Sit down my fellow Ibarakians and listen to my tale of how I visited a super American looking restaurant not once, but twice in one day! A glorious day filled with tacos, pulled pork and burgers. My tale starts on a hot Sunday afternoon in Mito. I drove around the streets near Ibaraki University looking for my Tex Mex paradise, To Mecca.
To Mecca
To Mecca is a Tex Mex and burger joint in the Nishihara area of Mito. When I arrived there early Sunday afternoon, the place was packed and the parking spots were all taken except for a spot in the grassy parking area near the restaurant. Walking into To Mecca stopped me in my tracks.
Super American
American stuff, American stuff everywhere. Being an American myself, it was all a bit overwhelming. There was American memorabilia everywhere. The TV was playing Ovean's Eleven and it was pretty hot inside, wish they turned on the air con. I sat at a table all by my lonesome with a very high plastic divider separating the other tables.
PBR Shrine
Are you a lover of American beer? Then this is the place to go. To Mecca has Budweiser, Coors Light, Brooklyn Lager, Samuel Adams, and of course Pat's Blue Ribbon. There was PBR regalia everywhere in the restaurant. There was even a small looking PBR shrine. I was driving that day so no beer for me.
The Menu
To Mecca's menu is pretty big and extensive. There were two pages of the menu just full of burgers. I decided to show you the good stuff which you can check out at the entrance of the restaurant. The menu has burgers, pulled pork burgers, tacos, burritos, Philly cheese steak, nachos, hot dogs, sandwiches and so much more.
That day I came for a burger I saw on YouTube and that has a page on the menu dedicated to itself, the Stadium Burger.
Stadium Burger
It was time to try my stadium Burger. I had seen a video of this burger from James Hideki's YouTube channel. He is the main guy of the Burger Baka event I have talked about in the past. He stated that it was a great burger so I wanted to give it a shot. The patty was pretty big and it looked mouth watering. The burger comes with zero toppings. You are given pickles and onions on the side to put in as you please and mustard and ketchup as well. I tried the burger by itself and the meat was great but my god, there was a lot of salt in there. It felt like I was biting into a great piece of meat that had been floating around the Dead Sea. I added all the pickles and onions, still salty. The mustard is what really saved me, it cancelled out some of that saltiness in the burger. I have to disagree with James Hideki on this one. I really didn't enjoy my ocean burger. The fries were good though.
That night, I was picking up the wife from work and told her about my experience. I told her I wasn't sure I would go back. She convinced me to give it another try because she wanted to go for dinner. 20 minutes later, I found myself in front of that PBR shrine again with the staff surprisingly saying "oh you're back!".
Pulled Pork Burger
That night, we sat in the outside area which is small but nice. The wife ordered the pulled pork burger. I went full on Tex Mex, one beef taco and one chicken burrito.
I was still traumatized from the salty burger I had earlier so the wife tried the pulled pork burger first. She said she liked it and let me have a bite. This burger was a vast improvement over the burger I had for lunch earlier. The pulled pork was great. It had a kind of strong flamed BBQ taste. I really enjoyed it but what we had next really shocked me.
Beef Taco
The beef taco comes with a soft tortilla shell that was excellent. I squeezed some lime in there, put some salsa, grabbed my taco and took a bite. The surprise on my face most have been very noticeable because the wife said "that good huh." She gave it a try and loved it. The beef was soft and tasty, the vegetables tasted very fresh, the salsa was OK and the tortilla was a master piece. Next time, I will order more than one taco. I should also mention, you can order a chicken, pork or fish taco.
Chicken Burrito
By the burrito gods, this burrito was beautiful. If there is anything you take away from this post, please let it be this, order the burrito. You can get a beef, pork or chicken burrito. It is huge, it's delicious, it is everything a burrito should be. The beans, the rice, the chicken, (why did I order chicken!? Should have gotten pork!) everything was perfect. There was salsa and this amazing sour cream sauce that I kept spreading on the burrito. The wife loved the burrito as much as I did. This amazing burrito really filled me up and reminded me of good old gourmet burritos from back home. I vow to have all the different burritos To Mecca has to offer and once again go through the gates of this burrito heaven.
I might not have had a great experience my first time around but the second time was fantastic. The wife and I enjoyed our dinner and had a great time. We hope we can come back soon whenever we are back in Mito. I also want to give the other burgers a chance when I visit To Mecca, hopefully sometime soon.
So if you are craving some Tex Mex or burgers and are near Ibaraki University, why don't you stop into To Mecca and satisfy that craving. Who knows, you might see me there, definitely having a burrito with a huge smile on my face.
Enjoy!
For more information on To Mecca, check out their Facebook page:
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