¡Ay chapulines!

Would you look at that. Insects are popping up just everywhere!

The Reader’s other Ian gagged on some crickets at Tacos Perla over the summer.

Recently, little fried bugs crawled onto the specials board at Cueva Bar. There, they come in quesadilla form, and for a less-ludicrous price: $5 for two grasshopper quesadillas.

Andersen learned the hard way that chewing on bugs becomes nigh impossible if all you can think about is crunching up their little abdomens, and the way the legs wedge themselves between your teeth like the devil’s own parsley leaves. The insects do have a funky taste, perhaps "fungal" as per Andersen’s description, though “grassy” also springs to mind. Since they’re thoroughly cleaned before cooking, there are no nasty bug guts or anything, just a crunchy, husky, toastyness. Eaten with a clear mind, free of paranoia (and maybe with something to prove about the eater’s “wanting to seem worldly”), they’re good, and not so different from the crusty bits that linger at the bottom of a carnitas pan.

Maybe they’ll stick around, if people start asking for them regularly at Cueva Bar. Hint hint.