A car wash and a burrito

The next time you're in El Paso, get your car washed by hand and feast on some delicious Tex-Mex at H & H Car Wash and Coffee Shop.

Unlikely pairings can create ultimate harmony. Take Sonny and Cher, Lucy and Ricky, Oscar and Felix, The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Indeed, opposites not only attract, oftentimes they become forever linked. But a car wash and enchiladas? That probably isn't what you had in mind.

Still, El Paso's odd couple, H & H Car Wash and Coffee Shop, has been a town institution since 1958. It's where you can get your precious ride washed by hand while you sit at the counter chowing down on chile relleno burritos, crispy tacos, or red enchiladas with homemade chile sauce.

Folks squeeze up to the tiny turquoise counter at H & H, waiting for their pickups, sedans, hot rods, and hatchbacks. The coffee shop is popular with everyone from construction workers who ride up in dusty trucks to ladies in tennis skirts, waiting for their Mercedes-Benzes to dry.

The folks in El Paso aren't the only ones who appreciate the quirky H & H. Last year, New York's prestigious James Beard Foundation named the eatery a winner of its Bertolli Olive Oil America's Regional Classics Award. Only two other restaurants in Texas-Joe T. Garcia's in Fort Worth and the original Sonny Bryan's in Dallas-have earned this recognition.

Even without all the recent publicity, the place has, for the most part, always been successful, according to owners Kenneth and Maynard Haddad (hence the H & H).

My car-buff editor once told me that perfection is a place where he could get his prize 1965 Cadillac scrubbed while he ate lunch. As for me, I'm waiting for a sushi counter in a shoe store. In the meantime, H & H is the best spot in Texas to polish up your car while you polish off a great meal.

H & H Car Wash and Coffee Shop: 701 East Yandell Drive, El Paso, TX 79902; (915) 533-1144. Coffee shop hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Car wash hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-- 3 p.m. Saturday.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Jul 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved