Rincon del las Flores serves fine fried fish meals at Playa Bagdad.

Rincón de las Flores is one of many small family-owned and operated fish restaurants located at Playa Bagdad, and there isn't a whole lot to set it apart from the seemingly endless supply of small restaurants that line the beach. However, Jerry's buddy Rodolfo, who seems to know everybody in Tamulipas, knows this family, so since we were visiting Bagdad Beach, Rincón de las Flores seemed like the right choice for lunch.

Left: The Rincón de las Flores de "campus," with the fish tent to the left and the red buliding that serves as the kitchen and the house to the rignt. The dining tent is obsured by the fish tent. Right: Is this sign hard to understand? Note their name is in small letters. But, hey, they serve menudo!

Rincón de las Flores is rather unique, in that it operates as a "campus," because the business is divided up between two open air tents and a wood building, elevated on stilts to afford it protection from storm surges that are experienced during hurricanes. Actually, there are many other small fish restaurants in Playa Bagdad that are divided into sections, but Proud Pescado is different, as its divided into three distinct sections, rather than the more common two.

You park your car and get out and approach the first tent, which is the one closest to the beach, and you're greeted by one of the friendly owners, Maximia or Ebolo. As you enter this tent, you'll notice there are several ice chests, as these are where the restaurant's inventory of fresh fish is stored. Not many homes or businesses in Bagdad Beach have electricity, and Rincón is one of them. Actually I had to open up the ice chests to gaze at the fish inside, and I noticed that the fish is fresh, very, very fresh. I asked the lady where they got the ice, and she said it's delivered from Matamoros, twice a day. The fish is fresh, as its purchased freshly caught, from local fishermen, who catch the fish and deliver it directly to the restaurant. Rincón de las Flores has an agreement with two local fishermen, who supply the fresh fish on a daily, as-needed, basis. Since deliveries are made several times daily, the fish is always very fresh.

Don't even think about a menu, as it doesn't exist at Rincón de las Flores. Regular offerings don't exist either, as Rincón de las Flores works on the catch-of-the-day method, which means whatever variety of fish the local fishermen provide, that's what's on the menu. What you do is open up the ice chests, look at what they have in stock, and make your selection from what they have in stock. We were in the mood for shrimp, but they didn't have any on the day of our visit, so we had to settle for flounder. But we were in the mood for fresh fish, and you can't find fish any fresher than the freshly-caught fish at Rincón de las Flores.

Left: A customer, and some of the many dogs that live under the building, relax in the shade. Right: Our friend Rodolfo and Maximia display freshly caught shrimp, stored in one of the ice chests. This photo, taken by Jerry Flinn, was from a previous visit in July, 2006.

After you've picked your selection of fish, its hoisted on a scale and weighed, as you're charged by the pound. You point out to the lady the fish that you want, and she lifts it out of the ice chest and weighs it from a hanging scale. The fish is whole and not gutted. You agree to the price of your meal after the fish is weighed, but in typical Mexican fashion, you don't pay for it until you've eaten it and you're ready to leave. The meal starts at a set price, as it includes side dishes such as chips, salsa, French fries, diced onions, radishes and limes, but price of the fish is added to the price of meal, depending on how much fish you wanted. Jerry and I were hungry, so we purchased two pounds of flounder. Rodolfo had told us to mention that we're friends of his, as Rincón de las Flores has a two-tiered price system, one for locals, and one for gringos. When we told Maximia that we were friends with Rodolfo and he had told us to request the "local" price, she replied with "¿Dónde está ese Rincón?" We got a big laugh out of that, as she basically asked, "Where is that Rincón?," obviously refering to our friend Rodolfo Rincón. Jerry later told me the first time he visited the restaurant, Rodolfo proudly pointed out that he and the restaurant shared a name, since his last name is the first name of the restaruant.

Rincón de las Flores is owned and operated by Ebolo and Maximia, and staffed by their son Juan and his wife Brenda. Typical of most small, family owned and operated restaurants in Mexico, everybody does everything, everybody knows who to do everybody eles's job, and everyone works together as a team, like a well-oiled machine.

After you've had your fish weighed, its taken to a table where the scales are removed, the fish is cleaned, and then filleted to the proper size, depending upon the selection you've made. We had the opportunity to watch Rincón de las Flores' staff in action, scaling, cleaning and cutting the fish, and I can tell you that these folks are experts at what they do. When the fillets are ready, they're carried to the kitchen, in the wood building located to the rear of the tent where you've just visited.

Left: Maximia weighs our flounder in a scale hanging in the fish tent. Right: Maximia weighs fish for another customer. Note the large white ice chests, as this is where the fish is stored.

The restaurant's kitchen is located in a wood, board and batten building that's built on stilts, in order to survive the hurricanes that occasionally pummel the area. Its painted a color that I'd call "Tuscan Red," remembered from the days when model railroading was my main interest, and it features a sign painted on the side labeled "Pescado Frito" and the "o's" each are adorned with happy, "smiley" faces. Not only does the buiding serve as the kitchen, its also the living quarters for the family, as there is a living room and a couple of bedrooms, but the front room is the kitchen that not only serves the business, but also serves the needs of the family. The place is small, and there's a lot of living, working and playing space packed into the, maybe, 400 square feet footprint of the building.

The kitchen is very simple, as it contains a couple of work tables, and two propane burners, fashioned from old washing machine drums, and the windows are open to the elements, as the building does not contain a pane of glass. Yes, you read correctly, as the kitchen utilizes two "stoves" fashioned out of old washing machine drums. The washing machine drums sit on top of a table, and each drum contains a propane burner. The purpose of the washing machine drum is to elevate the burner to the proper height, as one burner contains a grill, and the other one is used as a griddle. Both burners are fueled from a 10 gallon propane cylinder, located to the rear of the kitchen. As the cook is performing his or her duties, he or she has a fine view of the restaurant and Bagdad Beach in general, as the kitchen looks east at the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. I love the informality of places like Rincón de las Flores, as where else would you be able to take a tour of their kitchen? After all, the kitchen is the place where a fine meal begins.

Left: The flounder that serves as the main course of our meal is being cleaned by Brenda's husband (I never caught his name.) Right: Our flounder is scaled before being cut to size for our meal.

After you've picked out your fish, had it weighed and agreed upon the price, you go to another shaded canopy, to your left, that's set up with several tables and chairs, which serves as a shaded, outdoor dining room. This is the third "structure" that is part of Rincón de las Flores' "campus" restaurant, and the place where most diners eat their meal.

I'm not one to just sit around, so as our meal was being prepared, I took the opportunity to chat with the locals, take in the lovely beach scenery, and visit the kitchen, and talk to Brenda, who was performing kitchen duty on the day of our visit. Brenda is married to Juan, and splits her time between her kitchen duties and caring for her infant daughter Brendita. I really stuck my foot in my mouth, as while Brenda was cooking our meal, I asked her what grade of school she was in and how was school going. She proudly informed me that she was out of school, married, has a daughter, and is now working in the family business, and currently preparing my meal. Well, I guess this lady really told me!

Left: Brenda prepares an order of fried fish, in the kitchen of Rincón. Right: Here's a close-up photo of Brenda in the kitchen. These photos were taken by Jerry Flinn from a previous visit in July, 2006.

Jerry had picked our a suitable table, so I decided to join him there and sip an icy-cold Mexican Coca Cola. In Mexico, Coke uses a slightly different formula as utilized in the U.S., and you can really taste the difference. As soon as I cross the line into Mexico, I have a tendency to grab a Coke as soon as possible... but I'm getting off the subject. Jerry and I sat under the tent and engaged in pleasant conversation for several minutes until Maximia showed up with our lunch. And what a lunch it was!

Maximia brought us our lunch, which consisted of a huge platter filled with two pounds of fried flounder, fried rice, chips, salsa with French fries. The platter was garnished with diced onion rings, halved key limes, and sliced Roma tomatoes and radishes. Jerry and I were each provided a single plate, as to serve ourselves individually from the huge serving platter. So what do you do when you're presented such a task to accomplish? Dig in. Pig out. Enjoy. That's exactly what we did!

You won't find a fish taco on Mexico's gulf coast, as the fish taco is strickly a Baja-thing, but you will find French fries, and lots of them. At Rincón de las Flores, you'll get a quality meal, and probably more food than you can eat, as besides the two pounds of fish that we'd ordered, we had more rice, chips and garnishes than we knew what to do with. The quantity of the meal was outstanding and the quality was very good, although we think Brenda cooked the fish just a little bit too long. But, that's just a minor complaint.

Left: Brenda relaxes in the kitchen, and savors the fine view of Bagdad Beach. The fish tent is the white building directly in front and yes, that's the Gulf of Mexico in the background. The uncut veggies and condiments for our meal can be plainly seen on the table, just to the right of Brenda. Right: Maximia delivers another round of cokes, as Jerry looks on, with our meal in front of him. Note the beach in the background that truly leads a diner to believe that they're dining outdoors.

Since we'd mentioned our friend Rodolfo's name, we got the price that the locals pay, which in our case totaled $150.00 (pesos) for two pounds of perfectly fried flounder, four Cokes and who-knows-how-many-pounds of fixing's and side dishes, which at the exchange rate at the time, came to about $13.00 and change in U.S. dollars; not a bad deal, but a bit expensive by Mexican standards. Something that we've come to know and accept at Bagdad Beach is that it is quite expensive, as are most beach communities in any part of the world. One other thing, in a small, beachside restaurant like Rincón de las Flores, you're not expected to leave a tip!

Photo: This is it, our meal! Rice, chips, salsa, garnishes, and 2 rounds of coke make our meal. This food is simply delicious!

Left: Jerry snaps my photo as I dig in to our meal. Jerry and I are both world-class eaters, but we could barely finish the gigantic platter of food we were served. Right: You know the food is good if the owners choose to eat their own product at dinner time! From left to right: Brenda's husband, Ebolo, Maximia, "Brendita," and Brenda.

Rincón de las Flores certainly offers fresh fish, at competitive prices. If you're visiting Bagdad Beach and you want an excellent fish meal, Rincón de las Flores should be on your list of places to visit.

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