I admit it.  It's my fault.

A lot of my friends are so desperate to cling to their slacker/student street-cred that they feel the need to slam anything that even remotely resembles a chain store.  Starbuck's, Macaroni Grille, Barnes and Noble, Olive Garden, Over the Border, you name it.  If there are more than two or three of them in existence, it's pure yuppie evil by definition, end of story.  If it's not an honest-to-goodness mom & pop neighborhood hole-in-the-wall where everyone knows your name, you're not just wasting your time, you're supporting the man.  You're one of them.

When I lived in Atlanta, my absolute favorite place to eat was a tex-mex dive on Ponce called Tortillas.  It was truly one-of-a-kind, serving up San Francisco style bean-and-rice burritos for cheap. The staff was slacker-surly by design, and the decor was retro-chic patio furniture, but you could get a full meal for under five bucks and there was nothing better on a spring day than a burrito and the view of the city from the second-floor porch.  In the early days they even offered a "super burrito" that was big enough for two.

In the late 90's, the tex-mex thing started to really take off in Atlanta, and about five or six chains opened up trendy new stores serving burritos of varying levels of fanciness.  Admittedly, some of them even had pretty decent food, albeit at inflated prices.

But you can guess where this is going. As their new competitors siphoned off their customer base,  Tortillas' prices went up while their service went down.  And when you're a hole-in-the-wall to begin with, your service can't get much worse without getting downright obnoxious.  After a couple of years of decline,  Tortillas finally closed down this spring.

A lot of people will say it's just a sign of the times, that the big evil corporate empire has squeezed out the little guy.  Another legendary hole-in-the-wall gone, another symbol of All That Is Right About America lost.

I'm sorry guys, but you're kidding yourself.  The sad truth is, most holes-in-the wall suck.  Tortillas was the exception, not the rule.

As for me, yeah I'm bummed that Tortillas is gone.  And if you want to see me crying in my beer, you can find me at On The Border. 

Chimichanga, anyone?