Mexican restaurants and bland food.

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Kern Dog

Kern Dog

Build your car to handle.
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Why is it that every Mexican restaurant serves food that is so damn mild?
Okay, maybe not every one but most that I have visited.
Richardsons in Phoenix knows how to make a spicy meal.
I've tried the corporate places....El Torito, Chevy's, Garcias...I have tried independents, almost all of the time that I ask them to spice it up, they mumble some bullshit about how they can't do it.
Why? Do all of these places buy prepackaged meals from one source and just heat it up?
I love a spicy meal. I am 99% white but I have always liked the stuff.
Do you think that these places are just playing it safe to avoid turning off customers? Are they just playing to their average customers that can't handle it?
You'd think that a guy in California could get a decent Chimichanga or enchilada.
Do I need to go to Texas to get a decent meal?
 
We have a little mom and pop place that has been here for decades. Order yesterdays green pork chile. You like spicy this stuff will make your butt pucker.
 
Make my butt pucker ??? Not looking for that, thanks.
Good spicy food makes my face sweat when eating. That is the litmus test for good flavor.
Also, I don't care for food being hot with no flavor. It has to taste good as well as being hot.
 
They have probably all gotten tired of people complaining about the food being too spicy. The food at most places around here is pretty bland too.
 
I can expect the food to be toned down if the customers are up North or in the nations heartland but with all the Hispanics in this state, what the heck ??
 
I think it is the Millennials. We have them to thank for a lot of stores and brands going away. They are too damn lazy to shop for stuff, so they buy EVERYTHING on line. They even get their fast food on line and have it delivered. They insist on working from home. I read an article about this the other day. They don't like spicy food.
 
Kern Dog said:
Why is it that every Mexican restaurant serves food that is so damn mild?
Okay, maybe not every one but most that I have visited.
Richardsons in Phoenix knows how to make a spicy meal.
I've tried the corporate places....El Torito, Chevy's, Garcias...I have tried independents, almost all of the time that I ask them to spice it up, they mumble some bullshit about how they can't do it.
Why? Do all of these places buy prepackaged meals from one source and just heat it up?
I love a spicy meal. I am 99% white but I have always liked the stuff.
Do you think that these places are just playing it safe to avoid turning off customers? Are they just playing to their average customers that can't handle it?
You'd think that a guy in California could get a decent Chimichanga or enchilada.
Do I need to go to Texas to get a decent meal?
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Fridas up in Napa, it's flavorful but not real spicy.
 
Preach it brother. We have ONE Mexican joint in the area....been in beeswax since 1976. Polly's La Mesa. They have GOOD FOOD. Unlike all these others, you have a choice as to what cheese you want. I cannot STAND that bland *** bullshittery white cheese and this places uses extra sharp cheddar. It's badass. They actually spice it up too.....not too spicy, just some taco seasoning. All these other joints just seem to serve it plain. That's just nasty.
 
Have you ever eaten with "real Mexican's"?

I had some very close friends (#1 son was an extreme Mopar head) and ate lunch/dinner with them a few times.

Their idea of spicy is not at all what the stereotype is.

Poblano's cooked in to some things and a smoky mild-ish sauce was what these folks did.

I've had that version elsewhere as well.

Some of them did however, eat "grove peppers", which were ridiculously hot, but they ate them outside of meals.
 
Most TRUE Mexican food is bland, here in Texas they have what's call texmex & in a lot of those places the food is spicy. Some of it borders on blowing the bottom of the toilet out "hot" the next day.
 
When I was through Texas, I noticed that there were not a lot of the chain Tex-Mex places (Chili's, etc), but there were scads of 2 and 3 location Mom and Pop places.

I also noticed that Taco Bell was not the king of (or in some cases East of the Mississippi- the only) taco business.

I counted at least three other major chains with more of a presence than "the Bell".
 
Taco Bell & some of the others are Mexican fast food here in Texas. LOL
 
Just throw some hot sauce on top. The more different ones you add the more complex the flavor and bite. We have a half dozen traditional Mexican restaurants in town owned and staffed by folks from south of the border. Then we have Rudy's which is a American/Mexican restaurant. (what I call it) They use fresh locally grown ingredients. The meats they used are traditionally seasoned but the dishes are not spiced with hot sauce. There are different sauces on each table so you can spice your own. It is great food. Damn, making me hungry.

rudy's.jpg


rudy's 2.jpg
 
My buddy Jonny Salsa just closed his place due to health issues. Before he closed he made me a gallon of green salsa for my home made pork salsa verde....mmmm
 
Being Mexican and growing up eating damn good food in So Cal, I agree that finding a good Mexican restaurant is hard to find.

Being in Nor Cal doesn't help, but I'll still bet it's better than what we have here in Colorado.

My advice would be to stay away from the chains and take some time to try out the local mom and pop hole-in-the-wall joints around town. There is where you will find the authentic homemade recipe-having, tortillas-made-by-hand slingin' restaurant owners that actually take pride in the food they serve.

harrisonm said:
I think it is the Millennials. We have them to thank for a lot of stores and brands going away. They are too damn lazy to shop for stuff, so they buy EVERYTHING on line. They even get their fast food on line and have it delivered. They insist on working from home. I read an article about this the other day. They don't like spicy food.
Click to expand...

Hilarious hahaha.

Blame the millenials! They suck at everything! lol

What about the generation of parents who raised them? No blame on them? That generation raised a bunch of slack-jawed sissies who don't respect the flag and expect everything handed to them...
 
We have a place called El Tarasco. We get what they call " molcajates " One big bowl of badassery. Kinda like fajitas ,but comes in a stone bowl with all kinds of meat and veggies ( cactus , big onions, . You name it it's in there.
20200807_101740.jpg

Also most Mexican restaurants have an extra hot spicy salsa for the chips ,but have to ask for it.
 
^^^ WTH? ^^^:eek:

I hear ya, I went to a place here that was highly regarded, had to make reservations, yadda yadda...I get the $20 plate of Carnitas and what i got was bland and colorless....not as good as SuperMex ($8). I agree, the smaller places are much better at personalizing their menu to local tastes. Ie. Chilis in St. George, UT is gonna taste the same as Chili's in LA. I don't consider Chilis Mexican food. Real Mex joints don't have chicken fingers or Ketchup. And if Lengua or Cabrito is not a meat option, move on.
 
RAT ROD AL said:
We have a place called El Tarasco. We get what they call " molcajates " One big bowl of badassery. Kinda like fajitas ,but comes in a stone bowl with all kinds of meat and veggies ( cactus , big onions, . You name it it's in there.
View attachment 1715574186
Also most Mexican restaurants have an extra hot spicy salsa for the chips ,but have to ask for it.
Click to expand...
Badassery is right. Damn!
 
Ironically, Mexican food in California sucks. One would think that since it's so close to Mexico, it would be the best. Nope.

Come to Chicago for awesome Mexican food. All the Mexicans I have talked to say that the Mexican food in Cali sucks and that the Mexican food in Chicago is the best in the country.
 
MarPar said:
Ironically, Mexican food in California sucks. One would think that since it's so close to Mexico, it would be the best. Nope.

Come to Chicago for awesome Mexican food. All the Mexicans I have talked to say that the Mexican food in Cali sucks and that the Mexican food in Chicago is the best in the country.
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And the hot dogs as well. LOL
 
Lot of good Mexican food in KC. However, the younger generation are all infatuated with Chipotle. Don’t get it. It is the McDonalds of Mexican food. Bland dog food. No one in my family agrees with me (or most people I know), so I just grin and bear it.
 
its crazy, we got half a dozen good mexican places in town (2 of which are small chains) and they recently put in an "on the border"
that place is about as mexican as taco bell

i dont understand why people go there
(i could see if we had no other options, but come on)
 
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