re: Do you have a "home base" Mexican restaurant?

Mexican food, the whole Mexican restaurant experience has been bastardized. A plate of shitty food that was only ever considered acceptable because it was $7.99 with free chips/salsa is now twice that, your watered down premixed house Rita is over $10.

Opposite end of that is $5/tacos, $15 “family style” street corn and $20 kiwi peach margaritas.

And likely nobody from Mexico involved in the production. So no, I don’t have a home base Mexican restaurant. Sad because I used to be perfectly content with it, it’s just not worth the price

Victoria’s in Denham.

Chivos Compadre for Birria Tacos
Tio Javi's for the Ninfa Green Salsa
La Salvadorena for the Pupusas
La Tienda for Shrimp Cocktail, Plates, Tortas, Breakfast
El Rio Grande for Fried Chimichanga
Superior for Margs, Blue Corn Enchilada with Verde Sauce, Fajitas, Grilled Chicken with Veggie, Salsa & Chips
El Limon for Grilled Plates and 1.75L Mexico City plant Coke, Pepsi, Fanta

El Tiempo and Original Ninfas on Navigation when in Htown.

SD, LA, and LV for Ensenada style Fish and Shrimp Tacos.

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Yes. Maria’s in Bogalusa. Everyone else is just trying.

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I heard that Maria's has gone way downhill and has been overtaken by Yolo's. I grew up in Bogalusa and Maria's was always the place to go when it opened.

Mega Taco in Norcross.

Despite the cheesy name, it's a legit place with homemade gorditas, reasonable prices, a mostly Mexican clientele, and decent mole.

La Pagua in Lafayette.

It used to be Tampicos for the longest time but they've really let it go in the last 5 years or so.

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El Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant on Airline Hwy

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:yak: Their salsa is Pace Picante sauce.

El Gato Negro

awful.

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Mexican food, the whole Mexican restaurant experience has been bastardized. A plate of shitty food that was only ever considered acceptable because it was $7.99 with free chips/salsa is now twice that, your watered down premixed house Rita is over $10. Opposite end of that is $5/tacos, $15 “family style” street corn and $20 kiwi peach margaritas. And likely nobody from Mexico involved in the production. So no, I don’t have a home base Mexican restaurant. Sad because I used to be perfectly content with it, it’s just not worth the price

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Tell me you don’t know the difference between the various regional Mexican cuisines, without telling me you don’t know

Tex-Mex was and is authentic. Created by Tejanos…the Mexicans who fought against Mexico. And by Islenos. And by Germans and Anglos.

It’s a real local creation, evolved from another. Like Cajun food. Like Creole.

It changed things out based on locale. Based on what was geographically available. And it changed things based on what the tastes of their customers preferred.

Do you knock the Mexicans for loving something like Tacos Al Pastor? Invented by Lebanese immigrants? The Lebanese also brought the Trompo (aka doner) to Mexico.

What about enchiladas suizas? The Mexicans, circa 1890-1920, were huge into European cuisine, and began to introduce flavors and sauces from Europe.

Bollilo rolls? Pan dulce? Mexican desserts? French immigrants

Mexican lager? German immigrants

All the heavy spices in Mexican cuisine? Heavily influenced by Europeans who loved adding it in. And by the Lebanese who treated their al pastor like they did shawarma

Aztecs and pre Columbian natives were more into stewing, into hearty fare, cultivated less spices, and had simple fare like rice/beans/tortillas

And yea, the flour tortilla is authentically Mexican. And like every food in the world, there are crappy store-bought versions of it