Viva Macayo Vegas and great high school memories

My Macayo Vegas closes today after 39 years in the same location.

It's not just mine, of course. More than three decades ago, the Mexican restaurant at 4457 W. Charleston Blvd. belonged to all Western Warriors on Friday nights. We shared it with high school rivals from Clark, and occasionally teen-agers from Gorman and Bonanza, too.

There was a time the greatest question high schoolers from a certain section of this valley faced wasn't if the home team prevailed or if you had directions to the best party, but whether you arrived at Macayo Vegas in time to get a table before the joint overflowed with classmates, raging hormones and Charlie perfume.

We converged in a crush of big hair and letterman's jackets to chatter and flirt over cherry Cokes, endless bowls of salsa and chips, and coveted slices of TCT.

You say you've never heard of a TCT?

The TCT is a Macayo staple. It's short for Toasted Cheese Tortilla. For high schoolers in the days before most of us could pronounce quesadilla, the TCT's melted cheesy goodness was easily the most popular item on Macayo's menu. By no small coincidence, it was also about the cheapest. For a couple bucks apiece, a table full of teens could score Cokes and a wedge of the paper-thin tortilla treat with pennies left over for a tip. And I do mean pennies.

How those poor Macayo waitresses must have dreaded Friday nights. They were run ragged, forced to endure smart remarks from sit-down comedians and the antics of salt-and-pepper-shaker pranksters. They were even subjected to the occasional streaker. For their trouble the waitresses wound up at the end of the night with flat feet and pocketfuls of change.

That is, if they weren't victims of the patented dine-and-dash.

I'll let Western High grads Teresa Albanese and Bobby Hill explain. They were part of a large contingent of Warriors who assembled at Macayo on the last Friday night. The Chargers owned the rest of the weekend.

"The dine-and-dash happens when you don't pay your bill," Hill says, eyes playfully darting toward the door.

"I don't think that's going to happen tonight, though," Albanese says, perhaps to allay fears of the waitresses that a graying gathering old enough to carry AARP cards might suddenly sprint for the exit for old-time's sake.

Hill adds, "You eat and run, and you don't get caught because the kids all look alike. Uh, I only did it a couple times."

"They're getting you back tonight!" Albanese shouts above the chip-crunching crowd.

On the last Friday night, the memories were thicker than nacho cheese.

In high school, Chris McKimmey admits, "We came here all the time, and I never ate a meal -- just a TCT."

Recalls Teresa Gardner: "It's the place we'd come after football games, basketball games and on dates. It was the place to be." The menu wasn't exactly award-winning, but Gardner says they always had the best chips and salsa and TCTs. "Now my granddaughter loves the TCT. She's 5 and knows what it is."

And they say Las Vegas lacks culture.

Marcyne Becker Brown laughs at the memory of the night the streaker sprinted through the restaurant. Fortunately, he didn't bump into any hot plates and burn anything important.

"That was our era," she says. "Hey, we can actually have a margarita legally this time."

For Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum, "This is all about good friends and good times. Seeing everyone here, it brings back all those memories."

Sentimental about chips and salsa and a TCT?

Absolutely.

On the last Friday night at our Macayo Vegas, those overworked waitresses served up a lot of memories.

And I have it on good authority that only one person invoked the dine-and-dash.

Viva Macayo Vegas.

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In a column Wednesday on the $1.7 million settlement by Metro in the Trevon Cole case, John L. Smith commented on the presence of reality TV show cameras from Langley Productions. Cameras from Langley Productions filmed an earlier interaction between Cole and undercover Metro officers. However, a Langley Productions film crew was not present during the raid at Cole's apartment that resulted in his death.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.