This gallery contains 9 photos.
The Lent Specials served widely in El Paso and some surrounding communities are common throughout Mexico but are not widely found in the United States. I made a list of places to find them in my previous article, but I … Continue reading
This gallery contains 19 photos.
Many restaurants in El Paso (particularly Mexican restaurants) offer Lent specials in the days leading up to Easter. These are usually served on Friday, but some restaurants have them for other holy days as well. I found out a long … Continue reading
Roadfood 1992 Edition
In my quest for nostalgia and information about old restaurants, I came across a goldmine of information from the 1992 edition of Jane & Michael Stern’s book Roadfood, published by HarperPerennial (a division of HarperCollins). One thing I love about this book is that it has its mission statement on the cover, which is to be a “guide to America’s best diners, small-town cafes, BBQ joints, and other very special eateries serving great, inexpensive regional food.”
This is largely the same mission I have for my Restaurant Guide and for many of the reviews published on this site. The Restaurant Guide lists places I find reviewed on the Internet in various cities, many of which meet the criteria set forth by the Sterns. Roadfood only lists a few restaurants per state, but it covers much of the United States (the 1992 edition does not have any listings for Alaska, Hawaii, or Montana). I am also very impressed that the Sterns were able to travel to all of the places listed and personally visit each restaurant mentioned in the book.
Somehow the Sterns got very good intelligence about which restaurants to visit, and this was in the age before the Internet was available. The restaurants included were obviously not picked randomly out of a phone book (one of my methods for finding places to eat in 1992), but there was a specific reason each one was chosen (I imagine they must have eaten in some places that they judged to not be worthy of inclusion in the book). In any case, I judge this book to be a treasure for restaurant historians (is it acceptable for me to invent a new field of academic study which I am sure does not actually exist anywhere?).
NEW MEXICO
There are a couple of reasons I would like to include the New Mexico restaurants in my first blog post about the Sterns’ book. One is that I found this book at the fabulous Coas Books in Las Cruces, a used book store that concentrates on excellence in books as much as the Sterns have done with food. Many of the best additions to my own collection have come from this store (I have always gone to the one at 317 N. Main although they have another location at 1101 S. Solano Dr.).
Also we got word this week that Tecolote Cafe in Santa Fe, one of the restaurants listed in the Sterns’ book, has closed. Now that I have this list I plan to deliberately put many of the ones that are still open on my list of places I would like to visit (some of them are already on the list). One of them, Nellie’s in Las Cruces is where I had lunch right before going to Coas where this book almost magically appeared, with Nellie’s being one of the first restaurants I spotted.
The Sterns list the restaurants alphabetically by state. I am listing all of them here, whether they are still open or not. I will only include a brief summary of the information about each restaurant (there is additional information available from other sources such as the Roadfood web site and later editions of the book).
Abeyta’s Mexican Kitchen–2805 San Mateo NE, Albuquerque. Chicharrones, carne adovada, and menudo are what made the best impression.
Bien Mur Indian Market–Exit 234 off I-25 (Tramway Rd.), Albuquerque. Come here for cookies and fry bread.
Chope’s–Rt. 28, La Mesa. (Not surprisingly) they recommended the chile relleno. Since Dr. Paul Bosland, America’s foremost chili breeder, recommended that they get red enchiladas instead of green, they complied (and were very glad with the result). Note: The Sterns use the spelling “chili” throughout the book.
Don Jose’s Cocina–Route 279, Bibo. They were surprised this place was even open (with the town’s uranium mine being played out and the area being so isolated). They described eating what was apparently the only thing offered that day (roast beef burritos topped with green chili and an enchilada platter). One fact revealed in the write-up was that the source of many of the Sterns’ tips was Bart Ripp from the Albuquerque Tribune.
Dora’s–401 E. Hall St, Hatch. Supposedly the owner was trying to change the name because it was named after his ex-wife, but locals kept calling it Dora’s no matter what sign he put in front. What impressed them the most was the chili, red or green (I think they liked the red better). Dora’s had 3 levels of spiciness, and the Sterns said all of them were very good.
Double Rainbow–3416 Central SE, Albuquerque. They were coming here for the coffee, and eventually tried the food (pastries, Zuni stew, East Indian pot pie, and sourdough bread filled with smoked turkey were all hits).
Duran Central Pharmacy–1815 Central NW, Albuquerque. Located in a working pharmacy, they recommended both breakfast and lunch here. For lunch they liked the specials of the day (all were New Mexican cuisine). They were quite impressed by the freshly made tortillas.
Frontier–2400 Central SE, Albuquerque. They recommended the sweet roll served with coffee. What they liked best, though (and said so), was the breakfast burrito with green chili. They also mentioned that the orange juice was freshly squeezed.
The Hacienda–2605 S. Espina, Las Cruces. They enjoyed the blue corn enchiladas, tacos in blue corn shells, chili colorado, and chili relleno. Sopaipillas were a must with this, “to salve the tongue.”
Josie’s Casa de Comida–225 E. Marcy, Santa Fe. Josie’s was said to be good for New Mexican cuisine or Southwest (chicken fried steak, etc.), but the real gem here was dessert (a wide variety and all of them were good).
La Tertulia–416 Agua Fria, Santa Fe. The Sterns said “the food at La Tertulia isn’t as spectacular and hot as it used to be, but it still tastes good.” What they recommended, though, was the carne adovada, which was one of the best examples of it anywhere. This had become a very formal restaurant, by Santa Fe standards, that gave a very pleasant experience even if the meal wasn’t as good as it used to be.
M & J Restaurant–403 2nd St. SW, Albuquerque. They say the burrito stuffed with carne adovada may be the best version of the dish anywhere, but I think they liked the blue corn enchilada plate equally well. They said it was great fun to watch people come in from the Greyhound station, just down Second Street, and “accidentally” discover some of the best food they have ever experienced.
Nellie’s–1226 W. Hadley, Las Cruces. They pointed out that the sopaipilla compuesta was sensational, and the chili relleno and the salsa were also quite notable (they gave great compliments to the green chili, but apparently did not try the red). They also complimented the rich and lardy beans. At that time Nellie’s was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
OJ Sarah’s–106 Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. This was a restaurant that catered to locals, and which really shined for breakfast. They had so many great sounding items it was hard to choose, but the Sterns liked the cottage pancakes best (the batter was made with cottage cheese).
Powdrell’s Barbecue–11309 Central Ave. NE, Albuquerque. They say the beef is done right, and they like this the best of the items served. The reason they like this out of the three Powdrell’s locations is the setting in the mountains, particularly at sunset.
Rancho de Chimayo–Route 520, Chimayo. Their top recommendation is the carne adovada, or the sopaipillas rellenos for those who want something a little less spicy. The town is a destination in itself, having a history that goes back to the eleventh century.
Roque’s Carnitas–Corner of Palace and Washington, Santa Fe. These are served out of a food cart at lunch time, and unlike most carnitas these are made with beef. Apparently you don’t have to choose the chili you want–these come with green.
Stop And Eat Drive In–110 S. Paseo de Onate, Espanola. This is a true drive in (you eat in your car). They have jumbo burgers (which are not really very jumbo), but it sounds as if the best items are the burritos or the frito pies. The Sterns recommend getting Hawaiian Punch with a frito pie if you want the ultimate Roadfood experience.
Tecolote Cafe–1203 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe. The Sterns state that the real mission of the restaurant is breakfast, and what they liked best were the atole pinon hotcakes. However, there were so many other excellent items on the menu it required many trips through town to try them all. For lunch they liked the carne adovada (excellent here, as they are at many New Mexico restaurants).
Truchas Mountain Cafe–Truchas. This was a very small place that served traditional New Mexican food, but what they liked best was the stuffed sopaipilla with green chili. They also had interesting desserts that may be rooted in the area’s Indian history.
Woolworth’s–58 E. San Francisco, Santa Fe. Apparently they take a local favorite, Frito pie, and turn it into an art form. Most people take it outside and eat it on the square. A bag of Fritos is torn open where they pour in red chili with hamburger meat and cheese. You will need a spoon because the Fritos become soft when saturated by the chili.
Some Comments
For some of these eating places I have written the narrative in the present tense as they are in the book. I did not research which places are still open, and whether I write in the past or present tense is not indicative of whether the restaurant is still in business or not.
There are only a very few points over which I disagree with the Sterns about these restaurants. I would say the Sterns are are correct about some major points such as (1) Red chile usually seems to be a better choice than green for items such as enchiladas, (2) Stuffed sopapillas are a better choice than enchiladas at many restaurants–mainly when they really know how to make the stuffed sopapillas the right way, (3) Blue corn enchiladas are usually preferable to ones made with regular tortillas. The Sterns did a very good job of trying different New Mexican items, and identifying which restaurants served the best versions.
I know that some restaurants have changed over time. I think the New Mexican food in Las Cruces was a lot spicier in 1992 than it is now, except at a few restaurants that are very local and do not attract a lot of out of town visitors. The Sterns comment on several restaurants throughout the state that the flavor is just as good if you get the milder version, and I believe that is the case now with Las Cruces restaurants which serve milder chile than in the past (I am now using the correct spelling of “chile” rather than the Stern version, but of course it is still good no matter how you spell it).
When I ate at La Tertulia it must have been when it was still “spectacular and hot,” because I remember it as being some of the best New Mexican food I have ever eaten.
I don’t know how the Sterns missed El Modelo in Albuquerque, which has been around since well before 1992, but for the most part I think they found and described the truly good New Mexican food that existed at the time.
Karam’s has been around for so long it is one of the few restaurants I can say I have gone to for more than 30 years. I also think it is one of the best examples of Tex-Mex food there is. So far, in fact, it has turned out to be the restaurant by which I judge Tex-Mex food. Many restaurants in Austin came close, and some had specific items that were better, but Karam’s seems to have captured the essence of Tex-Mex cooking to a point that it is almost equal in quality to other styles of Mexican cooking.
Known for its Cheese Enchiladas, I think they are some of the best I have had that are not New Mexico or El Paso style. They are interesting because the tortillas are soaked in a sauce that turns them the signature red of true Tex-Mex style.
Although the enchiladas themselves are good, a combination dinner is even better– there may be no better examples of Tex-Mex style Tamales than at Karam’s. These have a masa that is soft and seems to break away the moment a fork touches it, with a flavor that I could almost imagine all the times I had fast food and TV dinner tamales while on a student budget, but which even most Tex-Mex restaurants in Austin could not duplicate.
Karam’s is popular enough to have required building a parking lot across the street. In addition to the restaurant, Karam’s Catering, a separate portion of the building dedicated exclusively to take-out orders, does a brisk business. With the mild weather found in south Texas, the outdoor patio with a fountain is an added attraction.
I think that unless you are specifically hungry for meat items such as the fajitas at Mi Tierra, you really owe it to yourself to make Karam’s your one special San Antonio Tex-Mex meal. It is a San Antonio institution for a reason.
RATING: 24
Cuisine: Mexican Tex-Mex
Cost: $$
Alcohol: Beer
Special Features: Catering
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Most Recent Visit
Jan. 6, 2005
Number of Visits: 4
Best Items
Cheese Enchiladas, Tamales, Tacos
Special Ratings
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Cheese Enchiladas |
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Chicken Tacos |
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Tamales |
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Refried Beans |
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Salsa |
Menu (Date Unknown):
Menu courtesy of Eugene F. Michael El Paso Menu Collection, MS499, C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department. The University of Texas at El Paso Library.
Note to Readers:
This review is reprinted from my original web site (Steve’s Gastronomic Home Page) and the newer site (OK Gourmet). By putting it on Steve’s Food Blog I hope to keep it accessible to readers and to preserve the information as something that I think is of historical importance for Tex-Mex restaurants.
Karam’s was quite possibly the best Tex-Mex restaurant I ever found in Texas (there were a couple in Austin that were close). Unfortunately when I discuss Tex-Mex restaurants I often have to refer to ones that are now closed (of which Karam’s joined the ranks in about 2005). I wrote a blog post about why I do not think the Tex-Mex food served now is as good as it was at these former restaurants which were considered leaders of the Tex-Mex restaurant world:
Why Does Tex-Mex Not Taste the Same as I Remember Growing Up?
The Karams’ daughter wrote a very informative comment about the restaurant, and it is certainly relevant to this review as well as a discussion of Tex-Mex food in general.
Pamela Karam’s Comment (Dec. 10, 2015):
Dear Steve,
Karam’s Mexican Dining Room of San Antonio had the absolute best Tex-Mex in the country.
My parent’s invented the style that chefs tried to copy without much luck.
All over the country to this day when I say I’m from San Antonio, strangers will ask me if I ever ate at Karam’s. Of course they go crazy about the food when I tell them who I was lucky to be.
My dad started me in the kitchen and I know the secrets to the taste of our food.
I miss a Deluxe Dinner as much as the next person.
Thank God I can whip one up when necessary..
I’m glad you enjoyed our place.
I loved it and miss it every day.
This list is presented for anyone who is interested in the Mexican restaurants which were in El Paso in 1980. It grew out of a project I did to write down a list of all the Mexican restaurants from the telephone directory and then to make notes about the ones I tried.
Although the list was strictly for my own benefit, I think it might be of some historical use today. It certainly provides a clue about the longest running restaurants in the city, since very few of the restaurants which were open in 1980 survive today.
These restaurants were listed under the “Mexican restaurants” section in the telephone directory. I believe that it is not a complete list of all the Mexican restaurants which existed, but it is at least 80 to 90 percent complete.
Many restaurants served the style of food I call “El Paso” style. This is a modification of New Mexican cuisine (the enchiladas are similar) combined with Chihuahua style Mexican food (such as tacos, chicken mole, caldo de res, and breakfast dishes, to name a few).
Looking back, I think I rated some of the restaurants too low, but this was mainly due to having very high expectations (and at some restaurants I may have tried the wrong thing).
The restaurants I visited are in bold. All others were simply copied from the phone book to give me possible places to try.
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El Paso has always been the “Mexican Food Capital of the United States” even though it has only claimed this title for itself recently. In 1980 I would say that Mexican restaurants composed the majority, or at least a good portion of all restaurants in the city. Most of these were mom and pop restaurants with budget prices and the standard dishes found in Mexican cuisine. Most restaurants had at least one dish which was a standout, but the ones that had at least three or four are the ones with a three or four star rating on this list. Today El Paso has many more Mexican restaurants than existed in 1980, but I think the number would fall far short of 50% of the city’s total number of restaurants. There are many more styles of Mexican food available than in the past, representing several Mexican states in addition to the always popular Chihuahua style cuisine. What has not changed very much, though, is that restaurants still tend to be mom and pop establishments with fairly low prices and food which is familiar to the general population. There are more health conscious restaurants now, and in general I think the choices are much better now than they used to be. Some notes about individual restaurants are as follows:
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This list is a transcription of notes I took about Mexican restaurants in Oklahoma City in 1983. The full list includes restaurants I copied from the telephone directory (and which were listed as “Mexican restaurants” in the yellow pages). Star ratings are for the ones I visited.
Oklahoma City had a much greater percentage of one-star and two-star restaurants than other cities included in this series of historical posts. In this respect I think Oklahoma City was actually representative of most cities in the United States at the time. It had more Mexican restaurants than most cities, but to me the quality seemed much lower than in Texas and New Mexico cities.
Some of the one-star restaurants had pure Anglo style food that did not even rise to the level of the Tex-Mex served at the majority of restaurants. There is term which is now used called “Okie-Mex,” and I think this also would describe most of the Mexican food in 1983. I did find some restaurants on the south side (Capitol Hill) that served more authentic Mexican food, either exclusively or in addition to the Tex-Mex menu. I remember Las Rositas as having some dishes I had found in El Paso at some of the better restaurants there.
I remember A&T Garcia’s as being the best Mexican restaurant in town, and this seemed to be a combination of California and New Mexico style Mexican food (with red and green chile used in place of the brown gravy-like “chili” used in Tex-Mex restaurants). Mostly, though, I thought they just had better quality food.
The difference between 1983 and today for Mexican food in Oklahoma City is striking, and I would say authentic styles of food are prevalent in the central and south areas of the city. A large number of restaurants serve Aguascalientes (Calvillo) style food, although many also offer American style dishes on the menu. You are probably more likely to find truly authentic food if you go to a take-out restaurant, taco truck, etc. than in a sit-down restaurant where they serve you at the table.
In the lists I made for Austin and Albuquerque, I could see how the regional Mexican styles which had developed in the area (Tex-Mex and New Mexican cuisine, respectively) had seemed to make the population more accepting of authentic Mexican food which came along later. Oklahoma City did not have its own regional style of Mexican food, but early restaurants such as El Charrito made Tex-Mex the preferred style here.
The more authentic Mexican food served in a number of restaurants now may be largely due to an influx of immigrants from Mexico, but a large number of long time residents have become fans of this food as well. In these and other ways I think Oklahoma City is very representative of a number of U.S. cities.
My goal for this article is not only to provide nostalgia but also to allow trends to be observed about how Mexican food has changed in the U.S. over a relatively short period of time.
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This list is a transcription of notes I took about the city’s Mexican restaurants when I lived in Austin, Texas. The full list includes restaurants I copied from the telephone directory (and which were listed as “Mexican restaurants” in the … Continue reading
This list is presented for anyone who is interested in the Mexican restaurants which were in Albuquerque in 1981. It grew out of a project I did to write down a list of all the Mexican restaurants from the telephone directory and then to make notes about the ones I tried.
Although the list was strictly for my own benefit while I was in the city, I think it might be of some historical use today. It certainly provides a clue about the longest running restaurants in the city, since very few of the restaurants which were open in 1981 survive today.
These restaurants were listed under the “Mexican restaurants” section in the telephone directory, and while the list seems fairly accurate, I had no way to verify it.
By “Mexican” this really meant “New Mexican,” since very few restaurants served other styles of Mexican food.
One of my favorite restaurants, El Modelo, was not on the list (but it mainly serves take-out orders and maybe the Yellow Page people did not consider it to be a “restaurant”).
The restaurants I visited are in bold. All others were simply copied from the phone book to give me possible places to try.
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| The four-star rating system was based on my experiences throughout New Mexico, particularly in Santa Fe and Española. Baca’s and Casa Grande were the two notable restaurants in Albuquerque which I thought could be classified as among the best in the state.
I had expected Albuquerque to be the New Mexican food mecca in the state, and I was surprised by the number of three and two star restaurants I found. I was not really surprised, though, that several of them were in Old Town or the other tourist areas. In looking at the big picture, I would make the following observations from this list:
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Saveur Magazine, in “The Texas Issue” of July 2009 recognizes two facts that I use as assumptions on this web site: that El Paso has its own regional style of Mexican food and that enchiladas are one of the distinguishing features of this cuisine. On page 47 of the issue Beth Kracklauer relates the story of visiting the Gonzalez family of Las Cruces (who are friends of the Jurado family, long time operators of Casa Jurado in El Paso).
The family demonstrates how to cook enchiladas three styles (New Mexican, El Paso style, and Mexican) starting with a common pan of chile colorado sauce warming on the stove. The sauce “consists of nothing more than dried chiles, olive oil, garlic, and sea salt, and it’s going into all three kinds of enchilada.”
Red enchiladas with a chile relleno from Chope’s Restaurant in La Mesa, NM (New Mexico style)
To make New Mexico style enchiladas the cook lays the tortillas flat, each tortilla dipped in chile colorado and topped with a sparse scattering of cheddar cheese, and on top of each stack of tortillas goes a fried egg.
Red enchiladas served at Su Casa in El Paso, TX (El Paso style)
The El Paso style enchiladas are rolled and set side by side in a baking dish, coming from the oven with shredded white and yellow cheddar on top. It was explained that “You’d never get this in Mexico. There, cheese is just a garnish, used very sparingly.”
Red enchiladas served at Birrieria Diaz in Bethany, OK (The Mexico style enchiladas described in this article)
The northern Mexico style enchiladas are rolled, but only lightly dusted with crumbly cotija cheese and accompanied by fried diced potatoes and a tangy cabbage and radish slaw.
The author concludes that though the basic ingredients are the same, the three versions are decidedly not. “The differences between them come down to subtleties of technique–an extra dip of a tortilla in hot oil, another ten minutes on the stove to reduce the sauce, a pinch of cumin tossed in at the end–the kind handed down intuitively, from mother to daughter to grandson.”
I would add my own comments to this article by saying that I think cooks trained in different traditions of Mexican cooking sometimes make other changes as well, such as the chile used (especially for New Mexico cooking), the oil used (vegetable versus lard), other ingredients added to the sauce (cumin, etc.), and other factors. Moreover, green chile is probably more popular in Mexico and New Mexico, while red chile seems to be the norm in El Paso. The story in Saveur Magazine, though, gives a very good description of the differences in the three styles of enchiladas served in the El Paso area–El Paso, New Mexico, and Mexico.
One of the projects I thought would be good to include in this blog is a list of recommended restaurants in various cities, which I call Steve’s List. Some restaurants listed are based on my personal experience, but most come from reviews I have found from various sources on the Internet. This effort is to find the best restaurants of various cuisines and in various geographic locations, but also to keep the list narrowed down to a manageable size. I hope the list will be of value for those who are looking for interesting experiences that do not focus on tourist traps and the lowest common denominator food.
So far I have published lists for all of the Southwestern states, and based on my research and past experience, I believe that these states are particularly notable for their Mexican food. This seemed to be a good time to create a list of the “Top Ten Cities in the United States for Mexican Food.” It is just my personal list, and I am unsure about the order that some cities should be placed, but it seemed very evident to me about which cities should be the top ten.
The list of top ten Mexican food cities is based on both the quality and quantity of Mexican food available (and is limited to larger cities). The factors I use to determine the top cities include the number of “top restaurants” (which ideally should include both high end alta cocina restaurants and specialized restaurants which provide a variety of foods from certain areas of Mexico). I am also looking for a general Mexican food culture which supports things such as markets, bakeries, and small restaurants. In the end, though, it is not the number of businesses but the quality of them, and for this I turn to my own experience and the reviews I see on the Internet.
It seems to me that no cities outside of the Southwest would qualify as having a general Mexican food culture, although many have a large number of restaurants with a variety of food. My experience is that once you get a certain distance away from the Mexican border the “default” style and flavor of the food is Americanized in a way that gets very far away from the original style of Mexican food. These cities tend to have a few good restaurants and many that have a bland sameness. I do not want to knock people’s tastes for Americanized food, but I think a great number of people like the authentic food once they have a chance to try it (but too many cities do not provide that chance). We can always go back to the old style Mexican “comfort food,” but I think good Mexican food cities should also provide other choices.
The question of the American styles of Mexican food (Tex-Mex, New Mexican, Sonoran, and Californian) is an interesting one. I do not consider any of these to be authentic Mexican food, but they are based on food from Mexico (in contrast, the “Americanized” Mexican food I talk about is some way that Mexican dishes are modified to the point that they have more American elements than Mexican ones).
All of the cities I list as being in the top ten Mexican food cities are in states which have traditionally been home to the Tex-Mex, New Mexican, Sonoran, or California styles of Mexican food. A search of restaurant reviews on the Internet demonstrates that all the cities on my list have evolved from the original Mexican food styles to more diverse styles, as if these four styles are really a stepping stone for people to appreciate authentic Mexican food. People in these cities seem to embrace authentic food from Mexico when these types of restaurants open up, and restaurants find a customer base for what they offer.
My disclaimer here is that I have not eaten in enough restaurants in enough cities to say that I can make a definitive list of the best Mexican food cities. Still, I have some experience, and through scouring the Internet I am able to make some assumptions about the best cities for good quality Mexican food.
Some of the cities I am excluding do have some very good Mexican food. For instance, Chicago is the home of the Rick Bayless restaurants, where many believe you can get the best Mexican cuisine in the country. I have not tried them personally, but I have a pretty good idea that this is not far from the truth. Nevertheless, Chicago does not seem to have a large saturation of taco shops and the kind of small restaurants that I think would be present in one of the “top ten” cities. I believe that Chicago and other very large cities have some very good Mexican food, but it does not seem to be widespread throughout the city and the region.
I will also say that I do not have enough knowledge of some cities which I think could be possible candidates. These would include some cities in California such as San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno (I have been to Fresno but I would not place it in the top ten). Some cities which I am purposely excluding from the top ten include Las Vegas and Denver (I was not very impressed with either one). Some cities in Florida have very good Latin American restaurants, but they would not be in my top ten for Mexican food.
I would also say that Santa Fe should be in the top ten, but while it is one of the best cities in terms of quality, the city is just too small to compare to some of the nation’s metropolitan areas. I am limiting the list to metro areas of about 500,000 population or more with the thought that these are probably the only ones that can provide the variety of different Mexican cuisines that can contribute to its being a “top ten” city.
Oklahoma City is a special case because I think it has some very good low end restaurants, but I would be hard pressed to name any higher end places that are anywhere close to being authentic. I think people can find very good Mexican food here if they want it, but it takes a pretty good search or a good information source to search out the restaurants that serve it. Still I think it does a better job than cities such as Chicago in making good Mexican food widely accessible.
Following are cities which I think would make the best candidates for the top ten best Mexican food cities in the United States:
The trend toward improvement has accelerated recently across the country, and I think that almost every city has better Mexican food than it did a few years ago. The Internet has helped tremendously both in publicizing restaurants and in educating the general public about authentic Mexican food (also several shows on PBS and other networks have been instrumental in this). I would like to see other cities progress to the point that they can edge out some of these “top ten” cities. Whether a particular city is in the “top ten” or not is really not very critical as long as they have good Mexican food. The question of good food is very subjective, but most of the cities on this list seem to be considered very good by a consensus of people. I have stated a few of the reasons why I think this is so, and it is clear that it is not based solely on the number of restaurants a city has.