# Mexican food or Italian food **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389 "2014-01-21T20:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/1 "2014-01-21T20:37:14Z")
My 12yo asked me “Daddy, which do you prefer: Mexican food or Italian food” I thought it would be an easy question… but it took so long to decide! I post this challenge of the ages to you. You must choose one. Poll following… (if I don’t f-up the polling option…) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/2 "2014-01-21T20:55:17Z")
I think there’s two different ways to parse this. 1. Generic “americanized” Mexican and Italian food - the kind you get at chain sit-down restaurants. Your Olive Gardens and so on. 2. Authentic. The kind from a hole-in-the-wall run by an immigrant family where the kids are doing homework in the back or, generally in the case of Italian food, an upscale place serving really high-end stuff. For #1, I pick Mexican. For #2, I pick Italian. On the whole, I think there’s a much larger gap between “okay” and “amazing” Italian food than there is between okay and amazing Mexican food, but mediocre Mexican food is much less offensive (enough Tapatio and I’ll eat just about anything). Now if we’re talking about Latin cuisine in general, things get trickier. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/3 "2014-01-21T20:58:27Z")
That’s a good way of thinking about it. To me, Italian has a lot more dishes I like, but there’s _nothing_ in the Italian\* I’ve eaten that comes close to the awesomeness and flexibility of the simple nacho. \*Admittedly, “American Italian” (though I spent a delicious week in Italy!) ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/4 "2014-01-21T21:03:46Z")
If I had to choose to go without one or the other, under threat of death? I’d kill myself. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/5 "2014-01-21T21:06:30Z")
I tend to “crave” Mexican food more, but enjoy both equally. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/6 "2014-01-21T21:09:33Z")
How about “Neither: I like them equally”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/7 "2014-01-21T21:10:22Z")
Don’t wimp out - DECIDE! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Roundabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dec6dc/32.png) [@Roundabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roundabout)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/8 "2014-01-21T21:11:10Z")
Damn. That’s a tough question. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/9 "2014-01-21T21:30:54Z")
I put they both suck, because I have been dragged to the little “Italian” eatery for lunch far too often lately. But in retrospect, what **Johnny Bravo** said. High end Northern Italian food, with its heavy French influence, is one of my favorite things to eat. Meh. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/10 "2014-01-21T21:38:47Z")
Does Mexican include Tex-Mex as a sub-set? ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/11 "2014-01-21T21:40:04Z")
I don’t like Mexican food much. Never crave it. Crazy because I’m from (and still live in) Los Angeles ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/12 "2014-01-21T21:46:44Z")
I voted Italian, but only because of the wider variety offered in the category ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/13 "2014-01-21T21:48:28Z")
Completely different flavors and heat levels, so it really depends on what flavors I’m in the mood for. But I chose Italian just because of variety of tastes and textures, from seafood to pasta. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/14 "2014-01-21T22:05:49Z")
I tried to be fair with the idea of “prefer” so I chose Italian. I’ve had as close to authentic in either category as has made it to Nashville. In that sense Italian is ahead something like 60-40. One of our favorite delivery places is Roma Pizza and Pasta and I get the pasta about half the time we order from them. Sadly the only “Mexican” nearby is Taco Bell and it’s pitiful – and unreliable. But a little further to drive is an “authentic” sit-down place with good food at okay prices. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/15 "2014-01-21T22:08:40Z")
I love them both and eat both regularly, but If I had to eat only one for the rest of my life, (or alternatively, was forbidden to eat one for the rest of my life) I’d be eating Italian. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/16 "2014-01-21T22:13:02Z")
Although I like both, I eat Mexican food much more often than Italian. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/17 "2014-01-21T22:17:25Z")
Why can’t I prefer both, like the late Earl Warren? If I had to choose one, it would depend where I was living. In Boston, I’d pick Italian; in Denver, Mexican. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/18 "2014-01-21T22:59:44Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Don’t wimp out - DECIDE! 😉 Why’d you put an option to wimp out in one direction, and not the other? Anyway… my parents love to tell the story about their time living in Ohio in the early 1970s. The one place they could find that was advertized as a “Mexican” restaurant actually only served Italian food. They had to get salsa and hot sauce shipped from my grandparents back in California. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/19 "2014-01-21T23:02:56Z")
If I had to be exclusive, I’d side with Italian, but it would hurt something fierce. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389/20 "2014-01-21T23:19:35Z")
Not even close, mexican. About the only “italian” I eat is pizza. I’m no fan of pasta and everything else seems to be pasta or a small amount of something with a huge side of pasta. You can take these noodles and shove 'em, mister. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-food-or-italian-food/679389.md?page=2)