With the “when in Rome” saying in mind, Carly Allen, executive vice president and associate publisher, and I knew that, despite limited time and a busy schedule, we had to make time for Mexican cuisine on our recent visit to El Paso, Texas. After all, we don’t know when, if ever, we will return; and as we were practically in Mexico, it seemed only fitting. Plus, we’re both fans of the cuisine and knew this would be better than most Mexican restaurants.

After a morning and early afternoon of conference events and before our early evening flight to Dallas, we called an Uber with intentions to visit a Mexican restaurant that came up on almost every best-of list we could find. However, our Uber driver, born and bred in El Paso, made two other recommendations. Capitalizing on his local knowledge, we changed our minds, took his suggestion and ended up at Los Bandidos de Carlos & Mickey.

We were immediately struck by the eclectic décor and knew we were in for a treat. We each opted for a watermelon margarita on the rocks, paired with guacamole, to start. I chose chicken enchiladas and Carly went with fish tacos. We ended the delicious meal — and our time in El Paso, as we headed straight to the airport after lunch — with a sweet finish: Pancho’s famous sopapillas.

— Kim Krol, editor in chief