In your opinion, in what European country would authentic Mexican food (no Tex-Mex or US style Mexican) find it’s greatest acceptance?
IANAEurodoper, but my WAG would be Spain.
Also IANA European Doper, but Mexican food is not entirely unheard of in Germany and seems to be the favorite food of a couple of Germans I know that have visited the U.S. (They loved Taco bell, but enjoyed the real deal even better.). I also notice that ethnic restaurants and foods seem popular and enjoy success in Germany. Gyros and Falafel are all over there and I believe tacos, burritos, tamales, etc. would be equally welcomed being variants of street food/bread wrap and all.
There are a couple of very popular Mexican restaurants in Frankfurt. One of them is actually pretty good.
I went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant last time I was in Swindon, and it was big although a bit empty when we got there, maybe late on a Sunday night. It was along the lines of a Chi-Chi’s or Don Pablo’s. Not great.
My guess would be most urban areas of Europe would be at least intrigued by the concept. Germans and Brits seem to travel a lot and have adventurous palates. I’m not so sure about the Spaniards, most that I knew had trouble with spicy foods.
I can’t see any problem with real Mexican food becoming popular in Britain - the reason it hasn’t is that there’s no significant Mexican immigration. Nor is there to elsewhere in Europe. I’d also suggest that Britain and Germany are good candidates through having less of a homogenous homegrown traditional cuisine, unlike Spain, and also France, etc.
Yeah, I was thinking (while eating a doner kebab at 2:30 a.m. in Oxford last year) that a Taco Bell might do ok in the UK. I figure if Burger King, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are as popular as they seemed, then Taco Bell might do well also.
Plus the late-night fast food market seems even larger than the US one, and Taco Bell is at its best after midnight and several beers!
Now what kind of person would be eating a kebab out of a van at that godawful hour?
Ah, I see, the same sort of person that frequents Taco Hell 
Whenever I made Mexican food for people in England, it was well-received. I think it hits the same vibe as does Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi cuisine: cheap and spicy for the post-pub crowd, but with intriguing local variations and subtlety for the foodies. Now that I’m back in the States, I realize that even some of the spicings–chil(l)i powder, comino/cumin, coriander/cilantro–are the same. I think a cheap ‘n’ cheerful Mexican restaurant in an English university town could be a big hit.
I know there are at least three very popular Mexican restaurants in Nuremberg, Germany. They all seemed to have a pretty young, hip, clientele, too.
Yep… that would be a drunken graduate student on a study abroad!
So are the kebab vans just an Oxford thing, or are they all over the UK? I don’t recall seeing them anywhere else I went on any of my other trips.
Just ate 4 home-made tamales that an employee of mine gave me today and this thread just showed up. This is the great stuff that Euros are missing…homemade Christmas tamales…yum…urp.
Yep, they’re everywhere.
An American living in the UK here…
I’ve eaten in an “authentic” Mexican restaurant in York and was so disappointed I wanted to cry. The food was bad - refried beens were like soup, tamale was just the masa (no filling when I ordered pork)… Just horrible.
Most of the workers spoke Spanish so when they asked me how the meal was I went on and on about how bad it was (in Spanish) and how it was nothing like Mexican food. Spanish perhaps, but definitely not proper, real, Mexican*.
*and yes, I know proper, real, Mexican food as my first fiance was Mexican and taught me to cook properly. Also grew up in a heavily populated Mexican area so was surrounded by it.
I have a few Spanish friends, from all over the country, and none of them could handle spicy food. Germans OTOH seem to be the most adventurous of all the Europeans I know, and I’d wager they’d take to Mexican food the quickest.
Surprisingly, I know of a couple of Dutchies who might enjoy spicy Mexican cuisine - I once cooked up a hot lamb biryani, and 3 of them walloped it down, without even needing a glass of water to wash it down. They even put me to shame!
Mexican food isn’t necessarily spicy. It can be very much so, trust me, but tends to be more flavourful than spicy.
I’ve not had Spanish food to campare it with, so not sure how accurate a comparison I can make.
The problem for Mexican food in the UK is that it’s market niche is pretty much filled up by Indian restaurants. If you want to know what the chaces of breaking into that market are - read the “what’s a curry?” thread.
There are a fair few “mexican” restaurants or “tex-mex” here but they tend to be a bit rubbish. Ican’t say I’ve ever had a “mexican” meal that would make me want to search out another - I must be missing something.
Spanish food is nothing like Mexican.
I have been to a Mexican restaurant in Copenhagen. It was as good as Taco Bell.* It was full the day I was there.
*Read mediocre.
Not a EuroDoper, but I’ve eaten at Mexican restaurants in Amsterdam and Barcelona. Both were terrible. If those mediocrities can pull a crowd, I’d imagine a really good, authentic Mexican restaurant would do quite well indeed.
I’m sitting here thinking of the Mexican/New Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque that I love going to: Gardunos, Los Cuates, Dos Hermanos, El Pinto…I wonder how well something like Dos Hermanos (which specializes in gigantic burritos) would do in Europe.
Other than the difficulties in starting up any restaurant, I don’t think it’d be too hard. You might have to import the chile, and you’d have to make the tortillas in-house with lard, but a lot of it is really basic. Heck, a good local cookbook could tell you a lot.
As a Texan doper, I’m not really qualified to be on this thread, but here are my WAGs:
I think Tex-Mex could potentially do well in any place that is starved for rich spices. England, Holland, Germany, and eastern Europe would seem like the best targets to me. Also, in spite of being home to some of the best food in the world, France seems to be chock full of people who will eat anything you put in front of them, so it could probably work there. In flavor, Tex-Mex is probably closest in some ways to Greek, in others to Italian, and in still others to Pakistani, but those populations seem quite happy with their own food.
How am I doing?
The chilis could be bought here, or strike up a nice business relationship for a decent discount.
Totrillas are flipping expensive over here when bought from a shop ~ at least £1.20 for 10 which is about $2! Making them yourself is piss easy and would definitely be the way to go.
IMHO a good Mexican restaurant would do quite well over here.
kelly, Indian curries can be some of the hottest food you’ve ever eaten ~ enough to make your backside ache for a day or two after eating them. Many incorporate cilantro and chilis similar to Mexican food, so spices aren’t the problem.
As owlstretchingtime mentioned, have a pop into the “what’s a curry” thread to see what many a problem might be. That thread just left me shaking my head in disbelief at some folks.
If money weren’t an issue, I would be happy to give it a shot. Anyone want to front a Mexican restaurant in Nottingham?