Monticello father son duo eat Mexican food in ever Utah county

Ahead of the start of the school year Carson Palma came up with an idea. While he and his dad were eating chips and beans at Gustavo’s in their hometown of Monticello one night, Carson told his dad Jake that he wants to eat at every Mexican restaurant in Utah.
After some talking Jake helped him narrow the dream down to finding at least one Mexican meal in every single county in Utah.
The idea became a reality as the duo took a trip over 1,500 miles to all 29 counties in the state the week before the start of the school year.
The trip took plenty of planning and effort with Carson raising money for the trip by making, selling and delivering homemade salsa.
The trip also had it challenges with heavy rains ruining some camping plans. Another challenge was finding open restaurants in all of Utah’s smaller counties. In Morgan County with no Mexican restaurants, the Palma’s improvised by going to a local BBQ place and getting some brisket to wrap in tortillas they had brought along with them. Despite the challenges they had a successful trip even getting pork chile verde with fresh tortillas at Butch Cassidy’s Hideout Cafe in Piute county.
Covering 29 counties in four days meant occasionally splitting tacos or getting lighter snacks like fresh fruit cups and lime paletas (a favorite of Carson). The Palma’s also burned some calories in Logan hiking up the 124 steps of “Old Main Hill” at Jake’s alma mater of Utah State University.
On the 92.7 FM Red Rock Morning Show the Palma’s shared their top five favorite stops on the trip.
1. Gustavo’s in Monticello where Carson ordered the birria tacos
2. Maria’s Kitchen in Hurricane where the pair had tacos
3. Tacos El Güero in Heber City where they shared a gordita
4. El Patron in Ogden for breakfast food
5. Rolbertos in Price where they had sopa.
Reflecting on the trip, Jake emphasized the value of the experience. "Spending four days one-on-one with my son on a big road trip enjoying things that we like together—it was just a lot of fun," he said.
Carson agreed saying “The car trip didn't really seem that long, and the food was mostly really good.”