My friend was embarrassed.

Rudy’s Mexican Restaurant

We were downtown Santa Barbara by the harbor, grabbing a bite to eat at Rudy’s on West Montecito Street.

I stopped in front of the sign to take a picture, just like I had been doing most of the day, building up my collection of stock photos so I can avoid it in the future.  I could feel my friend’s impatience.

“You look like a tourist,” he told me.

Look man, I hear you – and I don’t necessarily like it anymore than you do.

When I travel, I hate standing out as a tourist, only because I feel like people treat you differently, judge you based on stereotypical criteria.

It’s been a constant battle for me as a travel writer – to stay balanced, to realize I’ll appreciate the pictures later, and to tell anyone who attempts to derail my wandering to go to hell.

Rudy’s is a great spot for a quick meal (you order at the counter) and serves awesome tacos (the downtown location has a bigger salsa bar than the Rudy’s in Goleta, FYI).  I usually order a chicken or beef taco a la carte ($3, one is enough, two is plenty).  There is a lot of cheese on the top and the taco is stuffed, so eat over the chips and let the falling meat and cheese create a nice plate of nachos.

Sometime during the meal, I offered to buy my friend a beer to make up for all the picture-taking and he declined and said, “Just remember who stood by your side while you looked like an idiot in your own town.”

Haha.  You got it, man.

If you are looking for a more traditional sit-down Mexican dining experience, check out what I thought of Los Arroyos in Montecito.