I am more of a TexMex guy...

Coyote Flaco..in Hartford ct or..Mansfield ct..
I get the Coyote Steak..
Every time..

Ribeye smuthud in peppers n onions in thier chipotely sawce..
Refried beans n mexican rice..on the side..

Thier chip n salsas are killa too..

This is where I meet my son, his wife, and the grand babies once a month: lacarretalondon.com/

But I don't think you can beat the Mexican food in TX, NM, and AZ. My first experience with authentic Mexican food was in Toas NM at the age of 13. Changed my life forever my mother never served me hot peppers like that at our dinner table. Now I can't live without em.

I like Mexican food and fix and eat a lot of it.

Favorites: tamales, tacos green chicken enchiladas.

I don't make tamales, but do purchase them from the tamale factories here in town.
Tacos and enchiladas are easy to make and add frijoles and Mexican rice and you have a meal. Of course, you always need a little lettuce and tomato to cut the spices.

I also like to make one dish casseroles that have chicken, cream of chicken soup, green chilies, Rotel tomatoes, onions, tortillas and garlic in them. Sometimes I'll use hamburger meat instead of chicken.

I also use some jalapenos, but go easy with them. Dave used to like stuff so hot it burned my mouth. I prefer it spicy but not hot.

For my wife and I it's pretty sporadic ...  if/when we happen across a Mex. restaurant at supper time [and lately we're sticking closer to home than in years past ].  For both of us it's gotta be toward the mild end of the scale.   For the most part I remember what burritos,tacos and refried beans are, but need a refresher course for the other stuff each time out.

Several years back we were wandering somewhere in Hidalgo County, TX and stopped at a restaurant for lunch [it was a bit past typical lunch time, and we were the only customers]. The waitress didn't speak English and we didn't speak Spanish, but no big deal. The sign board (?) had what we took to be the "lunch special."   So we pointed/grunted/nodded indicating that "we'll have that."  The waitress made 2 or 3 trips between the kitchen and our table, trying to get our order straight, and eventually seemed satisfied that she'd got it right.  In due course she brought our order but seemed to hesitate a bit, waiting for our approval/satisfaction??  So we gave her  the  .

A bit later another customer came in so we asked whether he know both Spanish and English.... and he did.  Apparently the "specials" board listed three specials [i.e. no wonder "we'll have that" wasn't working] and when no headway was being made the waitress/cook took it upon themselves to pick one for me and a different one for my wife.  Neither my wife nor I recall just what we had, but it was fine; all's well that ends well.

Love good homemade Tamales, Sopa, street tacos, Lengua tacos. I’ve never made it but I love good Mole negro dishes. A good bowl of Pozole in winter hits the spot!!!
Sooooooo many different Regions and styles !!! Fresh fish dishes and ceviche!!!
Pretty much love it all and rarely had a bad authentic meal!!!
Slammer!!!

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Originally posted by slammer

Love good homemade Tamales, Sopa, street tacos, Lengua tacos. I’ve never made it but I love good Mole negro dishes. A good bowl of Pozole in winter hits the spot!!!
Sooooooo many different Regions and styles !!! Fresh fish dishes and ceviche!!!
Pretty much love it all and rarely had a bad authentic meal!!!
Slammer!!!

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Dale, on lunch we had in Santa Fe was the pozole broth and spices and chilies (with no tomato) and pork, but with potatoes-no hominy. the meat and pots were cubed more or less.  Great when you do not have dried hominy on hand or you do not like hominy.  Wife will be making it from our hack of this restaurant's style.  I would not mind throwing in a can of canned hominy along with the potatoes.   but that will be her call.  Cooks call!  Brad

The term "Mexican Food" is a bit of a misnomer. It's the same as "French Food" or "Chinese Food" or "Italian Food" - yes, the concepts and techniques may have developed in those respective regions, but the term overlooks the fact that those areas all have different regions, with different local ingredients available. The food emerging from those regions can be very different from that emerging from other regions of the same nation. Sicilian food, for example, is very different than that produced in the Italian Alps.

I do love me the wonderful stuff that can be made with chiles, masa, various meats and seasonings. I love Tex-Mex, I love New Mexican cuisine - and though they share some elements and flavor profiles they are NOT the same!

There is a reasonably decent Mexican restaurant in my town, which is part of a small family-owned chain. The family is gracious and welcoming and the food is pretty good. One takes what one can get on Cape Cod!

If Mexican food is of interest, I'd recommend looking for some regional Mexican cookbooks. Most of the techniques aren't particularly difficult and you can really get a sense for the wide variety of delicious stuff indelicately crammed together under the rubric "Mexican Food."

Lately I have been choosing fish dishes, from fried fish tacos to shrimp ceviche. Some pork and chicken, lastly the beef. In “Mexican” foods.I prefer we hole beans, gave up mushed beans, unless in a tostado.
Brad

I can eat at any Mexican restaurant, usually not associated with a "bell", but I like to cook my own at home. I like having Taco night with the grand kids, where we lay out an assortment of foods to eat with taco shells, burrito tortillas, nacho chips, etc. ...Ground beef, refried beans, diced tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, shredded lettuce, black olives, diced or sliced onion, and jalapenos. Sometimes though, I will just make up some chicken or beef enchiladas in a casserole dish. Recipe available, just ask.

I usually judge a Mexican restaurant by their beans. If the beans aren’t good, the rest is usually not either. Love me some good homemade refried beans or Cuban beans.
I pride myself on my homemade refried beans……usually made with black beans.
Slammer!!!

We travel to Mexico and get to try a wide variety of Mexican food. Ceviche, street tacos and chili rellenos are high on my list. The hotter the better. Last April we fished out of a little boat and caught red snapper, trigger fish, and pompano and made fish tacos. The street vendors sell fresh coconuts for $2 . They cut the top off and give you a straw.

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Originally posted by Elmo_Smiley

I can eat at any Mexican restaurant, usually not associated with a "bell", but I like to cook my own at home. I like having Taco night with the grand kids, where we lay out an assortment of foods to eat with taco shells, burrito tortillas, nacho chips, etc. ...Ground beef, refried beans, diced tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, shredded lettuce, black olives, diced or sliced onion, and jalapenos. Sometimes though, I will just make up some chicken or beef enchiladas in a casserole dish. Recipe available, just ask.

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I would ask for the recipe, BUT, my wife went to Jr high and high school in a very Hispanic town, and been making "her" enchiladas forever.  So, I would have to make em, and then, no matter how good yours might be or better, she is gonna "speak dog" about it.  Thanks anyway.  its the hazard of 50 years of marriage. ;-)  Brad

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Originally posted by RonR

We travel to Mexico and get to try a wide variety of Mexican food. Ceviche, street tacos and chili rellenos are high on my list. The hotter the better. Last April we fished out of a little boat and caught red snapper, trigger fish, and pompano and made fish tacos. The street vendors sell fresh coconuts for $2 . They cut the top off and give you a straw.

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Oh the memories!  Brad

Love TexMex and authentic Street Tacos but I've got to tell you, the best tamales, like the best Blues, come from the Mississippi Delta. We were planning on doing the whole Tamale Trail, and the overlapping Blues Trail, during retirement.  Only hit one spot before the Pandemic Shutdown forced many changes but that is still on the bucket list.   Tamale Trail

Last night had some hard shell tacos made with fajita steak with rice and refried beans. It was pretty good being that I told my Wife, “I’m getting burned out on Mexican Food”. I guess the trick is to change up restaurants every now and then.

I'm burned out on the chain "American style" Mexican restaurants that have not changed one bit since the 70s. Used to love them and can't say if it's me or them who changed but the giant platter of beans and rice and various stuffed tortillas covered with melted cheese just no longer appeals. But a food truck or hole in the wall where the staff is family and English is only partially spoken has never failed to delight, and at a bargain price. I have to tip very high or else leave feeling guilty.

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Originally posted by banjo bill-e

I'm burned out on the chain "American style" Mexican restaurants that have not changed one bit since the 70s. Used to love them and can't say if it's me or them who changed but the giant platter of beans and rice and various stuffed tortillas covered with melted cheese just no longer appeals. But a food truck or hole in the wall where the staff is family and English is only partially spoken has never failed to delight, and at a bargain price. I have to tip very high or else leave feeling guilty.

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Mom and Pop stores are the best. 

We had a small Mexican place in town that was owned by a Mexican family. The woman who ran it was very patient with my attempts to speak Spanish. Eventually she got to know me so well that I did not get a menu, and whatever it was I was served was not on the menu. It was all good. She ended up injuring her back and they closed the restaurant. A few weeks later the place burned down. We thought that suspicious, but the official report was teenagers firing fireworks set the place ablaze. Now a pot store is going in on the site. I miss the Mexican restaurant.

If a Mexican restaurant doesn’t serve tacos de lengua or horchata…and they also speak English….I turn around and walk out, that’s how you can tell if the food is the real deal or not.

Now an El Salvadorian papusaria is where it’s at folks. If you haven’t been to one and eaten homemade authentic papusas…I’d put it on the to do list. Very delicious.

There are some bi-lingual Mexican folks who have restaurants.

The host at our best real Mexican restaurant here is bi-lingual, and speaks better English than most of his American customers. However, his mother, who is the chef, does not speak much English at all.

At any rate, they make the best chiles rellenos I have ever had. I asked about how they made them-- they use an old-fashioned 2 day process that most restaurants are unwilling to use because of the prep time involved. They started out with just a taco trailer, then rented a tiny building for dining, but continued to use the trailer for their kitchen. When the Americans discovered the restaurant, they eventually built a good sized restaurant, but kept the cooking authentic. Unfortunately, they became so popular that they had to hire a big staff, and I can no longer afford to eat there regularly.

Also, there is a Mexican restaurant in Dalton, GA that does not serve lengua, because they mostly specialize in seafood. Their land meats are limited to pollo and carne asada. And they also speak English.

The way I measure authenticity is what kind of beef and cheese they use.
Beef chunks and queso fresco is Mexican. Ground beef and yellow cheese is Tex-Mex.

I get Mexican food from the guys at work, all kinds.

They are from the Mexico City area.

Not what get in a El Banditos
restaurant

Ev

Carne Asada and Pollo De Crema.

Years ago in Half Moon Bay, CA I had a goat birria that was made like a stew / soup. I was only at this restaurant once. It was a family place set up in a house that was turned into the restaurant. It was sooo good. We don't lived around there any more. Another dish I had up here where we live now was a lamb shank dinner. It was slow cooked and so tender and flavorful. I'll get the popular dishes as well, but once in awhile it's well worth checking out the house specialities. Sometimes they are kick-a$$.

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Originally posted by rinemb

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I would ask for the recipe, BUT, my wife went to Jr high and high school in a very Hispanic town, and been making "her" enchiladas forever.  So, I would have to make em, and then, no matter how good yours might be or better, she is gonna "speak dog" about it.  Thanks anyway.  its the hazard of 50 years of marriage. ;-)  Brad

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Filipina girlfriend since forever it seems. I have recipes but... No, I don't dare share recipes when it comes to her cooking or culture.  Like your wife, "they" invented their cooking culture.  The rest of us only come close... maybe.