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The Daily Tar Heel

K, so... Where's Monterrey's queso?

The Monterrey Mexican food truck parks around town. 

The Monterrey Mexican food truck parks around town. 

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. 

I’ve learned this the hard way, and recently, so have many of my companions in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area.

Wherever you’re reading this, I suggest you have a seat. Things are about to get very, very heavy. Let me elaborate.

Sunday night, I was making my weekly (sometimes semiweekly) trip to Monterrey, the finest Mexican restaurant in the Triangle and quite possibly the world. 

Upon entering, I was greeted like a king and ushered to my regular booth. I ordered a drink, started munching on the complimentary chips and salsa and didn’t even think about picking up a menu.

I knew why I was there, and so did they. Three letters. A-C-P.

I pulled out my phone and started my weekly routine.

Go to Facebook. Check in at Monterrey Carrboro. Add the caption, "Eating dinner with great friends." 

I knew my promotion of the restaurant’s authentic Mexican cuisine would be rewarded with warm, liquid gold.

The server asked for my order. I gave her a break because, in her defense, I sometimes switch it up and go with the burritos del mar. Before she left, I grabbed her attention and let her know we'd checked in on Facebook for the free queso. 

That’s when my life was changed forever.

“We don’t do that anymore,” she said and walked away.

At first, I didn’t believe what I’d heard — I didn’t want to believe it. How could your whole world come crashing down in a matter of seconds? It felt as if my life had done a 180.

How could you betray me like this, Monterrey? I thought what we had was real and honest. I never expected to be blindsided and stabbed in the back like this.

I finished my meal and ordered another entree to-go, but it wasn’t the same. Nothing would ever be the same.

How will my friends know when and where I’m eating now? I could always count on my fellow Monterrey lovers to like my Facebook post. It was always a good laugh to see what caption my friends decided to go with when they checked in.

But how will this affect the restaurant? Will this lack of free queso drive away customers? More importantly: how much did the Facebook promotion actually influence business?

After multiple calls and emails to the restaurant, the manager was unavailable to comment.

But don’t worry, I will get to the bottom of this. I will find out where they’ve taken our queso.

@zach_goins

swerve@dailytarheel.com

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