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Taco Bell is junk. Google the quality of the meat they use. They survive because people are lazy to make their own or too cheap to dine at an authentic, sit down Mexican restaurant.
I'll take you up on that:
88% beef
12% other ingredients for the flavoring and texture
Registered dietician Katherine Tallmadge said these additives to the beef are commonly used in processed foods you would find in the grocery store. "These are generally considered safe additives," Tallmadge told USA TODAY Network. "I wouldn't be afraid of any of these ingredients."
Derek Lowe, a chemist and blogger with a Ph.D. from Duke University, said he sympathizes with people who are surprised these ingredients are food, but he said he has "no patience" with the general argument, "I can't pronounce it, so I won't eat it." "There's nothing on this list I have a problem eating," he said.
Taco Bell isn’t any different from anything else you eat. Almost everything we eat out or buy is chock full of sugar, soy, and corn derivatives. Generally, none has nutritional value on their own and shouldn’t be consumed in large amounts. Considering the amount in a given taco, you are just fine.
The menu in Sonora is nothing like the menu in Oaxaca. The menu in Quintana Roo is nothing like the menu in Jalisco. Tex-Mex has more in common with the adjacent "authentic" cuisine in northern Mexico than northern Mexican cuisine has with other parts of Mexico.
It's just silly to hear someone saying people who like Taco Bell should try real Mexican food when their "real" consists of a big pile of nachos slathered in bright orange cheese, hard shell tacos with ground beef and cheddar cheese, and sizzling chicken fajitas with big chunks of bell peppers.
They like Americanized Mexican food, but are in turn criticizing diners who like Taco Bell, an Americanized Mexican food chain. Where do we draw the arbitrary line that one is somehow authentic enough but the other isn't?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABQConvict
If you consider the paradigm of "Mexican cuisine" as a heterogenous food culture arising from the use
and combination of typical food ingredients and source cultures of the region, which includes Spaniards, Native Americans, Lebanese, Anglo-Americans, and the French, as opposed to the cuisines strictly contained within a set of arbitrary borders resulting from competing statecrafts, then Tex-Mex is absolutley related to Mexican cuisine as a whole.
None of which makes food in a Tex-Mex style American restaurant somehow qualify as authentic Mexican food but not Taco Bell. Cheese? Check. Tortillas? Check. Flavored carne molida? Check. Salsa? Check. Get the sombreros boys, we've got Mexican food.
It's just silly to hear someone saying people who like Taco Bell should try real Mexican food when their "real" consists of a big pile of nachos slathered in bright orange cheese, hard shell tacos with ground beef and cheddar cheese, and sizzling chicken fajitas with big chunks of bell peppers.
They like Americanized Mexican food, but are in turn criticizing diners who like Taco Bell, an Americanized Mexican food chain. Where do we draw the arbitrary line that one is somehow authentic enough but the other isn't?
Exactly. Cooked more or less from scratch and sizzling doesn't mean "authentically Mexican."
Our "authentic" (and very tasty, BTW...and highly rated...this is SoCal, remember, so we think we "know" Mexican) Mex restaurant in my town routinely serves cheese on tacos, for example.
But is it tasty as hell, and leagues above the Bell? Well, yeah. And the owners are Mexican...as in...they used to live in Mexico, LOL. Not Mexican descent. Previously Mexican, now for the most part (I believe) U.S. citizens which happened later in their lives.
Taco Bell's Beef Isn't Real Beef - Fact or Myth?Taco Bell isn’t any different from anything else you eat.Almost everything we eat out or buy is chock full of sugar, soy, and corn derivatives. Generally, none has nutritional value on their own and shouldn’t be consumed in large amounts. Considering the amount in a given taco, you are just fine.
Huh? I'm sorry but no, "almost everything I eat out or buy" is not full of fillers and sugar.
We have a "real" Mexican restaurant here, that has been owned and operated by the same Mexican family for many years.
We went there once years ago, and have never been back. OK, our taste buds have been ruined by Taco John's and Guadalajara, but we found the food to be not to our liking, the service was barely adequate, and we, as Caucasians, did not feel welcomed.
So, when we have a yen for Mexican, it is Taco Treat, Taco John's, or Guadalajara.
But never Taco Bell.
Real Mexican in Billings? Can you PM me the name of the place?
It's just silly to hear someone saying people who like Taco Bell should try real Mexican food when their "real" consists of a big pile of nachos slathered in bright orange cheese, hard shell tacos with grousizzling chicken fajitas with big chunks of bell peppers.
They like Americanized Mexican food, but are in turn criticizing diners who like Taco Bell, an Americanized Mexican food chain. Where do we draw the arbitrary line that one is somehow authentic enough but the other isn't?
None of which makes food in a Tex-Mex style American restaurant somehow qualify as authentic Mexican food but not Taco Bell. Cheese? Check. Tortillas? Check. Flavored carne molida? Check. Salsa? Check. Get the sombreros boys, we've got Mexican food.
I have eaten all of those things in non-border and non-tourist areas of Mexico.
I lived in Phoenix for many years, and I also question whether eating at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant is cheaper than the Bell. We hit many a local joint and you're usually talking $6 even for the lunch specials, you throw in a drink + tax + tip and you're walking up on $9.
You can pay $9 at Taco Bell but it isn't the norm, at least not the last time I was there.
And if you get something more elaborate like Mole Poblano or Molcajete, it will cost considerably more than that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by southernnaturelover
Yes, especially when you consider the appetizer basket of chips and salsa is included in the price of the entree. Now if I order a margarita then the price goes way up, obviously.
So you're really paying 5 or so dollars to eat at these places? Also, the most expensive thing at Taco Bell is around 5 or 6 dollars, while at the real Mexican places I go to it would be more like 17 dollars for Molcajete or 15 dollars for Mole Verde or Blanco
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal352
A taco from my favorite Mexican spots here ranges from $1.25 to $1.50. 3 tacos and a drink run around $6.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2sleepy
I can't speak for New York, but in California you can find a $1 carne asada tacos without even trying hard. We are within walking distance of a Mexican restaurant that sells large carne asada tacos, tamales, enchiladas or chile rellenos for $2.75 each. Two of any of those along with unlimited free homemade chips with salsa and black bean dip fill us up much better than Taco Bell.
Are those tacos small, though? Here in New York you can find little tacos for $1.75, but the full size ones run between $2.50 and $3.00. And this is in Mexican neighborhoods.
I really don't find Mexican food to be super cheap, relative to other ethnic cuisines and mid end American ones. And there's nothing wrong with that, the food is not worth less just because it's made by/for Mexican people.
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