Advice on Mexican food?

DamnTheCowboys · Post by **DamnTheCowboys** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:21 am

What's good that won't make you sick? The key to Mexican food is getting the proper spice and using plenty of hot sauce. That greasy yellow rice is always key, lots of it with a nice beef burrito on the side.

Never been a big fan of going to Mexican places, but I've heard that once you know what to get, you're golden. Any connesuiers of Mexican food have any staple, go-to items?

Lizard King · Post by **Lizard King** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:28 am

Do not go to any Mexican restaurant unless the staff are real Mexicans.

patsy stone · Post by **patsy stone** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:30 am

Tacos Al Pastor

PIG · Post by **PIG** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:39 am

DamnTheCowboys wrote:Never been a big fan of going to Mexican places

Go to an Indian Restaraunt.

I hear the buffalo is excellent.

David_Copperfield · Post by **David_Copperfield** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:43 am

Jsc810 wrote:Fajitas.

We have a winner!

It's all I order when we go to the mexican palces.

PrimeX · Post by **PrimeX** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:45 am

PIG wrote:Go to an Indian Restaraunt.

I hear the buffalo is excellent.

Word. They use EVERY part of it, too.

Those Indians rawk with teh beef.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 4:05 am

Patsy Stone wrote:Tacos Al Pastor

She knows the real thing then. I don't think a "Mexican" restaurant makes those. You have to go to the roach coaches to get the real stuff.

All of these people here in NJ talk about Mexican food and can point to a Tex-Mex joke like Chevy's with a straight face.

It's all in the different meats they prepare. Then you have the two 4" corn tortiillas as a base with the meat. Then you add the cilantro/onion mix, chopped white cabbage or lettuce if they decide to spend for it, with modified:

Then you can add some Embasa jalepenos as a side dish, etc. Cheap, easy to make, and real stuff.

Baceña · Post by **Baceña** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 4:11 am

these are the two i make at home, inspired by our favorite mex restaurant here in the 314

Chile Colorado

melt in your mouth pork shoulder chunks simmered in an ancho chile and garlic sauce. served with refried beans, rice, sour cream, and corn tortillas

Chile Verde

melt in your mouth pork shoulder chunks simmered in a tomatillo, jalapeño and cactus sauce. served with refried beans, rice, sour cream, and corn tortillas

have a good añejo tequila neat for an aperitif

have a good añejo tequila neat for a digestivo

have a few modelo epecials during the meal

FUCKIN´ RACK ME

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:56 am

First, get some decent NY steaks.
Then, go to the store and get some fresh-type salsa or if they don't have anything that fancy where you live make your own with chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro (coriander leaves for those of you outside the area of Latino influence) and jalpenos. Add some lime juice, salt and salad oil and use this to marinate the steak for two days.

Grill these bad carne asada motherfuckers up medium rare and serve with refried beans with cheese melted on top, mexican rice, some chopped lettuce, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and flour tortillas, and you've got something as good as you can get in any Messican sordid clambake.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:24 pm

88 wrote:Just make yourself a dang quesa dilllllla.

Rack the Napoleon Dynamite reset.

All my friends are pissed at me for insisting they rent it. You either get it or you don't.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:14 pm

IndyFrisco wrote:
88 wrote:Just make yourself a dang quesa dilllllla.
Rack the Napoleon Dynamite reset.

All my friends are pissed at me for insisting they rent it. You either get it or you don't.

summer wheatley doesn't want "chiminy-chongas" in the cafeteria.....

vote for Pedro.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:17 pm

can you get REAL mexican food in Virginia? i dunno.

carnitas? bean and chicharrones smothered burrito? barbacoa tacos? tacos al carbon? GOOD chile rellenos not some frozen deep fried egg roll horseshit.....

that's what i'm talking about.

Diego in Seattle · Post by **Diego in Seattle** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:44 pm

Pretty damn hard to find REAL mexican food around here.

Carne asada burrito is my go-to item, or rolled taquitos con guacamole if I'm not all that hungry. Or if I'm sitting there to eat I'll go with two beef (shreded, don't give me that ground shit) enchiladas w/ rice & beans.

Baceña · Post by **Baceña** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:45 pm

Nobody has mentioned menudo yet, PLUS I haven´t been racked as requested.

pussies

mothster · Post by **mothster** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:57 pm

carnitas tacos

barbacoa

huevos rancheros

chile colorado in the red sauce

Baceña · Post by **Baceña** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:01 pm

mothster wrote: chile colorado in the red sauce

RACK!

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:13 pm

Baceña wrote:Nobody has mentioned menudo yet, PLUS I haven´t been racked as requested.

pussies

i'll rack your ass for straight Modelo. i used to be a sous-chef at a better than decent Ital place and after work i'd cruise around with the Mexican guys in my man Herberto's chocolate brown Mercury RX-7 (?) with purple tinted windows and we would drink Modelo in cans and smoke Marlboros. a lot of accordian music.

Negro Modelo is good. But Modelo is Modelo.

dig.

Baceña · Post by **Baceña** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:21 pm

fuck yeah.

the cuban market down the street carries it in cans. I pick up a case every now and then

their tequilas are 10 bucks less than the supermarket.

I get all my tequila and dried chiles there along with other shit like magazines in spanish

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:26 pm

I'll RACK Modelo too, definitely the best beer to complement Mexican food.

I get it in cans sometimes, but for some reason it's a whole lot better (more expensive too) in bottles.

mothster · Post by **mothster** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:29 pm

Mikey wrote:I'll RACK Modelo too, definitely the best beer to complement Mexican food.
I get it in cans sometimes, but for some reason it's a whole lot better (more expensive too) in bottles.

try carta blanca, its at trader joes

Baceña · Post by **Baceña** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:29 pm

the problem we always had with Modelo at the bar (RIP) was that the bottles are so fat, with the limited space we had, there just wasn't enough room for them.

We started with Pacifico, went to Modelo briefly and ended with Tecate.

Pacifico is dope as well and made by the same company. Tecate is ok and cheap as fuck as I'm sure you guys know.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:30 pm

mothster wrote:
Mikey wrote:I'll RACK Modelo too, definitely the best beer to complement Mexican food.
I get it in cans sometimes, but for some reason it's a whole lot better (more expensive too) in bottles.
try carta blanca, its at trader joes

That's good too, as is Bohemia. I even drink Tecate sometimes, the cheapest of the cheap but pretty good.

I just prefer Modelo.

Baceña · Post by **Baceña** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:31 pm

i don't like Bohemia all that much

Modelo is the best for me followed by Pacifico.

They taste very similar

mothster · Post by **mothster** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:47 pm

slamming an ice cold tecate with lime on a hot day is not to be discouraged.......

fish tacos ensenanda style and real tacos al pastor are da bomb also

Miss Conduct · Post by **Miss Conduct** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:42 pm

Back in college my parents used to let us have killer New Year's Eve parties at our house. Underage drinking and all. (Dad kept everyone's keys locked in a safe when they got to the house.) ANYWAY... he used to make us these Chicken Enchillada Casseroles that kicked ass and were cheap and easy to make.

Ingredients:
Corn Tortillas
Enchillada Sauce
Canned or boiled chicken (de-boned)
Shredded Cheddar and Jack cheese or one of those Mexican Shredded Cheese blends works well too.
Chopped onions, olives, jalepenos, etc. (optional)
I don't really have specific measurements because it's all in personal preference.

Take a square or rectangle glass casserole dish and layer the bottom with corn tortillas. Pour a generous amount of enchillada sauce over tortillas. Spread on chicken, cheese, and other ingredients. Reapet. Top layer should be tortillas, sauce, and cheese. Stick in the over for 45 minutes at 350 degrees and let sit for 5 minutes after taking out.

I serve it with the Rice A Roni Spanish Rice and sour cream on the side. Cheap, easy, and makes AWESOME leftovers.

tomas8 · Post by **tomas8** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:33 am

fideo con carne
pinto beans
corn tortillas
avacado slices

Variable · Post by **Variable** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:34 pm

The best mexican restaurants are almost impossible to get a table at without a ridiculous wait. If the parking lot and or restaurant is relatively empty, I'll go somewhere else.

Places that serve pico de gallo instead of bzzzzzt blender salsa generally have much better food. You can throw anything in blender salsa and no one will know, but pico de gallo has to be fresh and has to be made from good-looking produce.

Look for places with more on the menu than chicken/beef/cheesse tostadas, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, and chimichangas. Those places are a dime-a-dozen and usually serve fairly bland, boring mexican food. Mexican chefs who know how to cook make dishes like mole, sonora cuisine. chile colorado, chicken enchiladas with cilantro cream sauce (so...tasty...), etc.

mothster · Post by **mothster** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:41 pm

Variable wrote:The best mexican restaurants are almost impossible to get a table at without a ridiculous wait. If the parking lot and or restaurant is relatively empty, I'll go somewhere else.

Places that serve pico de gallo instead of bzzzzzt blender salsa generally have much better food. You can throw anything in blender salsa and no one will know, but pico de gallo has to be fresh and has to be made from good-looking produce.

Look for places with more on the menu than chicken/beef/cheesse tostadas, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, and chimichangas. Those places are a dime-a-dozen and usually serve fairly bland, boring mexican food. Mexican chefs who know how to cook make dishes like mole, sonora cuisine. chile colorado, chicken enchiladas with cilantro cream sauce (so...tasty...), etc.

not really-------

the 70 or so places between santa paula, ventura, and oxnard

Variable · Post by **Variable** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:03 pm

True, that rule applies to the places in large, urban areas, but this still holds true of those places:

If the parking lot and or restaurant is relatively empty, I'll go somewhere else.

I don't care if it's 2PM on a Saturday. If the place serves really good grub, someone will be eating there.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:56 pm

Variable wrote:True, that rule applies to the places in large, urban areas, but this still holds true of those places:

If the parking lot and or restaurant is relatively empty, I'll go somewhere else.

I don't care if it's 2PM on a Saturday. If the place serves really good grub, someone will be eating there.

Not true at all.

Places like El Torito fill up fast with happy hour people looking for weak overly sweet margaritas and families looking for bland, fake Mexican food that won't burn their sensitive little tongues too badly.

A better rule than looking at the parking lot is to see who's eating inside. If they look like you, then you might as well go to El Torito.

What most Americans think of as Mexican food is really basically border food. There is a huge variety of regional Mexican food due to the many varied climates in Mexico.

If you want the best "border" food, at least here in LoCal, the best places to get it are usually from some guy with a taco stand on wheels or a place with a walk-up window and no place to sit down except for maybe a few picnic tables outside.

Variable · Post by **Variable** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:47 pm

Okay, but for every good taco stand in Local, there's five beans and rice crapola stands. Plus, areas like Chula Vista are basically Mexico north, so LoCal pretty much has their own standard when it comes to Messican grub.

The best place I've found for "real" mexican grub is some taco stand with a couple of benches that's near Hillcrest. No, I wasn't there looking for a handsome stranger, my sister used to live there. Anyway, I used to love hoofing it to that place for some grub.

Border grub, Baja grub and southwest-style grub are three of my favorites.

Atomic Punk · Post by **Atomic Punk** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 2:53 am

Well it's good to see a few here know what the real stuff is. Tex-Mex food is glorified Taco Bell or Del Taco. El Torito is a joke. The Mexicans or South Americans that work in there don't cook that shit at home.

It's all in the meat preparation and then simple stuff like I've described earlier.

Those wagons with a few benches next to them are the good stuff without the frills or price. Al pastor (my favorite), carnitas, asada, lengua, cabeza, as a few meats done correctly will make you reconsider ever going to those other Americanized places.

Variable · Post by **Variable** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:05 pm

I wouldn't call El Torito a joke, it's good food. It's just not traditional Mexican food. Ditto Olive Garden. It's not Italian food, but most of it is still damn good.

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:47 pm

Variable wrote:I wouldn't call El Torito a joke, it's good food. It's just not traditional Mexican food. Ditto Olive Garden. It's not Italian food, but most of it is still damn good.

Oh come on, Variable. You must know that if you post here, you have to pretend to be utterly and completely offended at the very concept of something as appalling as El Torito or Olive Garden...

Get with the program! :roll:

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:48 pm

ppanther wrote:
Variable wrote:I wouldn't call El Torito a joke, it's good food. It's just not traditional Mexican food. Ditto Olive Garden. It's not Italian food, but most of it is still damn good.
Oh come on, Variable. You must know that if you post here, you have to pretend to be utterly and completely offended at the very concept of something as appalling as El Torito or Olive Garden...

Get with the program! :roll:

Yeah they must be OK.

After all, ppanther eats there all the time.

:roll:

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:50 pm

Oh, and if you make fun of them for being such make-believe snobs, they get offended and post things that make little sense.

It's cool. Just pretend you dislike all the things everyone else pretends to dislike and you'll fit in perfectly.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:57 pm

So, are you trying to say that El Torito is "real" Mexican food? I don't believe I ever said it was bad food, I only commented on its authenticity.

Do you have anything to say specifically about anything I wrote, besides your comment that I'm a food snob? Coming from you that's really funny BTW, in an ironic sort of way.

If not then take a dose of Mydol and stfu.

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:14 pm

Mikey,

What's with the super-bitch act?

Seriously... something I said hitting a little close to home?

Let's talk about real irony for a moment, OK? Like, how funny is it that you suggested that someone else needs some Midol? (In case your bitchy mood hinders your ability to complete logical thoughts, the answer to that question is "really freaking funny".)

Hyper-snobbery regarding chain restaurants is nothing new in this forum.

For the record, I never mentioned anything about how authentic I think El Torito is. If you want my answer, given my experience eating Mexican food prepared:

a) in Mexico
b) by people from Mexico, geographically ranging from just over the border, to Mexico City, to so far south I don't even remember what state they were from
c) at stands run by people from Mexico
d) at places like El Torito

...I would have to say that a lot of what El Torito prepares is softened for the "white" palette (read: less authentic). Some of their food is actually pretty good, and more recently, some of their food comes close enough to resembling "authentic" Mexican food to impress me. Particularly, I absolutely loved the Oaxacan Mole that was on the menu a few months ago -- I think they even kept one item with that Mole on their regular menu.

Now, are you going to respond to this post with more bitching, or are you going to calm down and admit that people in this forum tend to care a lot that people know they disapprove of [insert name of chain restaurant here]?

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:35 pm

I'm thinking I must be the one who hit a nerve by having the gall to criticize your favorite Mexican restaurant.

For the record, I never mentioned anything about how authentic I think El Torito is.

Exactly. You merely made a blanket accusation that anybody who might question their authenticity is somehow a "make believe snob". I guess that was supposed to be in contrast to a "real snob"?

You went on to make that statement "if you post here you have to pretend to be utterly and completely offended at the very concept of something as appalling as El Torito or Olive Garden... "

Hyper-snobbery regarding chain restaurants is nothing new in this forum...

or are you going to calm down and admit that people in this forum tend to care a lot that people know they disapprove of [insert name of chain restaurant here]?

"people in this forum"? Another nice generalization. Can you provide specific examples, please?

ppanther · Post by **ppanther** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:40 pm

So then, my assumption that something I said hit too close to home was correct.

Mikey, talk to me when you're done with your current bitch phase. Frankly, the thought of trying to satisfy your indignant demands is so far beyond boring that I can't even think of a good word to describe it.

Restaurant snobbery in this forum is by no means new, and anyone who isn't busy feeling convicted by that statement will likely agree.

Have a good day, Mikey. I hope you're able to get over whatever it is that crawled up your ass.

T1B

Advice on Mexican food?

Advice on Mexican food?

Re: Advice on Mexican food?

Re: Advice on Mexican food?