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When I say authentic, I mean So Cal, 50% hispanic population authentic. The hole in the wall places are usually the best. Creamy refried beans, tangy rice that doesn't like rice a roni, crispy fresh fried chips...heavy on the cilantro. The salad with peppery ranch dressing. Good cheese and lots of it...and a decent Salsa Fresca. No ground beef, marinated grilled steak. A chicken enchilada that isn't buried under 3 inches of sour cream...whats up with that around here...just the red sauce & cheese please.
We moved here from TX about a year ago. Since my wife was born and raised in TX, her favorite food is TexMex. We started looking for Mex, or TexMex, or anything resembling it as soon as we arrived.
In my opinion, there are a few "tiers" of Mexican food.
1. Fast Food Mexican: This would be Taco Bueno or Taco Bell-type places.
2. Counter Service Mexican: This would be Salsa Fresh, Moes, Chipotle, Quedoba, and all of those other burrito places.
3. Pre-Made Sit Down Mexican: Los Tres Magueyes, et al. These are restaurants that have a waitstaff and serve Mexican food, but the food is all pre-made and tastes like it came out of a jar, can, or plastic wrap. If you go to any of them, you'll notice that everything tastes the same or has the same consistency.
4. Home-made Sit Down Mexican: Ahhh.. The holy grail. The salsa is chunky and you can see the cilantro and jalapeno. The chips are still a little greasy and are thin and crispy. There is a tortilla oven in the corner plopping out nice hot floury tortillas, the meat tastes like it was cooked in lard, the margaritas are made with real lime juice, etc etc.
I've found #1-#3 here, but not #4
But, in all fairness, there are still a few restaurants on my list (including ones mentioned in this thread) that we have not tried yet.
Whatever Linus, so then give me authentic Arizona mexican food! Have you ever eaten So Cal mexican..or AZ or TX for that matter..I have.
Anyway, NewUser...thats what I'm talkin about...cooked in lard. Sorry to hear you haven't found a place either. All we have found is the premade stuff.
My husband checked out Tacos Mexico on advice of a neighbor...he said the steak in the soft tacos had alot of fat & was tough..I still haven't tried it tho, so might give it another shot...thanks.
Yeah, it seems like the experience can be mixed based on what people said on the Apex forums. Sauces are homemade at least, including salsa. I have to be honest and say I haven't gone because it looks a little scary from the outside. Maybe I'll go there this weekend since I have family coming to visit - safety in numbers!
Linus, I had one amazing breakfast in NM with a green salsa or sauce that they poured over everything...seemed like an NM thing since I had never had it before...its was the best! Like a chow-chow thing...but different. Can't remember the name of it tho..do you know?
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