<table> </table> Everyone knows Kansas City is a great town for hearty, sit-down Tex-Mex fare. But if you&#8217;re short on time or don&#8217;t feel like a heavy meal under a blanket of bubbling cheese, a lot of snack shops, drive-throughs and quick-service destinations offer up a different, and often much more authentic, taste of Mexico.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Tropicana</span></strong></p><p>&#8226;830 Southwest Blvd., 816-221-0192</p><p>&#8226;19321 East U.S. 40, Independence, 816-795-0099</p><p>&#8226;10928 W. 74th St., Shawnee, 913-631-4900</p><p>www.paleteriastropicana .com</p><p><strong>Hours: </strong>8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week</p><p>Sun bounces off the lime-green walls at Tropicana on Southwest Boulevard just west of Summit. Customers gossip and pore over magazines and newspapers as they dig into piles of puffy, crunchy &#8220;wagon wheel&#8221; chips and take long draws from milkshakes and smoothies.</p><p>&#8220;I want this every day,&#8221; a girl about 10 years old said, giggling, while tackling an ice cream shake so big she needed both hands.</p><p>The three branches of the Mexican snack bar cover all the between-meal bases. (A fourth location in KCK is scheduled for April.) Order a hefty torta sandwich or the thick homemade potato chips for something savory. Or choose from a wide assortment of fruit and frozen treats, including several flavors of house-made ice cream in flavors like mango, pecan and pine nut.</p><p>The freezer case also holds an assortment of house-made paletas, like a Popsicle, in flavors from fruity (strawberry, mango) to creamy (vanilla, coffee). The rice pudding paleta is almost a meal in a snack, with a terrific chew and a sprinkling of cinnamon on top.</p><p>Challenge your palate with the porcine pleasure of the chilindrina: A large crispy shell of whole wheat flour is topped with a chilled mixture of cabbage, tomatoes, sour cream or mayonnaise, a sprinkling of cheese and strips of light, chewy pickled pork skins.</p><p>The skins taste clean and refreshing, without a hint of gaminess, and the subtle chili sauce that tops it all off strikes exactly the right balance between spicy and earthy. You might easily find yourself a convert to this snack that&#8217;s familiar in Mexico, where it goes by several different names.</p><p>On the lighter side, Tropicana is also a juice bar. Try the intriguingly named &#8220;vampiro,&#8221; its crimson color coming from a combination of celery, beet, carrot and orange. Slices of melon, mango and lime poke out of tall plastic cups in Mexican fruit cocktails, where an optional sprinkle of spicy seasoning lends a salty kick.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Cancun Fiesta Fresh</span></strong></p><p>&#8226;4019 Pennsylvania Ave., 816-756-2120</p><p>&#8226;Also: 503 N. Seventh St., KCK, 913-621-1501</p><p><strong> Hours: </strong>11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays)</p><p>You&#8217;ll find Cancun Fiesta Fresh in a low-slung converted garage across the street from the Beaumont Club in Westport. The menu covers all the bases of the Tex-Mex repertoire: cheesy nachos, ground beef tacos, chimichangas and quesadillas.</p><p>They&#8217;re all good, solid representations &#8212; but it&#8217;s the &#8220;street tacos&#8221; that really stand out. Nestled inside warm corn tortillas, generous spoonfuls of meat wait for a squeeze from a lime wedge or a dousing in one of the house-made salsas that sit in chilled tubs next to the soda machine. The only other adornments are a sprinkle of chopped cilantro and diced white onion.</p><p>Choose from grilled chicken, excellent pork carnitas or beef prepared three familiar ways: ground, marinated asada style or chili-scented adovada.</p><p>But Cancun Fiesta Fresh also offers beef outside the usual American comfort zone. Get the four-taco Combination No. 6 ($7.50, drink included) and order two of them filled with finely textured, savory tongue (lengua) or cheek (cabeza), with its unctuous, slightly chewy pull and rich beefy flavor.