This made us a little nervous, so we opted instead to lunch at Arturo’s Restaurant in Nuevo Progresso, another (reputedly much nicer) border town in the vicinity of South Padre.

Admittedly, this was my virgin trip to Mexico. I’m a reasonably well-traveled person and have lived in Texas most of my life, but this was my first actual crossing of the Mexican border.

I must say, despite my obvious lack of expertise, that Arturo’s appears much less "Mexican" than many places I have seen in Texas. I saw no signs of a Spanish menu anywhere, and all signs posted were in English. Come to think of it, I didn’t see or hear a word of Spanish the entire time I was there, aside from obvious words with no real English equivalent like "tortilla." Of course, the clientele was 100% gringo.

However, despite all of this, I found my dining experience to be excellent, with delicious food and as attentive and efficient service as I’ve seen anywhere. We started off with, as at all "Mexican" restaurants, chips with salsa and chili con queso. It was very good, but the salsa and queso were considerably milder than I had anticipated. I have a feeling this is somewhat different than what is served at establishments catering to locals.

The main-course menu was extensive, and included everything from steak to frog to cabrito (baby goat), but most of us ordered standard "Mexican" fare (tacos, enchiladas, tamales, etc.), and nobody complained.

Some of us had ordered all-inclusive meals, which included a shot of Kahlua for dessert, and the rest of us ordered flan for a more conventional dessert (which was as good as any flan I’ve ever had—not that I’ve ever been a big flan person).

All of this, including drinks (possibly the best margaritas I’ve ever had), came to about 80 dollars for the five of us. This seemed extremely reasonable to us, although I’m sure it is expensive by local standards.

The parking lot itself is reason enough to eat at Arturo’s. Finding parking elsewhere is next to impossible, and while only Arturo’s customers can park in the Arturo’s lot, they don’t care if you leave the car there all day while you peruse the local shops. Also, since the lot is constantly monitored by Arturo’s employees, you don’t have to be nervous about leaving your car unattended in Mexico.

All in all, my first trip to Mexico lasted only a few short hours and I probably didn’t make it more than 100 yards over the border. Okay, so maybe I didn’t exactly immerse myself in Mexican culture, but I had a lot of fun anyway.