Oh dear me. The chips and guacamole and the carne adasa burritos? To. Die. For.
I would also recommend Federicos for amazing fast mexican food 24 hrs/day. Yum yum.
Having vacationed in Puerto Penasco, MX (basically Rocky Point) several times, I can tell you that they have a lot of taco stands which serve pork, beef or chicken tacos and allow you to add your own extras (guacamole, lemon, salsa, etc).
The only mexican food sit down restaurant I’ve been to there offered stuff like chorizo, burritos, chili rellenos (yumYUMYUM) etc.
I’d say the big difference is that Taco Bell doesn’t offer enchiladas sauces on anything that I’ve found and whomever mentioned that all Taco Bell items consist of the same few ingredients is right on the money. I’ve also been told (from an ex who moved here from Indiana) that our Taco Bell food tastes different than the one back home. :dubious:
The difference between Taco Bell and authentic Mexican food?
One is made by undereducated, underpaid, oppressed wage-slaves with little hope of social or economic advancement in poor conditions with poor ingredients and poor quality control.
Very slow - you would not believe how long it takes to lure those damn things out of their holes. You need a lot of patience. The chocolate ones are especially difficult to coax out.
Remember that Tex-Mex IS authentic Mexican food. It’s the cuisine of the region of Mexico called Texas. If Oaxaca declared independence from Mexico and became part of Guatemala, would Oaxacan cuisine stop being Mexican food?
I wouldn’t call them much, much better than Taco Bell . . . let’s be honest with ourselves here. They’re twice as expensive, 10 times as dirty, and a little bit better. Try Carolina’s on the NW corner of Cave Creek & Cactus for a Mexican fast food alternative that’s better, cheaper, and family owned.
Mamacita’s restaurant, a chain in Texas, that started in my old hometown of Kerrville…with restaurants now in San Antonio, Fredericksburg, and San Marcos. Tortilla chips always fresh and warm, a tortilla machine that makes fresh tortillas (like someone mentioned earlier, they resemble a soft, fluffy, but heavy crepe), and I swear they put cocaine in their iced tea…
Pretty much the major difference between Taco Bell and Authentic Tacos, is fresh cuts of meat versus ground beef with a seasoning packet and soy body enhancers. Fresh, legible, cuts of meat either grilled quickly… or slow simmered and reconstituted in fat with minimal seasoning, in a traditional Mexican cooking style. Think Carnitas.
Nope sorry, but thanks for playing. The way a taco is made is the cook will take two fresh (not fried) corn tortillas off a stack and put them on the griddle to warm them (one on top of the other) after a minute or so he will turn them over and after another minute or so, pull them off and put them on a plate. Then a small scoop of filling (Carne, carnitias, fish, whatever) is added, a small wedge of lime or lemon is tossed on the side, and if the guy is being fancy a grilled green onion, or a bit of pico de gillo. That is a traditional Mexican taco.
Rick
Who grew up and still lives in the Barrio.
That’s the same way they do them around here: soft corn tortillas, usually doubled (exceptions off the top of my head include tacos arabes, which have a singlem thicker almost pita-ish flour tortilla, and potato tacos which are deep-fried and, therefore, crispy). Roasted knob onions aren’t as common, but my favorite taco al pastor place would serve their tacos with the smaller, key limes (not the usual Persian limes), roasted knob onions, and radishes.
And that reminds me, radishes are actually a common accompaniment to various Mexican dishes, especially with tacos, posole, and carne en su jugo. Also, I tend to find shredded cabbage to be used commonly (instead of lettuce) in the above dishes as well.
Also available at the approximately 1,500,000 of these Located allover Southern California. That last link give a real clue as to how to find real Mexican food. If you see words like Asada, Pastor, Cabeza, or Carnitias you are assured that you are getting the real deal.
You may also find the real deal at the approximately 500,000 locations of one of these.
There are also a couple of million of places like this one. You will note that Menudo is available on Saturday and Sunday as a hangover cure. (sab y dom translates as Saturday and Sunday) Hereis whata real tacolooks like. In the last link you will notice the lemon, the lime, the pickled carrots, and the jalapeno. Notice also how the two tacos are stacked back to back this is the usual presentation. Notice the double corn tortillas. I suspect the customer added the cilantro, onion and salsa before taking the photo.
Here is the most authentic Mexican restaurant I could find a picture of.
Here are some NOTauthenticMexicanRestaurants. I do have to admit that some customers seem to like that last place.
Rick, are you being ironic or just a jerk? I really can’t tell. Do you really think your opinion is the be-all, end-all of what Mexican food is and isn’t? You can’t possibly believe there is only one way to make a taco or that carnitias is a word, can you? Do you really think any self-respecting Mexican cook would call those puke-wagons “the real deal”? Do you really think serving menudo or using Spanish words speaks dick-all about an establishment’s authenticity? If you’re joking, good on you, brother, because I’m laughing.
I don’t think the double corn tortilla is necessarily a sign of authenticity. When the tortillas are handmade and fresh, I usually only get single-ply tacos. Most of the Chicago stands do two-ply on the tortillas, but I don’t think that’s necessarily standard in Mexico. Perhaps someone can correct me. Certainly, none of the Mexican cookbooks I have expressly recommend doubling up on the tortilla.
Also, cilantro and onion is the default topping here in Chicago. Lettuce, tomato, and cheese are also available by request. Tacos do not come plain unless specified. It should also be noted that the largest Mexican population in Chicago comes from Michoacan, so their cuisine would be more dominantly represented here.
So when was the last time you saw menudo, or cabeza tacos, or lengua tacos* at a Taco Bell, Chevy’s, or El Torito? So unless you are arguing that TB and the other are authentic, I rest my case. It is quite likely that the cook on that taco cart/truck/hole in the wall restaurant is an illegal and was cooking in Mexico last week. So if you want authentic do you go to corporate Taco hell/El Toritio/Chevys or do you go to a resturant/truck/cart where the guy is fresh over the border?
Carnitas, I added an extra vowel, big whoop, is that the best you got? :rolleyes:
Have you ever taken the time to make carnitas at home? I have and while it is a heart attack on a plate, it is tasty as hell.
As far as the only way to make a taco, hell no that isn’t the only way, but I can tell you this; In 56 years of living in both East LA and the Barrios of the San Fernando Valley that is the default method of presentation for a taco. Same thing at the hole in the wall joints in Phoenix, the Central Valley of California, TJ and Ensenada and other parts of BC. BC in this case being Baja California not British Columbia.
A taco is food of the people. A homemade taco is very likely to contain what ever was left over from last night dinner. Scrambled eggs and a bit of meat is quite popular based on what I have seen my coworkers bring for lunch or break.
No fancy hard shell fried corn tortillas. No way to make these at home. Mammasita** patted the tortillas out of masa flour, then heated them on a comal before making a taco.
Have you ever stood next to a hot stove waiting for the next tortilla to be patted out and then to be thrown on the open flame so you could grab it and eat it? That my friend is authentic Mexican food.
No hard shells, no lettuce, no chihuahua no crap just great food.
pulykamell last week at lunch we were eating tacos, and I asked my Hispanic co-workers this very question; why two tortillas? There answer was breakage. Try eating a taco with only one tortilla. So I gave it a shot. About 1/2 way though the tortilla started to rip along the bottom. Good reason for the second tortilla.
*Braaaiiins and tongue
** yeah I probably spelled this wrong, bite me.
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