Does Houston have a Authentic Mexican Restaurant? (San Antonio, Bellville: restaurants, prices)

[14Bricks]

What is the difference between Tex-Mex and "Authentic Mexican food? I was having a discussion with somebody about this. I always hear people say that in Texas we don't eat "real" mexican food, that its tex-mex. But what does real mexican food consist of? Even when I go the the Taquerias(which is supposed to be the real thing) is still looks like Tex-Mex.

[Dopo]

I'm not sure of the difference,
but if you go to San Antonio, go to "Guajillos" by North Star Mall and you will see that there's a big difference.

From what I understand.... they don't have "cheese enchiladas"

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I'm not sure of the difference,
but if you go to San Antonio, go to "Guajillos" by North Star Mall and you will see that there's a big difference.

From what I understand.... they don't have "cheese enchiladas"

That's it, no cheese?

[HoustonRonnie]

Stolen from the internet, of course, but I saved this because it says it better than I can:

"Outside of Mexico, the “authentic” cuisine is almost geographically-uniformly screwed up. So I’m going to share my opinion: I think the main reason authentic Mexican food gets so “lost in translation” is because of a marketing issue and the tendency for restaurant owners to focus on cultural stereotypes when they feel their guests don’t know a lot about that culture and are on the outside of it, looking in.

Travel to the US, Canada, the UK, or really anywhere abroad, and walk into a Mexican restaurant. What do you see?–exactly: bright colors, yellow taco shells used for their taco recipes, lots of fatty cheeses in their quesadillas, pictures of cacti, and so on. It’s those emblematic (even if barely true) little stereotypical things that people latch onto as “Mexico”, that get repeated again and again because they’re so universally recognized as Mexican.

Now go to Mexico and walk into a restaurant. What do you see?–exactly: none of that crap. The colors aren’t bright or vibrant; they’re normal and down-to-earth in the kitchens and little eateries that line the roads. The food isn’t over the top with spices and cheeses and all flour and 30cm baking soda tortillas; they’re sensible, reasonably portioned dishes that use ingredients for taste, not just for presentation. I could go on and on.

Tex-Mex cuisine, along with “EuroMex”, CanMex, ThaiMex–Mexican cuisine as it exists in any part of the planet outside of Mexico–tends to be largely hyperbolic. Sometimes you’ll come across a restaurant abroad that has gone the extra mile to import the proper ingredients that are used in Mexico, that uses them properly, and that is probably run by a Mexican who takes great pride in serving true authentic Mexican recipes. But it’s rare. Most Mexican food restaurants abroad opt for the cheaper alternative of using local ingredients and utilizing the marketing strategy of promoting the common idea of Mexico, rather than real Mexican food."

Lastly, you need to remember that Mexico is HUGE!!! Each region has differences in cuisine based upon local culture, food supply, spices available etc. I read somehwhere, for example, that there are 40 -50 renditions of mole around Mexico. All of them totally different. Cuisine is as vastly different from state to state in Mexico as it is from country to country in Europe.

Now, all that said, the best what I call "authentic" Mexican cuisine I've had around Houston is a Gallileo's in Bellville. Steer clear of the taco salad, fajitas and such and you can get really good Mexican food. Friday is fresh fish day and they'll fix it any way you want with real borracho beans, Mexican rice, REAL salsa verde made on the spot etc.

Ronnie

[eastontracks]

Houston has the best
Mexican food there is !

Check out tacos del Julio. They have a couple out there

[David Dollar]

Originally Posted by eastontracks

Houston has the best
Mexican food there is !

Check out tacos del Julio. They have a couple out there

Get la gringa. La pirata and la campechana are good too.

Now for me, the one thing Houston excels at is Mexican food. Especially, greasy Mexican street food. Oh my god. Taco strucks have changed my culinary life. There is very very, very "authentic" Mexican food in Houston. However, this will be largely Mexican food from the northeast corner of Mexico. Tex-Mex? You will see a lot of white people there. If it has yellow cheese, it ain't Mexican food.

[feufoma]

Hugo's

[David Dollar]

Originally Posted by feufoma

Hugo's

Haha. Good one. You are right. That is exactly what is wrong with these places.

[Chanteuse d' Opéra]

Sylvia's Enchiladas on Westheimer is pretty authentic, I think.

[misterno]

Went to mexico city for vacation stayed 4 days

Mexican food does not have beef

It has pork cuz it is cheaper

Everything else is same

but overall Tex Mex is 100 times better than Mexican food at least better than the mexico city food

Also, everything is more expensive in Mexico. Maybe that is why many people eat from street vendors in mexico cuz even I was shocked with the meat prices down there