Question: what’s a girl to do if she’s trapped in an entire country that doesn’t do Mexican food well or allow the sale of hot peppers? Answer: hit every Mexican restaurant north of the country itself, including the delicious Mercado in Fort Wayne.

The sibs treated me to a (very) early dinner one (very) cold and windy night in Indiana when a night when that Mexican heat was a MUST. So, we started off with a round (or two) of spicy “Chamoy-ritas” which featured a passionfruit underbelly well balanced with a Tajin rim. Meoww.

Turns out you can order tacos by the taco, rather than the platters listed on their menu, but I was starving and desperate for some Mexican cuisine so I went all in with a plate of three… Cali-AF…fried cheese and chicken was the standout though I have absolutely no idea what is Cali about it as there was not an avocado in sight. The avocados relegated to our non-photographed guacamole certainly were delicious AF. And as the ‘fun aunt’ who flies in once a year or so, I fully intend to keep up my cartel-style Mexican demands of regular trips to Mercado.