You ever done the 72 ouncer at the Big Texan? We went there all the time when I was in college, but never had the guts to try it. You know, at one point there were like 15 people from the WT band working there a few years ago!!!
Cale Self
Assistant Professor of Music
Acting Director of Bands & Instructor of Low Brass
University of West Georgia
Carrollton, GA
Doc wrote: It is quite apparent that the further one gets away from Mexico and Texas, Mexican food (and Tex-Mex) becomes exponentially worse. Maybe not so in NM, AZ, and CA, but everywhere else I've traveled has some yankee contrivance they call Mexican food. Don't they have Mexicans around to set them straight? I don't imagine Amarillo has too many Mexicans, but down here south of the border (Interstate 10) you're guaranteed plenty of Mexicans, Texicans, Hispanics, Locals, etc. that know how to cook good food.
You're forgetting about Florida.
For many years, folk from Mexico would come to Florida to work in the fields. As the ability to farm year-round improved and conversely as machines took up some of there jobs, some of them started some small restaraunts.
There is some good Mexican / TexMex in Florida, and into Georgia, but I'll agree that these yankees up here have no idea what good is. Of course, down in the South, a good Italian restaraunt is Olive Garden....
Ok, so you got us. Not much good mexican food up here. I can, however, walk into a local pizza place, order anything from the menu, and know it'll be good. I'll take that trade-off anyday, especially when my local pizza place has the old italian guy behind the counter who puts his toppings on the RIGHT way, under the cheese, trapping the flavor in. Can't believe more people don't do that.
I agree that acceptable Mexican cuisine is hard to find now that I'm way east of the Mississippi, but (after spending nine years in Tucson) I submit that Sonoran cooking is more subtle and satisfying than Tex-Mex (or am I talking through my sombrero?).
That's the reason I will continue to live in this part of the country. Other places maybe nice, and cheaper to live in, but what's the point if there's no good pizza???
I live in the land of Philly Cheesesteaks, Hot Soft Pretzels, Good
PA Dutch cooking like Pork and Sauerkraut, slovak things like
Halupkes and Pierogies! And in Allentown, Yocco's Hot Dogs, founded by Lee Iaccoca's granddad, But I have had some really
good Mexican food, a couple of joints in Easton, PA were run
by recent Mexican immigrants, great real food, even with Mexican Coca Cola's and other Mexican soda's!
Unfortunetly one of the places closed and is now a Soul Food Restaurant, which has great Jamacian meat pies!
A couple of Pizza places in Easton make the pizza with the sauce on top, "toppings" in the middle and the cheese on the bottom next to the crust. That way you don't get a avalance
of cheese at the first bite, it sticks to the crust.