Can’t be any worse than the “Mexican” food in Ireland, although, I think the Aussie Doper whose “burrito” had ketchup on it wins this contest by a long shot.
First off, most Americans’ idea of Mexican food IS Taco Bell.
Secondly, it probably has more to do with local tastes than anything. Alot of people in New England (I.E.: white people) seem to hate lots of “exotic” spices. (There are exceptions, to be sure, but I’m not talking about THEM, am I?)
Then there’s the home culture to consider. Alot of Mexicans do not come from the Sonora region of Mexico (which is close to where I live), and the cuisine is different from region to region (The people from Chihuahua seem to prefer more creamy sauces than the ground molés from Oaxaca).
Finally, the further you get from Mexico, the worse the available ingredients. I mean, Washington and Oregon may have the best beef (forget Texas!), and other states make the best of the other staples, but once you get to places like Denver and Louisiana, you lose that direct influence that makes Mexican cooking what it is…
I’ll chime in to agree with the others who say that Michigan is a vaste desert when it comes to Mexican food. They just don’t get it. Mr. Athena and I wax poetic on how nice it would be to go out and get the #4 plate at times - you know, that plate with an enchalada, a chile rellano, and a beef and bean burrito. We don’t even think about such things as carne asada, tamales, or other tasty delicacies.
It’s not that the restaurants don’t try. There’s a Mexican place here called the Border Grill. Near as we can tell, they’re talking about the Canadian border. The overwhelming concept seems to be that if it’s shoved in a tortilla, it’s Mexican. Last time I got a burrito there it had spinach and mushrooms in it. They charge extra for salsa, and - get this - it’s mayonaisse based.
Sometimes some of the other restaurants do “Mexican night” and it’s equally as bad. Last time I got a chicken burrito (the only thing offered) and what I received was a white flour tortilla filled with tasteless shredded white meat chicken. On top were a few strands of cheddar cheese, and it had been put under a broiler so the tortilla got hard and the cheese turned to cement. A dollap of sour cream and one of green sour cream (ie, what they call guacamole), a small pile of shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes, and a lone canned black olive completed the meal. It was so tasteless and dry I could hardly eat it.
Luckily, I’m a damn good cook, and my Mexican rocks. Just cooked up a big pot of shredded pork over the weekend. It will be the basis of many dinners over the coming weeks.
DogsLunch hit it right:
It’s all about the quality of the chili.
Red or green, it doesn’t matter. If it’s grown right and processed right, then you will taste it and the difference will become very apparent.
It’s like coffee. You can taste the shit-grown, shelf-old stuff in a heartbeat. The quality coffee tastes GOOD!
Many mexican restaurants also think salsa is tomato sauce with some red chili powder. Yeecchhh!
Go to where they use GOOD chili and skillful recipies and you can’t go wrong.
Hatch chili, as DogsLunch suggested, is some of the best in the world.
Little Nellies in Las Cruces, NM was the best place I ever ate. I hope it’s still there.
I AM from Texas. While I generally don’t eat Taco Bell outside of 12 midnight-3 a.m., it’s ok during that time frame (and only if Taco Cabana isn’t open for some reason!).
New York City has finally started to acquire a few Mexican restaurants (aside from pseudomex places like Caliente Cab and Mama Mexico, that is – our local equivs of Chi Chi’s, I guess) if you look for them. In the 80’s there was virtually none, and you didn’t find many Mexican people in the city either, but there’s been more of an influx in the last 15 years or so.
There’s a pretty nice one on Amsterdam between 145th and 146th. Good posole, several seared chicken and beef dishes with good kick and a variety of sauces. Something besides fajitas or enchiladas with the same old heavy mild red sauce and sour cream and lousy guacamole on everything. Formica, small, geared towards take-out, but authentic.
There used to be a pretty good place just outside of Gwinn. Of course, it closed down when the Airforce base closed down and there’s now nothing even remotely close to it. There’s one or two other in Marquette and Escanaba but they mostly suck pretty bad.
Damn, you’re making me hungry! Guess what i’m having for dinner!
( l live in deeeeeeeep south texas. I can get a chivo ‘down the block’ from anywhere) heh, like starbucks! 
Do you like luenga? I love barbacoa on a sunday morning!
Luenga? I never have been a big wine drinker. Although my brother makes some pretty damned good stuff. I’ve got a lot of grapes on my place. I used to make a good white wine back when I used to mess with it. hmmm, got me thinking about making a batch this year.
Brother is always “just about out” :rolleyes: Folks are always hitting him up for a jug.
For me, there’s nothing better than a crisp morning camped high in the Sierras. The smell of a young goat on the smoke mixed with the scent of a fresh pot of strong coffee. A saddlebag full of fresh picked avacados. A good cigar and a couple of shots of tequila.
Add a sweet senorita sleeping in peace and I’m good to go. 
Thea Logica has it right, small and family is the best. Look for books stacked on a back table. That means that Mom and Dad are watching the kids do their homework when they aren’t waiting on or bussing tables. Ask Papa what the specials are…you won’t be disappointed!
There is a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican seafood restaurant in downtown Riverside, California that is just superb. No menu printed…just a chalkboard. Best salsa ever. We have watched the kids go through high school, based on the books in the last booth. Successfully, I might add…the place is closed the night of Graduation, so the whole family can attend.
Look for menudo on the menu. I’ll never eat the stuff, but I take its presence as a statement of “seriousness of intent.”
Red Matrix where in south Texas do you live? I’m now a new resident and the border is 9 miles away.
I am going to be a huge fat thing if I keep eating this wonderful food. There’s this place down the road that is what I call the Mexican McDonald’s–it is realtively fast food Mexican open 24 hours a day and when I go, I’m usually the only gringo there. They have the best fajita plate and their guacamole is a HUGE glop of smashed avacado–no lettuce fillers–no fake green coloring.
I’ll third or fourth the recommendation to find a small family-owned place. You know you’ve found it if there are more hispanics there than gringos. I used to have a favorite place in Tulsa, OK that some of the yuppies found, so you’d have Mexican migrant workers eating there right next to coat and tie lawyers driving their jags.
It is to my shame that I do not like authentic Mexican food. My sister, a big fan of the Real Stuff, has occasionally taken me to little family hole-in-the-wall places, the kind where we’re the only folks in the restaurant fluent in English, and every time I’ve been disappointed. It’s not that they’re too spicy (they’re not); it’s not that the salsas are bad (they’re often quite good). It’s two things:
- They don’t exactly cater to pseudovegetarians like me, and
- They do unspeakable things to my gut.
I’m a big fan of Mexicali, though: give me the high-vegetable black bean burrito with a spicy raw tomato salsa and a little bit of cheese, and I’m a happy guy.
I also dig some of the weirder Mexican restaurants I’ve been to, the ones that serve spiced trout with jicama and bananas alongside the chunky guacamole, the ones whose rice dishes are flavored with fruits I’ve never heard of. These places are not, judging by the clientele, favorites with local Mexicans, however. I don’t know whether they’re from other regions in Mexico, or whether they’re too expensive for the mostly migrant labor Mexican population in my area, or whether they’re just a bunch of freaky quirky chefs with only nominal association with traditional Mexican cuisine. In any case, they’re yummy.
Daniel
LHD, those dishes you said mostly come from the southern coasts of Mexico. And, since most mexicans in the US come from the north and middle of Mexico, are not very popular except with mexicans from the coastal states of Tabasco, Yucatan and Veracruz.
t-keela,
He probably meant lengua, which means tongue. As in cow tongue.
One type of mexican food that, surprisingly, has never caught on here are Tacos al Pastor, sometimes called Adobados in the north. They are probably the best type of taco there is and yet I’ve never seen them served in the US, especially in the mom & pop joints. They are pretty tedious to prepare so that’s probably a reason. That and tortas, sorta like mexican subs, but made with rounder bread.
So, Del Taco isn’t Mexican food?
I once had a tostada from a vendor in Faneuil Hall in Boston circa 1983. I got a styrofoam burger box with some tortilla chips, a glob of refried beans, and a handful of lettuce. I guess I should have known better…
I really wanted to chime in on the idea of finding little “hole-in-the-wall” places at which to eat. You’ll strike out more than half of the time but when you hit the homer you’re hooked.
That makes sense, Tijuana; thanks!
And I did just think of a weird little hole-in-the-wall place that I loved, although it was run by a skanky-looking grunge guy: Burrito Bunker in Chapel Hill served these great spicy bean-and-cabbage burritos that I looooved. Someone once told me that cabbage was a more traditional burrito filling than lettuce; I don’t know whether they were smoking crack or not, but it worked.
Daniel
The Rio Grande River is a long river… you could be 10 miles away from the border, yet 250 miles away from me! 
Check-it… i live in a little town called MISSION, MCALLEN, or EDINBURG to be vague. How about you? You in either of these counties?: Starr, Wilacy, Hidalgo, Cameron. ???
Oh, I might just go puke now.
I hope when I move to Florida I can still find some good Tex-Mex. I’m a little worried about losing good Austin based country music, too. I’m getting homesick already. 
Sorry, i can’t spell. It’s Lengua, meaning tongue(sp?). That’s my fav part of barbacoa.
You know it! And it only tastes better everytime you reheat it… mostly conventionally (no micro)
Lengua… heh I thought that at first but w/ a name like t-keela you get biased. Especially since you spelled luenga correctly.
Tongue? You bet I like tongue…anywhere I can get it.
Hey, I got a little coonass in me, so you know, if it don’t eat me first, it’s fair game. 
McAllen? Yep, you waaay down south.
BTW with about 1000 miles of river in Texas and several hundred more in New Mexico and Colorado…BBJ sweetheart, you could be a lot of places. When’s the cookout?
Matter of fact, I’m cooking in one in a couple of weeks. Took first place in chicken last year. Not bad for a stateheld cookout with 1000+ entries. Shooting for finals in Houston this summer. $1000 prize for first and probably any job cooking I want. Wish me luck.