If you’re like me, you’re a member of GenX and you grew up eating TV dinners. In our household—and, I imagine many others—a favorite TV dinner was the Saltillo Dinner from El Charrito.
El Charrito started out the frozen foods offshoot of the now-almost-dead El Chico Restaurant chain in 1980. A selection of a variety of Tex-Mex dinners, featuring various combinations of enchiladas, tamales, flautas and related fare, it grew to become an essential member of any 1980s and 90s freezer’s pantheon of “food” and “food-like products”.
The best selection was the Saltillo Dinner—a beef enchilada, a cheese enchilada, rice and beans—all ready-to-eat after only a few minutes in the RadarRange.
Unfortunately, several years ago, the current owner of the El Charrito brand killed off the Saltillo Dinner and its frozen brethren, leaving only memories and sadness.
Thus, I’ve started a Change.Org petition to bring back this long-missed piece of our collective childhood and I’d appreciate your support. Please take the time to sign the petition and help bring the joy of the Saltillo Dinner to America’s children.
The text of the petition is as follows:
Don Miguel Foods-
Several years ago, you acquired the El Charrito brand and related intellectual property from Earthgrains and, since then, have been a negligent brand ambassador. After letting the brand languish for a while, you ultimately killed it, taking our beloved Saltillo Dinner to the metaphorical “Beloved Food Grave”.
While the Saltillo Dinner (and other El Charrito products) were far from what a gourmand would consider “good” or even “edible”, for many of us in Generation X, it holds a special place in our hearts. It’s beef and cheese enchilada, beans that were never hot enough and weirdly-creamy Spanish rice were mainstays of our over-scheduled youth and college years.
When there was no other palatable alternative in the house, there was always that forgotten, freezer-burned Saltillo Dinner in the back of the Frigidaire, tucked behind the frozen peas and the round steak your mother got on sale at the Safeway—a panacea in a comestible wasteland.
For many of us Gen Xers, especially those with single mothers or busy parents, the Saltillo Dinner was a lifeline of “nutrition”, serving as a feast while we stuck at home alone while mom worked late and dad drank too much at the Regal Beagle after work with “the boys”.
Thus, it holds a special place in our hearts (and bellies) and its long-absence from the nation’s supermarket shelves weighs heavily on society. As it is, our children will never experience the joy of the Saltillo Dinner’s unevenly-heated chili con carne and gel-like chili con queso, nor its porridge-like rice and not-quite-refried beans. This is, as you might imagine, an experience that would have a positive impact on society and, without it, greatly-affects modern America’s quality of life.
Thus, we, the American people, implore you to return the Saltillo Dinner to the freezer sections of our grocers. Make the world a better place; a place where the next generation can participate in the shared joy and experience of the beloved and missed Saltillo Dinner. A place where our collective admiration of the Saltillo Dinner bridges cultural, societal and political divides. A place where the Saltillo Dinner defines our unique “American-ness” and ensures that future generations will have the comforting, lukewarm joie de vivre awaiting them in their freezers for decades to come.
Thank you for your support!