Authentic Mexican Food Question (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

I drank a couple of binding beers in Frankfurt, they were colder than I had expected, but tasted just as terrible as any other beer :p)

 

[Lew Crippen]

Dallas, non-chain TexMex:

·Plano Tortilla Factory—this is located on 18th street in Old Plano (just a small side street a couple of blocks off Central Expressway between 15th and Park. This place has all of the standard TexMex dishes—it has especially good gorditas (several types) and really specializes in tamales—get a dozen to take home. No beer. If you want tamales for the holidays, you need to order in advance. This is small and always crowded—you order at the counter before you sit down. I usually eat in the car at lunch so I don’t take up a table with only one person. Formica tables, a map on the wall and that is about it for décor. Notices all over for special dishes. Excellent breakfasts as well. It is hard to spend more than $15 for two people.

·Cuquita’s—on the north side of Henderson in the Knox/Henderson area, a few blocks east of Central Expressway. This place always brings out fresh, hot, soft corn tortillas (one per customer) to begin. They are so delicate, you might think that they are wheat rather than corn. Sort of a mixture of authentic TexMex and Mexican. Unlike the place in Plano, this is big—and just like it, it is always crowded. Expect a wait around noon on Saturday and Sunday. But don’t be put off, as the line moves pretty fast. Don’t laugh, but the liver and onions are especially good. Another place where it is hard to run up much of a bill—they do serve beer here, so you might make it to $20 per couple. This is pretty close to my house and my wife and I often eat here before going to a matinee. There is another place on Spring Valley, but I’ve never eaten there.

·Mario & Alberto—all of the standard TexMex items and many authentic Mexican ones as well. There is a genius somewhere in the kitchen, who has chosen a tart dressing (made with citrus juice, rather than vinegar) to go over something as pedistrian as a fajita salad. You can expect dishes like watercress fajitas or tacos. Beer and mixed drinks. Not exactly hole-in-the-wall, but if you don’t know this place, you should. In a shopping center on the west side of Preston just south of LBJ.


Dallas, non-chain Mexican

·Veracruz—in a renovated area of Oak Cliff and specializes in (big surprise) Veracruz cusine. Very, very small and expect a wait—you can get a beer to while away the time and talk with others who are waiting to pass the time. I am especially fond of the mole here. Just superb food. Very attractive décor.

·Ciudad—on Oak Lawn and (as you might expect) has mostly food from Mexico City. No chips & salsa here—straight Mexican. This is an upscale place, but is not really very expensive and the food is outstanding. Their fish tacos are especially good.


Dallas, chain TexMex:

·Of these, I currently like Luna de Noche the best. Good enchiladas and very pretty décor.

·Also, if you have not tried Chuys (Knox/Henderson) it is worth a visit. Pretty much the big, after-work place with far superior food compared to places like On the Border. Some of their sauces use Hatch chilis.


Other recommendations:

·I’m sure you are aware of Joe T. Garcias in Fort Worth.

·Blue Mesa is more New Mexican/Mex than TexMex. Very pretty and they are in several locations. Personally I despise their blue margarita, but otherwise this is very good food and very attractive.

·La Duni is in contention for the best restaurant in Dallas. On McKinney just north of Knox. Really this is Latin American, not Mexican and is definitely not hole-in-the-wall. Everything is good and they have some of the best mixed drinks in Dallas and the best deserts. Fine coffee as well. I have never had a meal here that was less than excellent.


Hope this helps—I got on a roll and recommend some non-obscure places, but there are all so good that it is hard to try other places.

 

[Erik.Ha]

I know one reason....

I'm friends with the guy who owns the "Acapulco" restaurant chain... his dad started it... I'm pretty sure they're Irish or German... DEFINITELY not Mexican...

 

[Lew Crippen]

I'm sure that this is true.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Yeah, that's exactly what I've experienced in Mexico. I like those much better than the American style tacos.

Jeff

 

[Shane Martin]

Living in Tulsa(north of Texas), We have mostly Tex-Mex but we do have a few authentic places(or as authentic as I remember)..

Coincidentally it's my favorite food to eat out.
There is also Progresso. My grandparents live near there. They live in Mission.

While in New Mexico last year I got to try "New Mexican style mexican food". I can't say I really liked the flavor much. The place we tried was in Taos.

There are some decent recommendations I could make for Oklahoma City and Tulsa if anyone comes near here.

I think the places I ate in Dallas were all chains though. One was off I-75 near the tollway I think. It might be in the same chain as Pappadeaux's but I'm not certain. I did like it.

The other place was off Mockingbird Lane. I can't remember the place specifically but the Margarita glasses were about 2 inches wide by 3 feet tall(ish). They were potent too! Otherwise the food was nothing special.

These two DFW places are probably too vague of a description to figure out but I tried It has definitely been a while since I've been there.

 

[Matt Souza]

Hi Guys, long time lurker, first time poster I'm in Santa Maria, CA, about 200 mi north of LA, a large farming community, thus, a large hispanic demographic, and a large varity of mexican places to eat at. "Adobo" is usually chix that is in a marinade, "Pollo" is chix, "Carnitas" is fried pork (usualy shoulder "butt", or chushion) - my fav. "Carne Asada" is marinated steak chopped up. "Cabeza" sp? are brains, "Lingua" is beef tounge, "Tripe" is usualy used in Menudo, its beef stomach, but "Tripas" is beef intestins that have been cleaned and deep fried, or bbq'd.

The real tacos around here are always soft, with your choice of meat, onion/cilantro mix, and the house sauce, and you can add lime and extra hot sauce if you like

matt

 

[Lew Crippen]

Welcome Matt. Sounds like you live in a place to get very good food.

Just to add a bit to your definitions (and some of Steve’s), Carne means meat and asada(o) means roast. So carne asada should be translated as roast meat. It is not uncommon to see this as an item on a dinner menu—and although carne can be any kind of meat, it will almost for sure be beef (in this case). Of course in a taco it would be cubed or chopped, but as a dinner item you would probably get a whole piece of meat.

Adobada(o) is a word that means (sort of) marinated—probably in garlic and other stuff. The word for pork is el cerdo. Likely the food on offer written on the board is some pork marinated in garlic and herbs (my Spanish is very poor and certainly not colloquial, so specific usage in a locale might give a different meaning).

 

[Lew Crippen]

Hey Shane, I live ofF Mockingbird Lane, although if I were drinking margaritas by the yard, I doubt that I could find my way home.

Glad you like Bohemia. I need to add that to Zen’s ‘summer beer’ list.

 

[Matt Souza]

The food is excellent.... if you like mexican

It's not quite that bad here, we do have good BBQ, ever hear of "Santa Maria sytle" BBQ? Whole cuts of top sirloin, or tri tip's on a open grill right over a red oak fire, yumm!

And those moble grills with the mexican food, I love them, they seem to have the best flavor, though around here we call them "roach coaches"

 

[Ken Chan]

Mine too, but I don't believe it's fried, except maybe to finish it and make it crispy. Most recipes braise and/or bake, then it's shredded. I also like al Pastor (BBQ pork) and chorizo (sausage).

And definitely no lettuce! (Or tomatoes, unless it's in pico de gallo, or cheese, or ground beef.)

 

[Andrew W]

Living in Austin, we have a fine selection of Mexican restaurants to choose from. Our favorite weekly TexMex choice would be Chuy's which has now spread to Houston and Dallas. I wouldn't call it a chain since I think they're all still owned by the same company and not franchised, but Chuy's is the only good multi-city Mexican restaurant that I know of. Fonda San Miquel is very upscale interior Mexican. No tacos there, but ceviche, avocado, mole and pork abound. Curra's is a good interior style restaurant that is less expensive. Our cheapo chain Taco Bell substititute is called Taco Cabana. Cheap and still 1000% better than Taco Bell. Especially since there is a *FREE* condiment bar with pico de gallo, salsa, tomatoes, cilantro and such. I can't imagine paying 50 cents for a miniature side of chopped tomatos.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

We have at least one of those here in Atlanta. It's a great place to go at 3 in the morning after a night of partying, especially if you're tired of Waffle House.

 

[Leila Dougan]

We've got two Taco Cabanas here in ABQ. The food is a helluva lot better than Taco Bell's but I still wouldn't eat there unless it was in the middle of the night. Both of ours here are hangouts for the local cruisers so I don't feel entirely comfortable dining there.

 

[Mary M S]

Shane, thank you for the tips. I wonder if i wander down Mockingbird stoping at corner gas stations and querying: Direct me to the grande Margaritas. Will I find it!

Lew just printed your list, will peruse it closely, and pry my guy out of his ten mile tether zone to try them.

I have utterly lost track of dining in Dallas, had a business friend come last year who treated but asked me to pick a restaurant. I knew the expensive big names but felt rude to go that route. It was not bad (little Italian joint near their hotel...but was not good) Wish I had been aware of your restaunteur ablities. I would have mined you back then for a recomendation!

If you can appreciate....one of my "Oh Lucy" moments. I was nervous, - glanced at the menu in front of above stated newly met aquantances and asked the waitress "What is Market? (printed next to a particular cut of beef) thinking I was inquiring about their seasoning usage. She looked at me in great pity and replied...
"current Market price." :b

Serves me right for getting rusty as regards evenings out! In fairness I had only glanced at the printing during table conversation and just a week prior ordered some steak somewhere called the "market ??something or another ".

I truly appreciate your list!

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I wish I could remember the name of the place we went to in Arizona, either in Tempe, Mesa or Scottsdale. I don't know how authentic is was, but it was very tasty and if you ate what they brought you, you were full for a few days.

I also loved the Super Tacos Jack in the Box sold. Again, not the real thing, but mighty fine after a night out...

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Santa Maria Tri-Tip is Central California's gift to the world, and a mighty fine one at that.

I've got a co-worker who recently immigrated to Fresno from Boston and bemoans the fact that he can't get a good pizza here. I commiserated with him but pointed out that there probably weren't very many places in Boston to get good TriTip or a decent chimichanga.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Thanks for the top on Tri-Tip, guys. I’m a barbeque fanatic and have never heard of this before.

It is now on my ‘search out’ list.

 

[Matt Souza]

you might have a hard time finding it, most butchers outside of CA know what it is, but by a different name. If you can't find it, try asking for "Bottom Sirloin Butt" if they look at you funny, find another butcher

If your wondering, my job involves buying boxed beef and pork for our family business. We run a distributin warehouse for restaurants and markets

mmmm, BBQ

 

[Marcello]

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[...]
We Americanize food. We like cheese and tomatoes on tacos. We like sauce and extra cheese on pizza. We like cold, light colored beers instead of warm dark beers. We take dishes from other countries and make it our own.
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Now you guys tell me what things you actually don't Americanize...