Chevy's Fresh Mex, Arlington, Va. (Ballston)

Last night, Ian got a call from Game Stop at Ballston Common Mall: his "rain check" Wii was in, and they wanted him to come pick it up immediately, or they'd call the next person on the list. Ian, however, is up in Pennsylvania right now with the parental units. Naturally, he calls me and sends me on the desperate, urgent, immediate quest to retrive the arriven Wii.

Meanwhile, my friend Kevin is showing up at my place to pay me a call. He announced upon arrival that he'd made reservations to take me to a birthday dinner at the high dollar granola set's favorite place, Restaurant Nora, a "certified 100% organic" place (not only the the food, but even the waiters' clothing!) where dinner for an omnivore costs $70 and just $65 for a vegan (wine is extra). The poor boy's face fell a bit when I said, oh, let's not go there, let's go to Ballston Common to shop and then eat at a chain Mexican place in the mall (hey, I'm economical, what can I say?).

So, off we went to Ballston and the Game Stop. When we got to the store, Laurent (who works just a block from that mall) was in the store browsing, so he joined our little party. Once I presented my credentials to the cash register clerk and he consulted their magic computer system, he took a big plastic bag from the counter and went back to the backroom, soon to emerge with the coveted Wii covertly hidden inside. I guess he was afraid I'd be mugged or something if their customers saw me walking in their store with a real live Wii.

Then, off we went to our gourmet dinner at Chevy's Fresh Mex. Chevy's isn't bad for a chain Mexican place on the East Coast. It probably would never pass muster back in Oklahoma or Texas or out there in the Southwest where there are lots of real Mexicans (the Hispanics in the D.C. area seem mostly to be Salvadoreans and Guatemalans), but it's about the consistenly best I've been able to find around here.

Laurent had the chicken chimichanga grande with extra spice. Looked good, and it was grande, indeed.



Kevin had the enchilada trio, and had so much food it looked like things were going to fall off the platter.



I had the pork tamales. I'd been craving tamales since Christmas (tamales are a traditional Christmas Eve dish). My plate looks naked, but be assured that there was quite a lot of food there, and I was stuffed. I also got a small side of guacamole.



As the birthday boy, the waiter brought a complimentary (that he billed Kevin for anyway) enormous brownie sundae for me. Kevin and Laurent ate it all, though, and I didn't get even a taste.



All of the platters came with Mexican rice and black beans with a scattering of queso blanco crumbles and some of their delicious sweet corn "tomalito." Laurent also got a tiny guacamole salad on his platter. Thanks, Kevin!

And thus was our adventure, and we returned without being mugged for the Wii on the Metro.