What US city makes the best Mexican food? (homes, neighborhood)

[18Montclair]

Good mexican food(my favorite ethnic cuisine) is not veru hard to find anywhere with a large mexican population. Some of the snobby posts Ive read here are hillarious.

Its totally absurd to say that a place with 5 Million+ mexicans, namely L.A., doesnt have good mexican food.

[wesside]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Good mexican food(my favorite ethnic cuisine) is not veru hard to find anywhere with a large mexican population. Some of the snobby posts Ive read here are hillarious.

Its totally absurd to say that a place with 5 Million+ mexicans, namely L.A., doesnt have good mexican food.

No kidding. That was a big time WTF moment when I read someone say "people in LA think the mexican food is " bland."

[mike0421]

Tucson, Albuquerque, El Paso and Las Cruces.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by wesside

I voted based on which city has the most of the good authentic mexican food.
Los Angeles is by far the winner. Los Angeles has thousands of small mexican shops/restaurants that make great authentic mexican food. No cheap crap. No americanized crap. No fake carne asada (carne asada is not a meat, but rather how you grill it). And no "lets throw some spice on the beans and rice and call it authentic" crap. There are alot of places like that.

Myth: San Diego and Houston have a ton of great mexican food. Nothing can be farther than the truth. I was surprised and disappointed in Houston based on the city's population, how disappointing their mexican food was. There were maybe a dozen or so places that make their mexican food authentic.
As the same with San Diego. I know of only a handful of places in San Diego that has authentic mexican food. Disappointing since Mexico is half an hour south. Chula Vista in fact has far better mexican food than San Diego.

Never been to Albequerque before, but im sure it has some good authentic food. Probably a bit more on the spicy side. Doubtful that there are as many true ones as LA since LA dwarfs ALB in population.

Maybe a dozen or so in Houston? I've seen quite a few more than that. In fact, dozens more.

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by rickers

Give me a friggin break, we are talking about Mexican food here. In my opinion the best ethnic food on the planet, and you guys want to have a, my city is better than your city battle ? Jeez eat a frigging taco and don't worry about it ! It's all about personal taste anyway. It's like arguing about what authentic Mexican food is supposed to be like. Let the panties untwist and pass the guacamole !

I understand what you are saying, and while I completely agree that this is just another excuse for a my-city-is-better-than-your-city cat fight, the point of this thread is personal taste, because what we call Mexican food differs from area to area. Tex-Mex is very different from New Mexican, and while I don't have much "experience" with Cali-Mexican food, I'm sure it is different as well. So really it depends not only of the quality of the food in different cities, but also which cities present which kinds of food...because some people may prefer Tex-Mex over New Mexican/Southwest, or vice-versa, hence preference over cities over Mexican food.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by wesside

No kidding. That was a big time WTF moment when I read someone say "people in LA think the mexican food is " bland."

Yeah, they do say that.

If LA Mexican food is so great and there's so many people eating it, why is Albuquerque beating that city like a little red-headed puppy dog in the poll?

[desert sun]

Originally Posted by wesside

No kidding. That was a big time WTF moment when I read someone say "people in LA think the mexican food is " bland."

I said there have been a few people that are from SoCal that I have heard say that the mexican food in L.A. is bland compared to ours, I know this is not everyones opinion so dont take it that way and its really not a big deal,our food is different thats why its called New Mexican but we also have Mexican too from different parts of Mexico.

[wesside]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Yeah, they do say that.

If LA Mexican food is so great and there's so many people eating it, why is Albuquerque beating that city like a little red-headed puppy dog in the poll?

I doubt this poll is in any way, shape, or form, a certified and non-discriminatory board. As with other polls here, there is always a certain percentage of the voters that are voting not out of their honest and experienced opinion, but on their personal biases, especially against LA!

Honestly, these "City-Data" forums dont have one ounce of credibility to them. I would say, 5 out of 10 people that Ive seen here, vote based on their personal likes and dislikes. We could hold a forum by the title:
Best Hollywood in America
Hollywood, CA (Los Angeles)
Hollywood, Arkansa (population 28)
Hollywood, Idaho (population 1,000)

And shockingly, Hollywood CA still wouldnt win. While at the same time, the thread would be 11 pages long of insults, stereotypes, and misconceptions of Hollywood CA and why its not the best Hollywood in the Country. All while the moderators sit on their hands and pretend like nothing is happening.

In fact, Im surprised right now that this thread hasnt turned into a - bash los angeles thread - full of NY'ers and Chicagoans stating that the LA Mexican Food is crap because of Hollywood, plastic, crime, and some other bull****.

So, before you accredit this poll and call it "America's Opinion," do take it with a grain of salt.

Ive personally been to just about every city here. Ive lived in LA, SD, and Houston and have visited Vegas and Dallas tons of times. Though my only experience from New Mexico comes from a few brief stops at Albuqueque and Las Cruces, I can still tell you that based on the enormous diverse Mexican population in Los Angeles, LA likely has to most and best mexican food around.

[McGowdog]

Easy grizzly. I was just kidding.

If you've got a few favorite Mexican Food places, tell us where your Fav 5 are so we can know where to go when we come visit your fine city. I lived in Chatsworth till I was 10 years old. And I've been back regularly on vacation, visiting family ( a bro used to live there but lives in Florida now) or many times on business- since about 91'. Especially in the Torrance area and Valencia and Mojave area.

I'll show you my fav, but like you say... someone else doesn't think it's an A++ place. If you go there on a Friday, you can get this awesome buffet and they have crab legs that are very good for such an inland place. But that's not my thing. I like the Carnitas there. They slow cook the pork then they crisp it up after that. I think it's awesome.



I found a new spot in my town that has this Polk Street special that's just undescribably good. It's a little place that's hard to get in because they only serve about 4 tables of 2 and one table of 4 to 6 and a breakfast nook bar kind of thing that serves about another 4. Two older ladies run the kitchen and it's very home style and very clean.



Now those are a couple of my favorite places and I'm still finding more. Anything but a fast food place like Taco Bell or a franchise like Chipolte's I say. They can take all their rice out of their burritos and stuff a turkey with it.

Now this is no joke; I was doing a job for Citizen's Watch in Torrance (Carson City?), and I asked the contractor if he knew a good Mexican joint in the area. I said nothing fancy, just some good Carnitas tacos and/or burritos. He said, "Go down this street for about two miles, turn left on this street and there's a Roach Coach on the right."

I said, "No serious." He said, "Yeah serious! It's been there for 19 years and it's the best." It WAS good.

[sonarrat]

Oakland, California. The taco trucks in the 'hood on International Blvd. are legendary.