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Having lived in Mexico for a bit, to me it's not about "authenticity" (which can't really be achieved due to ingredients) but about breadth of the menu. I favor Mexican restaurants that don't stick to the usual "things stuffed in a tortilla" menu as that's not how most Mexicans eat.
I'd pick Chicago as my favorite destination for Mexican food that doesn't fit that criteria. I'm not interested in enchiladas stuffed with industrial-farm white meat chicken then buried under cheese and sour cream. I pretty much write off any place that has a section of the menu devoted to "combinations". Give me a nice snapper a la veracruzana or a tuna steak in a cilantro sauce or octopus in a chipotle gravy or birria (slow-cooked lamb) and I'm really happy. You just rarely see those things on US menus. Except in Chicago.
Chicago has it all, from solid taco stands to hole-in-wall mom & pops making guisados and other "homey" foods to upscale places like Xoco and Frontera.
That said, I haven't really explored Mexican in Northern Cal. I usually use those trips to pig out on better Asian food than I can get around me (Pittsburgh). But I've never been impressed with the menus of SoCal Mexican restaurants (although I've never found better fish tacos than in San Diego). Texas is its own thing. And other than Maya in NYC, I'm not particularly crazy about what's offered there. Boston had a great place back in the 80s/90s (Forest Cafe) but it changed owners/chefs several times, went downhill and finally closed. Nothing similar has replaced it.
Boston (actually, Cambridge) also had a spot called BeBop Burrito in the mid to late 90's that was amazing. It was owned by the former head chef of San Francisco's legendary Zona Rosa and offered pulled pork, mole, and the like... it was a very sad day when they shuttered their doors for the last time.
My parents took me to a Mexican restaurant in Lexington called Xtapa, IIRC, a few months ago before I moved to China. It was actually surprisingly really good; all the traditional pork, beef, and seafood dishes, queso fresco and oaxacan string cheese, stuff like that. If you ever happen to be out that way, give it a shot.
Some of the locally adapted Mexican-style food can be the best, although we have a cabin in New Mexico and nothing beats the food there.
However, if in Anchorage go to the weekend market in the summer for a freshly grilled salmon casadilla or Red Lodge, Mt of all places for a little dive Más Taco with some of the best innovative salsas anywhere.
Even my town of 60,000 in Ohio has taco trucks with carnitas, lengua, Sunday menudo, etc so real Mexican food is available wherever you can find Mexican immigrants, which is almost everywhere in the US these days.
Boston (actually, Cambridge) also had a spot called BeBop Burrito in the mid to late 90's that was amazing. It was owned by the former head chef of San Francisco's legendary Zona Rosa and offered pulled pork, mole, and the like... it was a very sad day when they shuttered their doors for the last time.
My parents took me to a Mexican restaurant in Lexington called Xtapa, IIRC, a few months ago before I moved to China. It was actually surprisingly really good; all the traditional pork, beef, and seafood dishes, queso fresco and oaxacan string cheese, stuff like that. If you ever happen to be out that way, give it a shot.
Thanks for the reco. I'm not up that way much anymore, but I'll keep it in mind. Their chicken/seafood/pork/beef part of the menu is closer to what I'm looking for. Too bad they use tilipia in the fish dishes though. And refried beans with everything? I guess it's a cost thing.
I have no idea where it is or the name of it but there is a phenomenal "hole in the wall" somewhere in Kansas. I was traveling for work to Wichita or Topeka at the time. I fell in love with Mexican food that night. I've been thinking about that place for years now.
Thanks for the reco. I'm not up that way much anymore, but I'll keep it in mind. Their chicken/seafood/pork/beef part of the menu is closer to what I'm looking for. Too bad they use tilipia in the fish dishes though. And refried beans with everything? I guess it's a cost thing.
Yeah, most likely; the cost of getting fresh, more esoteric fish from the Gulf or Baja regions all the way to good 'ol Mass is somewhat prohibitive, especially considering that the market for such stuff is fairly low. They do serve whole black or pinto beans in or on the side of dishes if you ask, but refried beans are much more familiar to people in MA when they think of Mexican food.
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