There’s an excellent, and very popular, restaurant right here in Berkeley called Juan’s Place. Authentic, if somewhat California-ized food. Quite good.
Weel I live in the Los Angeles metro area and my favorite is actually way out in Thousand Oaks called. It’s more of a lunch place, no Margarita’s, no bar, just a lovely hole-in-the-wall with wonderful Mexican food.
Thanks, silenus. That pretty much fits with ny reccollection, except for the Texas part. 
Those Texans try to claim everything.
My contact with the dish was from the late 50’s to the early 60’s in Bakersfield. I don’t doubt a bit that a lot of the Mexicans I lived with came there via Texas.
But when you say “Tex Mex”, I think “Chevy’s”. Sorry, guys. 
I haven’t been there (LA) in many years, but there used to be an area, near downtown I think, that was largely Mexican. It would be difficult to prove you were in the US just by looking around. I used to go there a lot when I lived in North Hollywood.
Olivera Street and environs. Just west? of City Hall, IIRC.
That’s it! 
Huh. Hard to choose.
In the Newport-Mesa area, I like Mi Casa and El Matador. Taco Mesa and Good Mex are great for a quick taco fix.
Granted, Mi Casa ain’t exactly the most authentic Mexican food around, but they have been family-owned for about 30 years and I like to support that. Besides, their chips and salsa are phenomenal! Back in HS, we would smoke a little weed, drive to Mi Casa to pick up chips and salsa, and chow down for the next two hours! Manna!
I post from Albuquerque, making this impossible to answer. They have thier specialties, one place for Tamales (El Modello), another for beef enchiladas, and another yet for chicken enchiladas. Loc Cuates has the best salsa, etc. Then one will relocate and either improve, or too often get worse (Sadie’s isn’t Sadie’s w/o the sound of large balls rolling on wood alleys crashing into pins…the new place is too loud, and the food is cold half the time) The only places that don’t have some good food are national chains that try to survive here.
The converse question (If I may drift the thread) I can almost answer:
The worst Mexican resteraunt I’ve ever been to was either “Senior Gringo’s” (yes really) in Ft. Smith, (or just outside) AR. Or “La Cantina” In Wellington, NZ.
Nacho Mama’s is our absolute favourite hangout. The staff is consistently awesome and the food is always great. Whenever Dave and I go out without the kids, that’s where we go. Plus, Natty Boh for a buck and a half!
It’s in Baltimore, Maryland, for anyone who didn’t reat Trunk’s post which I quoted in the above. :smack:
That’s the place in Canton I was eating once and noticed Detective Munch (Richard Belzer) waiting for carryout at the bar. This would have been not long after they first opened. Nice little place.
Nashville: La Hacienda
Damn, just posting that link makes me hungry…
Back in '65/'66 in Manila (yep, in the Philippines) close to that big park in the center of town. The food was mexican, not spanish, and delicious. Their trademark was warm salsa served in a little candle heated molcajete. It came with fresh corn tortilla chips and small handmade flour tortillas, also warm.
I ordered much more bravely after my second visit, and never once regretted it.
Cerviche to die for. Chilaquiles too.
They also served an outstanding cheeseburger on a french roll. 
Life is good, eh?
mangeorge
Been to Nacho Mama’s. It’s pretty good. Of course, we were just munching on nachos, etc. and drinking so I have no idea as to the quality of the actual food.
Taco Time is the best fast food Mexican chain in the Pacific Northwest. It was started by the same two guys who started Taco Bell (blegh). One of the guys wanted to go national and one wanted to stay local so they divided up the assets and went their own ways. I’d never heard about the mayonnaise thing though.
The best upscale Mexican chain in the Seattle area is Azteca and the best non-chain mom-and-pop bar none is Mama’s Mexican Kitchen downtown. Yum!
Still, I miss a little hole-in-the-wall place in South Park. It hasn’t been there for years but I wish it was every time I go by there.
Sublight if you’re in the Seattle area when you’re home, come on down to Burien. Small Mexican restaurants have proliferated here in the last decade and you can’t go a block or two without finding one. Since I’ve moved back here, I haven’t gotten to try many but there’s** La Costa** on SW 152nd, which is very good. They have a mariachi band on certain nights too.
Dayton, OH has a good, hole-in-the-wall place near the Dayton mall. The place is called Tacos Mexico Lindo, but the red, light-up sign just says “TACOS”.
For some reason, I’ve never been to either of Rick Bayless’ restaurants. Hm.
For sitting down, I like Rique’s, on Sheridan in Uptown. Yum.
As for hole-in-the-wall taquerías, there’s pretty much one per block in Chicago, but they all seem pretty much the same to me. (Not that I don’t like the food, mind.) I used to be fond of the 24 hr. taquería down the street, but they tore it down to build a condo there. Figures. If someone wants to recommend an especially good one in the Lincoln Square/Ravenswood/Uptown area, I’m all, uh, eyes though.
I’m going out on a limb here, but Taco Bell didn’t used to be that bad. Back when they put actual meat in the food. I kinda liked the bellburgers, and the green sauce beef burritos. Now it’s a canned saucy crap that doesn’t cut it for me.
Okay, I once in a while enjoy a Chipotle Grilled Burrito. :rolleyes:
Oh yeah, we were talking about mexican food. Nevermind.
mangeorge, who remembers the fire.
The best Mexican Restraunt, hands down, is Fiesta Tepa-Sahuayo in Watsonville, California. It’s an unassuming place in a strip mall, decorated like some lurid Frieda Kahlo psychedelic nightmare and full of surly men that look at groups of gringos funny and a waitstaff that doesn’t speak a world of English. The menu is a hand written document (laminated to double as a placemat) that promises “dishes hard to find even in Mexico”.
Oh the food! Where I lived in Santa Cruz, I could walk to ten taquerias. But I still made the half-hour drive down to Watsonville to eat at Tepa-Sahuayo. My standard order was huitlacoche (black corn fungus- tastes meaty and grainy and sweet and savory and wonderful) enchiladas in a trio of sauces- a green sauces, a white suiza sauce, and a delicate pink rose-petal sauce. For this I’d pay $10.00. Carnivores will find all manner of amazing delicacies prepared with great care. Shrimp is a speciality, and it’s served in all kinds of amazing ways- cheesy fondue! pineapple sauce! pumpkin seed sauce! The sheer complexity of flavor found in their sauces make even the best French restaurants look like fry-joints. Everything can be washed down with huge pitchers of sangria ($6.00 for enough to render your whole party unable to drive) or “individual” servings of agua frescas and horchata served in only slightly smaller wildly decorated pitchers. It’s food with heart, creative and unpretentious at the same time.
If you can’t make it down to Watsonville, the best burrito in Santa Cruz can be found at the small counter in the back of Rosa’s convenience store near the boardwalk (by the Comfort Inn.) They put some kind of amazing sauce in it that puts it head and shoulders above the ricey lettucey things with great sloppy glops of sour cream you find at the Pacific Ave taquerias. On the East Side Taqueria Cancun was my place, although it’s nothing special and you are better off going spulrging at Rosa’s by the harbor for their wonderful mojitos and extensive salsa bar served with both fresh tortilla chips and fried plaintains.
Since moving to the East Bay, I’ve cut down on my taqueria habit. I’d love any recommendations. I love Gordo, of course. Juan’s (conveniently by my work) is okay. I love the atmosphere but they seem to be cooking by rote and the food is a bit too expensive for something so entirely standard. I haven’t made it to any of the famous taco trucks…partially because I fear it may be hard to remain vegetarian when confronted with one. The taquerias by my house (by the Grand Lake theater, Oakland) are all equally dreadful and overpriced.