My husband, being the outspoken latino that he is, is quite the connoisuor of local Mexican food. He has a running list of his favorites & knows where to find them in a 30 mile radius from our casa; pozole at a place in town, carne asada in Everett, pupusas down south and shrimp quesadillas at La Bamba. He used to work up north and was always going on and on about this restaurant that he got his lunch from sometimes and honestly, I didn’t care because he never brought me home anything and I assumed it was just one of his many local stops and that I wasn’t missing out on much. Slowly though, that idea of a shrimp quesadilla worked its’ way into my stubborn subconscious and it was only a matter of time before we were La Bamba bound with the boys in tow.

From the outside, La Bamba doesn’t look like much, kind of like an old mechanics garage that was overhauled with a Mexican cantina vibe smack in the industrial zone of Marysville. Once inside however, it has that “mi casa es su casa” vibe, with brightly painted walls, ample seating and a cozy bar front. 

After we had strolled up to the counter to place our order, we found a table tucked into a corner in hopes of containing our wild heathens until the food arrived. While I sipped on my tasty margarita, which Rio valiantly tried to steal from me every time my eyes were averted; I swear that kid was a boozehound in his past life, we feasted on chips and beans. Soon our table was laden down with all sorts of Mexican goodness, a chicken burrito, steak street tacos and of course, that infamous shrimp quesadilla. 

The food was muy delicioso, and soon enough, our plates were empty and our bellies were full. Not full enough though apparently because it wasn’t long before the boys were clamoring for fried ice cream and since they had been moderately behaved thus far, no spilled drinks or dirty looks from fellow diners yet, we acquiesced, one fried ice cream, three spoons. 

Of course, the ice cream lasted all of a minute, and once the plate was licked clean, it was time to pay the bill and leave before the sugar gremlins emerged in earnest. Sauntering up to the counter, Edgar confidently held out the debit card only to be told that no, our meal had already been paid for. 

Flabbergasted, he asked if they were sure that our table, the one with the crazy kids, was the one that was covered and yes, a fellow diner had graciously paid for our entire tab. Now I work in a restaurant and this kind of stuff happens from time to time but it’s usually for a young prom going couple or a veteran out for a meal and I always hate having to tell people that their tab has been paid because I get choked up trying to tell them. Every time. It’s just that kind of generosity makes me stop in my tracks and to be honest, it’s not something I would readily do myself. But I see how it changes people’s days instantly, how whatever they were doing or talking about, must have been good, at least in some stranger’s eyes. And now, for the first time ever, it was happening to me. And it felt good and made me wonder why? What were we doing that made these generous people notice us? Was it the boys? The lack of tablets? The contained chaos which swirled around our table? My look of long awaited relief when my margarita touched my lips? We’ll never know but I do know how much it made a difference in our evening, how we still talk about it months later and how for a brief moment, I felt that someone unbeknownst to me, recognized something in us worth celebrating and that is a beautiful feeling.

Taquería La Bamba

3710 136th Street NE Marysville, WA 98271

Open Daily 10am-9pm

360-651-1122