Cozumel Restaurant Magnum Opus Updated

[mstevens]

The “somewhat odd beehive-shaped building” is one of the remaining examples of the Fiberglas prefab buildings made in Mexico in the 1970s.

I knew there had to be a story, and figured that you'd know it.

Dr. Henry Leroy Bockus of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who used it for family vacations.

If I were one of Dr. Bockus's heirs, I would be supremely upset right now. I wonder what it would take to give up a place like that.

The Cozumel Directory made a really screwed-up ad for them about ten years ago

Oh. My. Goodness.

Thank you so much for explaining so many of the mysteries of today's Cozumel and bringing its history back to life.

 

[mstevens]

I still have a copy of it in my warehouse.

I would probably pay a lot for tickets to tour that warehouse...

IIn 1979, Sandro Muller old out to Guido Villiger and left the island to go build and operate another restaurant Rolandis in Cancun. Villiger and Muller had a handshake deal that Guido Villiger would keep the Rolandi name in Cozumel and Muller would keep it off island. When Guido sold Pizza Rolandi to his daughter, Ivonne, she changed the name to Guidos and another Rolandis was opened farther south on the Malecon at the end of Av. Andres Quintana Roo, not related to Guidos, the original Rolandi's.

My first thought upon reading this was that it seems to encapsulate perfectly the complex way real Cozumel history has gone just over the period of less than a lifetime.

Thanks again for all the fascinating information about this amazing place that to my surprise has become the only place that's felt like my home and about which I know so little. I'm off to make corrections on my website!

 

[El Graduado]

If I were one of Dr. Bockus's heirs, I would be supremely upset right now. I wonder what it would take to give up a place like that.

What I understand is that Dr. Bockus was not able to purchase the property in his name because he wasn't a Mexican citizen and chose instead to use a presta nombre, who interpreted the "purchase" as a usufruct and retained ownership after Dr. Bockus' death. That may or may not be true, but it sounds reasonable.

Speaking of nasty-sounding menu descriptions in Cozumel, here is another one:

Many years ago, there was a restaurant on the malecon named Johnny and Billy's. There was no Johnny, nor was there a Billy. It was owned by Carlos Vera and Ernesto Kentsler, I believe. Anyway, Carlos asked me to reprint their menu, as I had the only offset print shop in the state of Quintana Roo at the time. Their old menu had a scrumptious-sounding dish, but I changed its name to read "Chicken Cordon Bleu" when I reprinted it. In the old menu, the name was "Chicken Condom Blue"

Don't egg me on; I could relate what I know about Cozumel's history (recent and ancient) forever if nobody stops me!

 

[mstevens]

How DARE you change the name of that dish from what the owners intended?!

I doubt many of us have any interest in stopping you, Ric. Our hens just stopped laying for the winter but I'll egg you with one of the last ones until spring if given a chance.

 

[Sallygirl]

This thread just has great information!!! Restaurants, history, drinks. The only thing missing to make it perfect is bacon.

 

[Streydog]

This thread just has great information!!! Restaurants, history, drinks. The only thing missing to make it perfect is bacon.

Did you say bacon? Kelly and Jay AKA jayfarmlaw told me about the sexy shrimp at Casa Denis. It is shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. It is not on their menu but if you ask the waiter for the specials they will mention it. I have had it 3 times now and I would eat it every day if I could.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Dear Ric,

Thank you so much. You add an inconceivable amount of REAL info to this web page and we would all be more than a little less without your well written history. Keep it up, can we help?


Dave

 

[El Graduado]

Dear Ric,Thank you so much. You add an inconceivable amount of REAL info to this web page and we would all be more than a little less without your well written history. Keep it up, can we help? Dave

What would be a great help would be if the people who buy any of my books on Amazon would take a minute and leave a short (very, very short is fine!) review. Thanks for asking!

 

[mstevens]

I link to some of Ric's books (The True History of Cozumel, the Guide to the Mayan Ruins of San Gervasio, and the Cozumel Survival Manual) on Amazon from a couple of places on my site. They're invaluable. (And I'd thought I'd left reviews, but I now realize I have 3 different versions of The True History of Cozumel, and probably only left a review of the first one I got). I can't imagine not having those. The others I got just because reading his stuff is such a hoot. I mean, I'm not even interested in horseshoes.

There's also The Big Yellow Map of Cozumel. We've worn out a couple. This isn't the one on Ric's Website but the truly big printed one. We usually get ours at Los Cinco Soles. It's much more complete when it comes to tourist information than the Can-Do ("MapChick") maps. It also includes vast amounts of stuff that might be of less interest to someone on vacation, but extremely helpful for someone trying to find things such as the water company office for the first time.

Bacon? My list mentions it at least a couple of times.

• El Coctelito has Camarones Momia (mummy shrimp) which are shrimp stuffed with cheese, then wrapped in bacon, and grilled. Pretty much the same as Casa Denis's Sexy Shrimp.
• Le Chef has their famous lobster and bacon sandwich, which is somewhat polarizing. I like it a lot, but others find it underwhelming.
• Lobster Shack will add bacon to their lobster rolls, which are already great without it, but those lilies are even better gilded.

Given enough time, most threads in the Cozumel forum eventually turn to the topic of food and restaurants. Most of the ones that start out being about food and restaurants eventually turn to the topic of bacon.

 

[El Graduado]

Thanks, Mark!!