The 'me I can' restaurant

"You'd take me there? You'd really take me there? Wow-ee! It's my favorite place." I glanced at the 7-year-old's mother, a long-time friend. We were sitting in her kitchen having a casual ice tea.

"When can we go?" the exuberant boy begged. "I just love the ME I CAN restaurant." Again, I looked at mom, but her gaze was fixated on a scene happening in her back yard visible from the glass patio doors.

"What do you like best about this restaurant?" I ask Sammy.

He has now come closer to me and gestures imploringly with one hand. "I love the cheese-wich. It's a grilled cheese sandwich. Do you like that, too?"

"Yes, I like grilled cheese," I reply. "It sounds very yummy. The name "ME I CAN" is an interesting name for a restaurant. What do you think it means?"

Sammy gets serious for a moment and says, "ME I CAN means that the owners know how to cook.

"That sounds good to me," I say. "Maybe your mom wants to go along, so do you want to ask her?" "Will you come too, mom? Can we go now? Can we, mom?" begs Sammy.

A quick clock check verifies that it's approaching lunchtime, so we all pile into the car and travel a few neighborhood streets. It isn't long and we pull into the parking lot. Sure enough, the large sign proudly proclaims ME ICAN Restaurant. Sammy points to the sign and says, "Here we are!"

As we're seated at a table, the waiter brings a bowl of warm tortilla chips and salsa. The kids' menu does offer grilled cheese along with other niños items. And the adult fare is tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, refried beans, guacamole, and fajitas.

Sammy selects a particularly large tortilla chip, holds it out and says, "Don't you just love this place?"

His mom points to the menu, shrugs her shoulders, and says, "X marks the spot. MEXICAN. But yes — they can really cook."

[Nancy Linenkugel is a Sylvania Franciscan sister and chair of the department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, Cincinnati Ohio.]