By. David Dog
I was just in Cancun for a few days, and I have a couple of observations to make. One is that I was shocked to see that my “Best of 2004” prediction vomiting is already coming to life south of the Border!
Yes, I kid you not, Senor Frog’s, which calls itself a “restaurant & bar & clothesline” has a display near the bathrooms with a life-size mannequin / animatron standing with his hands on a barrel full of a gross liquid. The animatron bends over and makes a belching-vomiting sound and then lifts himself back up, all the time with a sickened look on his face. Is this a joke or a suggestion for patrons to make sure that the drinking and eating binge they’re on doesn’t subside? At the least, it is a flagrant celebration of and institutional endorsement of the idea of “puking your guts out” in response to overindulgence.
Will this idea be imported to the States? Let me know if it already has been – and better yet email me a photo of what you find in terms of evidence of present day vomitoriums – e.g., toilets with handles, or places to kneel, etc.
My other comment is on the proliferation of cookie-cutter restaurant chains you see when you go to big cities and foreign countries. I don’t understand why we need nationwide casual dine chains like TGIFriday’s (bitching about TGIFriday's)in the downtown areas of New York, Chicago, etc., when those cities have thousands of local places to check out and get a “taste of” the city.
And on my recent visit to Cancun, which is just a slightly exotic alternative to Florida for Americans, I saw dozens of American restaurants like Houlihan’s, Ruth’s Chris, Pat O’Brien’s, etc. that seemed to be doing quite well. So I’m not questioning the wisdom of these chains for opening in these places. I want to know why people travel from the U.S. to Mexico, brush up on their Spanish, go through customs, visit Mayan temples, and then say, “Hey, let’s go have a burger and then hit Pat O’s for a big hurricane drink so we can go throw up at Senor Frog’s.” If you know why, please let me know what’s going on in these people’s minds. And if you’re one of those people, please give me some clues. I promise not to judge or harass you for having such pedestrian tastes.
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