back to our table. Anthony Bourdain came to mind... he'd be doing tequila shots with them, drinking them under the table while showing them how to properly dice an onion one handed, not fussing about a little odeur d'urine. Loins mentally girded by the thought of my idol, I headed through the mob with a smug nod, and soon returned to the table. No kidding, I was gone just a couple of minutes and the food was already there. (WTF? Is this taco time?) OK so maybe they were just on it as it was a little slow in there. Seating myself I grabbed my fork. Nothing about the plate stood out, just typical mexican combo-style looking meal. I went for the beef enchilada first, took a bite, and it tasted TERRIBLE. Blame lay mostly with the ground beef, absolutely plain inside the rolled canned-sauce-coated tortilla, no seasoning whatsoever, gray in color with a faint off taste. I don't know if it tasted bad owing to it being some cheap meat-chub style burger, or because it was really off as in had been sitting back in some warming tray a few hours/days too long. All I could say to my partner, also with a horrified expression on her face after her first bite, was, "I CANNOT eat this." We concurred. I found the waitress and got the check. We paid and I told her that the meal "wasn't what we'd expected". We fled in our car with relief to the light, clean, bustling beacon of Taco Lobo for a proper mexican dinner.

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