Ay! Over the Mexican border in Harwich
Some eateries are inexpensive, a few are cheap, and fewer still downright bargains.
Without lapsing into a philosophical diatribe about the differences, our rule of thumb is that inexpensive restaurants are usually predictable, cheap restaurants are never ultimately worth it, and when you find a downright bargain, such as Ay! Caramba Café in Harwich, you go there as religiously as church - or until you can say "carne asada" without knitting your eyebrows.
Inside Ay! Caramba, there are two dining rooms, both small enough to make new friends. If this place was any less pretentious-straight back chairs, crammed tables, plastic dinner weapons - you could show up in your pajamas. There is an outdoor table area for those who wish to dine alfresco and watch el traffic from the juncture of Rtes. 124 and 39.
You don't always need curtains and candles to establish atmosphere and at Ay! Caramba, they seem to rely on their customers. Sitting so close to each other makes it easier to see what someone else is eating, just like you want to do in expensive restaurants but have to resort to more neck craning.
The menu stays the same throughout the afternoon and evening - they're open from 11:30 am until 9 pm - with two daily blackboard specials. We squeezed over to the self-help salsa bar that features three degrees of heat: non, some, and call for help (these are our terms, Ay! Caramba goes with the standard mild, medium, and hot.) Our complimentary warm corn chips were at the table when we go back, along with the cups of mango juice and limeade that were refilled throughout the meal. You can also feel free to brown bag it and bring your own beer or wine if their tropical drinks don't interest you.
We started off with a pollo tacos al carbon, a char-grilled marinated boneless and skinless chicken on a soft corn tortilla with minced onions and cilantro ($1.50). This proved to be the most disappointing entry in our choices when the chicken showed up on the dry side, but was remedied by dumping on some of the "call for help" salsa. That rescued the taco but left our nose running and eyes watering for the duration of the meal. We hope it gave us a more sensate look.