I went to a taco truck in Brooklyn today and got 3 different tacos, they were amazing (pic is random though).
I want to start getting Mexican food more often, and while I love tacos, I'd like to know some other dishes that I should try, and what restaurants I should check out if there are other people from NYC here.
Most of the Mexicans here are from Puebla or Mexico City so that's the style you usually find here.
>>7556908
If you're ever in lower east side please try Hotel Tortuga. I think it's at 14th and 3rd. It's near Union Square. I haven't been able to find a better mexican place on the island.
>>7556940
I think that's considered the East Village but thank you, I'll check it out!
Any dish you'd recommend?
>>7556947
>>7556947
Sorry, I'm not there often enough to have the neighborhoods down. Wherever it is, it's good. Free chips too while you wait. I'm a vegfag so whatever I get usually has their fake chorizo in it. I cycle between the tostaditas and huevos con vegetarian chorizo. My friend speaks highly of their beef though. Their burritos are comparable to chipotle in terms of sizing.
>>7556953
Nah it's no big deal at all lol, but do you live in New York or do you just vacation here?
As much as I'd like to be a vegetarian for moral reasons, chicken, fish, beef, etc. are just too hard for me to give up.
I'm in that area pretty often so I'll be sure to check it out one day.
>>7556961
I'm in Chicago right now, but my best friend lives in the area so whenever I visit I'm around.
It's okay to not be vegetarian, as long as you're happy! If you're interested in it even remotely then cutting down wherever you can is better than not. Especially where you are, it's super easy to find veg meals.
Regardless. I hope you enjoy, friend. Happy eatings!
Next time you're here, check out the outer boroughs as well, lots of good ethnic food. Indians make really good vegeterian food, too.
Now for me morally, I have an issue mainly with the meat industry treating the animals so poorly, so I would be okay with only eating free range stuff.
The husk meringue with corn mousse at cosme is pretty great, but it's going to trigger /ck/ because (a) eating there costs more than muh hole in the wall lengua tacos, and (b) you have to literally go to tumblr to eat it
>>7557115
How does it require going on tumblr?
>>7556908
Fucking love Puebla style tacos. Which truck did you hit? Pic related is my local, and one of my faves.
>>7557585
Is that in Sunset Park? It looks familiar.
I went to a truck called "Tacos el Chicken" in Kensington, it just opened up recently.
>>7556908
Well, as far as dishes go....if you go somewhere very traditional and cooking things from scratch (not from a jar), you can't get more complex and difficult to prepare, and frankly amazing, than something in a mole sauce. I recommend turkey.
Check out this lengthy ingredient list:
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Turkey-in-Mole-Poblano
Mexican homemade soups are all delicious.
Two breakfast items are some of my favorite comfort foods and I'll ask them for in a restaurant even if it's not breakfast, chilaquiles (green > red), is great. I also adore molletes on delicious bolillo rolls, soothing an delicious. Salsa on top.
Yummy cold weather drink? Atole or hot chocolate is very good.
>>7557570
Unless they've started doing delivery, you're going to have to go to tumblr to eat there.
>>7557594
So mole poblano is a sauce rather than a stand alone dish? What are some common ways it is served if I were to request it at a Mexican restaurant?
>>7557609
Are you talking about the crowd that's in there?
>>7557612
I'm talking about the company called tumblr, which is located in the same building.
>>7557621
Oh who cares about that, that's just coincidence
Where is this located?
>>7556908
Oh geez, news station special on tv where they test food samples from food trucks in NYC, every immigrant run food truck had high levels of fecal matter in the food and what looked like food was left out too long. Then they secretly recorded the workers who weren't practicing basic hygiene or cleanliness, wiping everything down with dirty rags, never washing hands, touching their asses and picking noses. Surprisingly, there are a lot of non-immigrant run food trucks in NYC, and they didn't have dangerous levels of contamination. The biggest shocker is when immigrants ran ice cream trucks, they never cleaned out the ice cream dispensers and all sorts of shit was harboring in there. Whenever it was an american with no foreign accent they tested, no problems.
>>7557623
>that's just coincidence
That's what the Social Justice Warriors want you to believe.
The street address is in the filename. It's the place that used to be the unpopular strip club.
If you order the duck carnitas you'll be full, so no need to worry about the other plates being small. You need to save room for the tortillas to expand in your stomach.
>>7557611
>So mole poblano is a sauce rather than a stand alone dish? What are some common ways it is served if I were to request it at a Mexican restaurant?
mole is a sauce, correct
It's used in enchiladas, over a stuffed poblano chili, but primarily, it's simmered or poured over roasted meats, and served with some wrapped up corn tortillas, for dipping or making small tacos. Think the original fajita, really.
>>7557639
Isn't that story a million years old? And I think it focused on hot dog trucks.
For what it's worth, the Latin places I see almost always have an "A" rating.
>>7557589
Sunset, indeed. Great fucking Puebla and Mexico City style food here, mostly on 5th Ave from 38th to about 60th.
Pic is the Mexacana Doble Queso torta from Tortas a la Plancha Don Pepe. It's a $10 sandwich that weighs nearly three pounds.
>>7557654
>This restaurant isn't actually run by tumblr, is it?
It replaced a redpilled strip club with a degenerate cuck restaurant that doesn't even use good old fashioned American GMO corn, and they sell weeb shit like fish that hasn't even been cooked properly.
That will be $100 plus tip. You do the math.
>hoping for a Mexican thread
>actually a new york thread
>>7557647
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESgVHZFwXs8&nohtml5=False
They don't grade food trucks in nyc yet. Can't find specific news video report. Best bet is to look at the food truck workers for a few minutes, if they're following basic cleanliness. Just be careful, the lab tests were insane with bacterial contamination, especially whenever it was an immigrant running those soft served ice cream trucks.
>>7557664
I know exactly where that taco truck is then. I saw a plate a girl ordered, it looked really good. I took a long walk through Sunset Park one time, I actually liked the neighborhood except for the dog shit everywhere on 3rd Ave.
>>7557676
It is a Mexican thread but it's New York centric since I live here.
I love the Puebla/Mexico City food but I'm curious what food from the other regions is like in comparison, have you ever had it?
>>7557676
Cut us a break. NYC was shit for Mexican food until about a decade ago. All we had was awful margarita mill style Tex-Mex places and bad takes on Mission style burritos. And Chinese run taco joints churning out bad tacos on flour tortillas. Now we have some really good Mexican, and you can imagine we're pretty psyched about it.
>>7557710
I'll be happy for you when yalls pizza makes it to texas
>>7557710
Yeah exactly! There are a lot of Mexicans here now, in every borough.
There's a Chinese run Mexican place in Kensington where my grandma lives, and despite there being a lot of Mexicans in the neigbhorhood, that was the only option for a while.
>>7557724
That's weird. In the south we have mexican-run Chinese places. The irony
>>7557710
Don't be ridiculous, our Mexican food "scene" has basically reached average tier status, kind of like our coffee scene which was hilariously late to the party (we had to wait to be colonized by expanding west coast coffee chains before people figured out that there was more to coffee than greek paper cups, Starbucks, and disappointing trips to Porto Rico on Bleecker Street)
You might as well claim NYC "finally has really good viet food" because a bunch of shitty banh mi and pho joints run by chinese people opened in bed-stuy.
>>7557726
At least it's fair then.
And we need more Mexican on Long Island, there aren't many Mexicans here yet so there are only a few places I can think of to get Mexican food. We have a lot of Salvadorans and their food is really good too, but a little less memorable so far
>>7557720
I'm happy your brisket made it to Brooklyn! Fucking smoked in shipping containers in Red Hook.
>>7557730
I've been very satisfied with the Mexican I've had so far in New York. Maybe out West there's more variety though, since there are Mexicans from all over Mexico tbere.
>>7557730
Coffee requires being in the know. Go to Everyman on 13th or 9th St Espresso and tell me NYC coffee sucks. But we were late to the party, partly because we had a tradition of coffeeshop style Greek diners that had to die out to make room for high end coffee. Bad coffee served in an "It is our pleasure to serve you" cup was a NYC tradition. It took quite a bit of convincing to get New Yorkers to line up for latte.
And we are a little weak on Viet, but good examples of the sandwiches are well represented.
But Mexican has come a real fucking long way here. Some neighborhoods in Brooklyn are an embarrassment of riches, and you can finally get great tacos in Manhattan. And if you want upscale Enrique Olvera has a restaurant here, and the chef's table at Empellón (a fucking taqueria) is one of the hottest reservations you can get. Who doesn't want to hang with Stupak? Mexican has finally arrived here, and thank fucking god.
>>7557817
Jackson Heights and Corona have a million Mexican restaurants too
>>7557817
Those places have been around what... 3 years? 4 at the most? It only proves my point.
>partly because we had a tradition of coffeeshop style Greek diners that had to die out to make room for high end coffee
It had less to do with greek diners and more to do with new yorkers being set in their ways. Nobody older than 40 gives a shit about coffee. Contrast that with the PNW where retirement-age greyheads will get into arguments over single origin vs blends.
Cosme is an outlier and doesn't represent any sort of trend, gastronomic or demographic or whatever. Olvera represents the banker class, and would have opened a place in the city regardless of what happens (or doesn't happen) in Sunset Park. The places you're talking about serving cemitas and tortas are for immigrants, poor outer borough foodies, and people who have a lot of spare time and love riding the subway for 2 hours to taste Poblano cuisine.
>>7557914
Do you realize not everyone here lives in Manhattan? And if you feel above going to hole in the wall places, there are plenty of wait staffed Mexican restaurants as well.
>>7557928
>Do you realize not everyone here lives in Manhattan?
Sure, but if you don't live in manhattan it's even worse. Try going from another borough that isn't manhattan or brooklyn, to a specific brooklyn neighborhood, in under 2 hours, using a metrocard. Can't be done. There's this sri lankan joint in SI that I am crazy about, but let's be honest here, not all of us are professional food writers, and all that travel time could be used doing something else (like shitposting on 4chan, in my case)
>And if you feel above going to hole in the wall places, there are plenty of wait staffed Mexican restaurants as well.
I don't recall saying anything bad about "hole in the wall" places, but yeah, I've been to some of the best cemita shops in Puebla so I don't really feel the urgency of taking a fucked up weekend subway ride where all the trains are rerouted just to eat an "pretty much fine" version of the same thing. The amount of time I'd spend underground, I could practically fly to Mexico and back.
>>7557914
>Nobody older than 40 gives a shit about coffee.
Bullshit. I'm 47 and have been a coffee nerd for 20 years. But yeah, NYC was much more about going out to bars than for coffee until recently. Restaurant culture has taken over some of the role bar culture used to have. Used to be the East Village was a clusterfuck of bridge and tunnel drunks on a weekend night. Now it's Yelpers lining up for a $10 cup of brodo at the window at Hearth.
But the appearance of good Mexican is definitely a thing. Going to the Hat (el Sombrero) is much less of thing than it used to be now that you have many much better options (from cheap to pricey) in the same neighborhood.
(And the subway ride from the LES to Sunset Park is 15 min. I know it well because I moved from the former to the latter four years ago, and am quite happy about the decision).
>>7557958
Taking the subway is easy as fuck unless you're going a ridiculous distance.
And Mexicans aren't just in Sunset Park, they're also in East Harlem, the South Bronx, and all over Western Queens and Southern Brooklyn.
>>7557994
The bar culture is very much alive, the Easr Village and LES are packed with drunks on Friday and Saturday night. I hang out in both neighborhoods pretty often.
But have you got with any Mexiqts since your move to Sunset Park?
>>7557994
>I'm obsessive enough about food that I know who Alex Stupak is
>but I'm totally a good representation of the average 40+ coffee drinker in the city
Nope
>>7558019
All trains except the G go through the island. Yes, technically like the other anon said, there are stops in different boroughs that happen to be 1 or 2 stops away because that is how it works when a borough is adjacent to another borough. But going from Rego Park to Bensonhurst, or Kingsbridge to Corona, is in fact going to take you all day, especially when every single line has 3 paragraphs of service changes and shuttle buses and "the D train skips all stops starting with "Avenue" or "Street" except between 11 and 3 pm in which case it runs local except from West 4th to Broadway Lafayette where there will be a free shuttle bus every 20 minutes except between 12 and 1 pm where the 7 train will somehow materialize on the F line going downtown (for service to uptown platform take the W to Coney Island and then take a Manhattan bound L train which is operating on the B line, etc...
>>7558034
But you wouldn't have to take a really long subway ride, as there are Mexican enclaves in every borough. The trips you mention are what I would consider to be a "ridiculous distance". I rarely encounter a service change that's super inconvenient, if you know the system well there are usually ways around them.
And hasn't the W been gone for like 5 years? Do you even leave Manhattan often?
>>7557703
>bacteria in my dairy
>Street food must be sterile
Gtfo
>>7558019
>Mexiqts
I'm 47 and married, so the answer is no. Besides, the Mexican girls are really cute when they're too young to even look at that way, but once they come of age they pork out quick. And it ain't beans and rice doing it, it's the $5 pizzas from Little Caesars. God, those kids go crazy for that shit.
And of course the EV/LES is still full of drunks on a weekend. It's just that the place has also become very much a fine dining destination. I was living there before Momofuku opened - back when Prune was a fucking pioneer. Back then the neighborhood still had kind of a rock and roll feel to it, especially for those of us given to day drinking at International or the Pink Pony. The fine dining scene really replaced that.
>>7558043
>there are Mexican enclaves in every borough
Right, I could get a mediocre example of some mexican dish without going too far, or I could take a ridiculous weekend MTA clusterfuck journey to the best possible place for some random dish that still wouldn't be as good as what I've had in mexico. The point is "the outer boroughs" are more like a bunch of completely separate countries, more connected with manhattan than they are with each other. So it doesn't make much sense to gripe about someone being manhattan centric just because they don't live in brooklyn.
>And hasn't the W been gone for like 5 years?
Whatever, as far as I'm concerned there is still a 1/9 and the MTA is going to put the B and the D back in their rightful place any day now.
>>7558060
>Prune
>hmm that sounds familiar
>google image search
>that place I got in an argument with her right around the time I realized it wasn't going to work out
Thanks for opening up some old wounds, you old geezer.
>>7558060
Ther are hardly any NY born Mexican women over 25, so the older women you see might be weathered looking from living in poverty.
Yeah there is definitely a lot of dining there. I would say the LES still sort of has a rock and roll feel, the dive bars there often have a punk feel. But I know it's definitely not the same as it was back in the day.
>>7558061
But you don't have to go to the outer boroughs, or at least not very deep in them. In addition to the fact many Mexicans live in upper Manhattan, many of them open up restaurants all over Manhattan.
>>7558034
Fair point about me not being the average coffee drinker of my age. Most of the coffee crowd is a decade or more younger than me. And I'm on the fringe of the industry, so of course I know who Stupak is. But I have no need to eat tacos in the EV, though I will admit to enjoying the weird ass fusion pork belly tacos at Jimmy's #43. Fuck, those are good.
>>7558090
>many Mexicans live in upper Manhattan
Those festive people uptown who speak a strange kind of Spanish like someone cut out their tongue are actually not Mexicans, but Dominicans.
Mexicans live in the Bronx, Union City, Queens, and Brooklyn.
>>7558105
Brah, I know what Dominicans are. They look and act much different from Mexicans. But there are plenty of actual Mexicans in East Harlem.
>>7558105
You're forgetting about the little Mexican neighborhood up in Washington Heights along St Nicholas Ave.
>>7558105
It is crazy how many Mexicans there are in the Bronx these days, it used to be all Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. Both of whom still outnumber Mexicans by a lot, though.
Is Oaxaca cuisine also present in New York?
>>7556908
Go to taco mix on 116th east harlem
>>7556908
>pic is random though
Why talk about food on a cooking board without using an actual picture of what you're talking about? The mindlessness of some people.
>>7558331
A lot of the Oaxacan cooks who came to NYC ended up cooking in French and Italian restaurants because word got out they were good.
For Oaxacan in NYC people seem to crow about la Morada in the South Bronx. I haven't been yet, but people I trust recommended it, si it's on my list.
>>7558437
It is relevant because it's a picture of tacos from a NYC Mexican restaurant
>>7558055
It was dangerous levels, like someone wiped with their hands and didn't wash afterwards, that high level. I'm gonna stay, thanks.
>>7558512
Puebla will lay claim to Mole Poblano, but generally when people think of the best moles they point to Oaxaca. I'm no authority, but my understanding is that Oaxaca has a more nuanced and sophisticated cuisine, whereas Puebla leans toward simplicity. Also the kind of snacky street food popular in Mexico City is common in Puebla as well.
>>7558512
Oaxaca has a much higher indigenous population, and Guerrero is on the ocean. Puebla and DF would probably be most similar except the fact that DF is an insanely large international-tier city, and also the capital of the country attracting people and trends from everywhere, and Puebla is more of a mid-tier city with less action going on.
They're all decently different from one another, you see more similarity between say QR and Yucatan food, or Chihuahua vs Coahuila because the populations and terrain are more similar to one another, but in the central part of mexico things change quickly over what look like short distances on the map.
Any recommendations for Mexican in Bensonhurst?
There are a ton of places but I never know which to try. The store I went to for dried chiles was always empty (of product and people) and closed without warning, seems par for the course. I would love someplace I can buy bulk chiles too.
im from southern california so if anybody has any questions about mexican food im here to help. our mexican food is better than the actual food in mexico
>>7560383
Are you sure that's not a bit of a stretch?
>>7560383
What, giant fucking burritos? No thanks.
>>7556908
Eating overpriced mexican food
>>7557704
Jalisco:
Birria Goat stew
Barbacoa bbq goat, beef head
Tortas ahogadas pic related
>>7560826
What makes you think it's overpriced?
>>7560929
Exactly
Allegedly California has a lot of taco trucks that sell $1 tacos, but those might be lower quality
So are tacos made with flour tortillas in Northern Mexico?
>>7560932
I've lived in LA for months at a time here and there for work. The Mexican food is good there, but it's generally greasier than what you find from the trucks and taquerias in NYC. Delicious, though. If you're pining for LA style tacos in NYC Taqueria Lower East Side on Orchard is a good bet. Small, crowded, and a little pricier than the norm here, but a good place to take whining Angelino friends to get them to shut the fuck up about Mexican food in NYC.
>>7560935
Flout tortillas are much more common in Norteño cuisine. But you'll still see them in some dishes common elsewhere, like tacos arabes, which show some of the Lebanese influence on Mexico City.
>>7560965
So would you say Mexican food in LA panders more to "American" tastes?
>>7560976
Not as much as Tex Mex does with fucking cheese on everything. Not to get too into the tiresome NYC vs LA thing, but there are different influences. The style of Mexican in LA is pretty well integrated into the culture, because not all that long ago it was part of Mexico. The mostly Puebla immigrants in NYC are recent arrivals recreating a taste of home. So it's a different vibe centered around a different regional style of cooking. For example, the burrito as we know it is very much a US thing. Standard issue in California. In Brooklyn they're represented on the menu, but outsold by tacos, tortas and cemitas. Various street food snacks are better represented here (or so it seems to me), maybe because there's more life on the streets (or more Mexico City influence on the food).
>>7559691
Maybe I'm just being a snob, but this has not been my experience. On quality of ingredients alone, the random neighborhood joint has fairly poor quality. And I've eaten everything from taco trucks to hybrid restaurant/deli to family joints to midrange (lapalapa) to chains (rosa) to high end (cosme).
Thing is here in NY there is a lot of cheap, terrible quality produce that winds up being served at the cheaper "hole in the wall" joints. Compared to say California where that's less of a problem.
>>7561019
Yeah, Mexicans have been in LA forever. But still, there are Mexican immigrants from all over Mexico in LA. So I have to imagine many styles of Mexican food exist in LA.
>>7557958
It only takes 1hr 12min to take the N train from northern Queens through Manhattan and then to Bayridge 95th Street in southern Brooklyn, and that's one ridiculous long ride, going from northern Queens to Southern Brooklyn, never mind you have the G train cutting through queens into Brooklyn.
You ride the trains bro?
>>7561033
No doubt southern CA has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to good local produce all year round. So you're not tied to the seasons in terms of how you eat. Of course you can get anything you want in NYC at any time, but the best stuff in the Northeast is what's in season. We're not as crazy about seasonality as the Romans are, but increasingly it's a thing in NYC eating. For example, we're just days away from the yearly freak out over ramps. Our local produce is amazingly good, but only in season.
I think part of why Puebla style does well here is because onion, cilantro, lime, chilies, radishes, scallions and cucumbers are easily available year round. That's the fresh vegetables you're likely to find at a Puebla taqueria here.
>>7561049
>1 hour 10 minutes each way to eat a shitty taco
Might be worth it if you've never had a taco, or if it helps you get more Instagram followers
I'm done with that shit, same with standing in line for 45 minutes to beg Mr. DiFara for a slice.
There's enough to eat in this city for several lifetimes, the kids can have their latest hole in the wall in Gravesend and New Dorp to take pictures of instead of eating.
>>7561076
The freakout is already here, ramps appeared at my neighborhood Saturday market two weeks ago
We don't have papalo or anything relevant to Mexico yet. Maybe in June.
>>7561077
>live in one of the worst cities on earth
>think it makes you special
>can't afford a car, or to park a car and using it is a massive headache in your shit city
>take public transportation with niggers an crackheads
>2 hour ride
>pay $10 for tacos i can get for $1 in NC
>think its so fucking cool that you have to share it on social media
>think social media is cool/anyone fucking cares about your shit poverty life
god i hate NYC and everyone in it. literally the most cucked life ever but still try to be arrogant and superior while paying $2000/month for some jews 1 bedroom studio apartment
>>7561093
yeah its crazy i can visit whenever i want and i don't have to pay to live in a dirty, angry, loud shithole 24/7
>>7561094
I don't remember, I got them with some mustard greens, they weren't cheap but then they never really are...
>>7561096
Yeah but it's just not that good, sure it's more authentic than it was ten years ago but there's the quality issue.
>>7561105
don't worry after you waste 50+ years of your life in NYC and are on the verge of suicide from the stress/anger/depression you are welcome to retire in richmond/raleigh-apex-cary like all of the other transplants
everyone has been to your shit city you should try visiting ours sometime before you claim how enlightened, educated and superior you are.
>>7561087
>bought my apartment in Bklyn
>pay under $1k/month total living costs
>street parking very easy in my neighborhood, but only use car once or twice a week
>literally hundreds of shops and restaurants within walking distance
>great food is amazingly cheap, and if I feel like dropping some dough I can do so at some of the world's best restaurants
>so many interesting things going on you are never bored - ever
>actually hang out with my neighbors because they're mostly cool people - it's like Sesame fucking Street
I've been to NC. You guys have great BBQ. Some good music. And Cook Out. But compared to where I live you have a whole lot of nothing going on. What do you do when you're not working? Watch TV?
>>7561087
Only the most sour grapes fueled this post
NYC isn't perfect, but you sound like your bonkers are permanently clonked. Calm down jethro.
>>7561119
work on my garden because i actually have a yard.
have a house that costs less than your apartment
go to the movies/shows for $10 instead of $30-50
access to nice restaurants/quality ingredients for a fraction of the price you are paying
some of the best sports teams in the country in multiple sports at affordable rates
get drinks at a bar for $3 instead of $10
have neighbors/friends that are actually nice interesting people instead of "my city attitude treat everyone like a douchebag" mentality
live in a nice community with lower crime/poverty
theres literally nothing i can't do that you have access to and if your city had something that was truly worth doing i could go visit it without having to pay to be there all the time
>>7561123
Yeah. Fucking love it. All the Mexican and Chinese I could ever need in walking distance, the joy of Bay Ridge just a bike ride away, and South Slope right next door for when I need a taste of Portlandia shit. And when I get bored of that I'm in Manhattan in 15 min by subway.
After two decades living in the EV/LES I'm so happy I said fuck this and moved back to Brooklyn. When I left Brooklyn it was mostly a shithole. I came back to a pretty nice place. You can still find shithole neighborhoods here, but they're getting fewer and fewer. Even chunks of Bed-Stuy are worth a visit these days.
>>7561110
No, I've never met a style of Mexican food I didn't like. Lived with a norteño family in central Mex, eating norteño at home and local food at restaurants, travelled all over the country, took cooking classes, shopped at the markets, watched little old Indian ladies who couldn't understand basic Spanish making handmade tortillas.
I have my preferences to be sure, but it's not about that, it's about expired vegetables and subpar meat at these "hole in the wall" joints in Brooklyn, Queens, yes Manhattan too.
Sure I could drop $125 at cosme and get an amazing meal but the everyday Mexican food in the city just doesn't do it for me. If I'm lucky it's OK, if I'm not lucky I just get mad that I wasted my time on a shitty meal.
>>7561176
I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. There aren't many middle class Mexicans here, like there are out west for example.
>>7561158
>my big day
>i traveled all the way to brooklyn
>took 2 hours
>got a taco
>wow tacos are really cool
>think ill start a blog about tacos
>greatest city on earth
the fact that so many people from NYC think this is ground breaking fucking blog worthy material is testament to what a shit fucking city you live in
Mexican food outside the Southwest is fucking awful. The Avocados are always stringy, the salsa tastes like water and onions, and I bet your trucks don't even use pork because they're trying to appeal to Jews and Muslims.
>>7561184
>live in NYC
>no farms or fresh ingredients nearby
>avocados from 2,000+ miles away
>boast about how great your tacos are
>>7561142
Not getting into a pissing contest, but I have a garden, too. I go to shows for free in the parks. I have access to immigrant markets where if I shop aggressively I can get a week's worth of groceries for $35. My neighbors include musicians, writers, filmmakers, an economist, two opera singers and a photographer. They're from all over, too: I hear Polish, Spanish, Yiddish, Mandarin and even Finnish spoken on a daily basis. And my apartment has more than doubled in value since I bought it.
Like I said, I have been to NC. I have a good buddy who lives not too far from you in Chapel Hill. It's nice. Just not enough going on there for me.
>>7561189
Chicago, Philly, DC, and NYC
DC was technically Salvadoran, but it tasted way better than what I had at the other three.
>>7561199
>NY farms
>Leading crops in New York are Cabbage, Sweet Corn and Onions.
enjoy your fresh cabbage
>>7561185
>Maybe the Mexican places in the trendy neighborhoods use better ingredients?
The ones that aren't specifically catering to Mexicans, sure. Cosme, La Palapa, Presidente, stuff like that.
But even in "fashionable" neighborhoods, you can find a little hole in the wall with a corny Mexican eagle or something on the awning, playing old ranchera tunes or shitty corridos, advertisements for Mexican people stuff stapled to the wall, with all the sketchy "probably won't make me sick they got an A" you could ever want. But if you really must have a torta milanesa (the bread isn't quite right but who cares? It's 2016 we have the regional authentic Mexican food now at least we're not the South!) then sure, you can have your fix, more or less. But mostly less, unless you're not picky at all.
>>7561208
>so much going on
>i am busy all the time doing exciting culturally enriching activities
>stuff a pleb would never understand, so much culture
just looks like we are both shit posting on /ck/
>>7561210
the worst mexican food ive ever had was in DC downtown. it was some tapas bullshit that made me want to curb stomp the white chefs teeth out.
>>7561217
>least we're not the South
I've had Mexican in Louisiana and South Carolina that was better than anything they could have in NYC by virtue of the fact that their tomatoes and peppers were picked fresh that morning from their backyards.
Fuck outta here with your "at least we're not the south" bullshit.
>>7561237
Yeah I just tossed that in for comedic value, I figure there's probably enough fruit pickers down south to support a restaurant or two
>>7561227
It was actually in NoVa, not DC proper.
>>7561239
>But you really didn't like any of the Mexican food you've had in those places?
They were thoroughly mediocre compared to what you can find in SoCal, which is where I'm from originally. I've had so many people take me out to Mexican places on the east coast and say "hey just like home right?" and I have to grin and say yeah it's good to be polite despite the "beef enchilada" tasting like a cheeseburger tortilla wrap with a spice packet added to it.
>>7561117
Come on man, been to NC, you hicks just traded in the plaid shirts for button downs, you're hicks inside still, be proud of it. Most of the transplants in NYC are probably from NC and surrounding states trying to hide the fact they're hicks deep down inside and going all hipster enlightened know it all while here.
>>7561308
Funny because I know a bunch of southerner transplants who love to play up their southern pride except when the south passes backwards laws and then they're like "n-not all southerners!"
>>7561176
>So what ethnicity are your neighbors?
answered here >>7561208
>Do you guys have barbecues ever?
The Puerto Ricans on the next block do at their twice a year block parties. We don't have enough space to legally have a grill on our grounds. But we have building parties a couple times a year - The Poles bust out their homemade vodka at the holiday party, which is a fucking blast. And we do a Halloween party for the kids. And we have a co-op work party every year that ends up with pizza and beer in the courtyard.
>>7561222
There's highbrow shit going on all the time, sure. But I'm more about free African music in the parks than galleries and readings and whatever else is happening. The two things I'm really into are music and food, and NYC is a good place for both. Musicians from all over the world come here to play, and people from all over the world come here and bring their cuisines with them. You can just go out for a walk or a bike ride, be entertained and grab a great bite to eat for pocket change (or more if you're feeling spendy). You don't really even have to plan it - it just happens. That's part of why I love it here.
>>7561330
i could literally care less where trannies want to take a dump
most irrelevant law ever and SJWs think it fucking matters. just repeal the shit so they can shut the fuck up about it and go back to their black lives matter protests.
>>7561363
Remarkably few cranks in my co-op. Like maybe two or three out of 60+ units. So it's like Sesame Street, which is not the norm in this town, but not unknown in this neighborhood. Six of us are musicians, so we have a jam session at the holiday party. Neighbors frequently get together at each others' apartments for dinner parties, some planned, some impromptu. The neighbors above me and across the hall both cook, so we're always sending tastes of what we're making back and forth. Everybody keeps an eye out for the kids, who are surprisingly well behaved.
And I'm just a couple blocks from the good Mexican food.
I feel like I lucked out like fuck.
>>7561353
That's why you stayed and they moved, I guess. Not everyone wants to live in the middle ages. Like my Yemeni bodega owners in my neighborhood. A better life in a more modern place.
>>7557704
>I love the Puebla/Mexico City food but I'm curious what food from the other regions is like in comparison, have you ever had it?
I'm from Mexico, specifically from the state of Querétaro (which is part of the BajÃo region). I'm not sure if you can find this in the US given that we have few migrants in your country, but you should check out pambazos/guajolotes: they are a type of torta that has had the bread covered in enchilada sauce, fried and the stuffed with either carnitas or chorizo with potatos.
Thre are also tacos de carnitas made with pig skin, uterus, stomach and pig calf, for some reason you gringos only eat the lamest and most tasteless part about carnitas: the shoulder
Check also Corundas (a type of tamal that ahs no meat but is covered in cream and salsa) from Michoacán.
Also Cochinita Pibil (pork marinated with lime) from Yucatán.
Tamales Oaxaqueños (imo much better than regular tamales).
>>7561412
None of my business, kind of like it's none of the state's business if a tranny needs to take a dump.
But git the gubmint off our backs (as long as they're looking very carefully at everyone's genitalia), amirite cleetus?
>>7561087
you're such a dumbass. yeah everyone wants to live in the middle of hickville where there's nothing to fucking do but hey the fucking tacos are cheap even though i have to drive 2 hours in my pickup truck to get there
>>7561424
I don't even know if they're Muslim, they could be Jews or Christians for all I know.
>>7561420
no one is checking genitals. if you look like a chick and you poop in the girls room no one is going to throw you in a concentration camp
irrelevant bill. just repeal it so the trannies will stop trying to burn the state down over which toilet they can poop in.
>>7561424
>if it's common for them to ditch strict Islam.
The level of religious observance people choose to practice is a very personal decision. Some Catholics go to church every Sunday and eat fish on Fridays in Lent, others just go to church on Christmas and Easter. Same goes for Muslims. I have Muslim friends who are the sons of immigrants. Their parents still pray five times a day. The kids don't. One drinks, one doesn't. Both fast for Ramadan, though.
Observance varies from person to person.
>>7558512
Puebla is heavily influenced by its arab immigrants and its cuisine is very much different from Oxaca's apart from both of them being famous for their moles
>>7561442
Mostly Lebanese, right? Which gives them dishes like quipe, tacos arabes and al pastor made on a gyro machine.
As a Mexican I find it obnoxious when gringos get smug about which place has the best Mexican food, as if one could get better Yucatec food in California than in Quintana Roo.
Just eat and let eat.
>>7561456
Yeah indeed, i think that there are some Syrians too.
There's also a heavy presence of Spaniards, from Asturias specifically, though i'm not sure if it's had any influence on the local food.
>>7561033
You can say that about California too
>>7561487
I think that's part of why Puebla food is catching on big with NYC gringos. We're used to seeing meat on vertical spits. We know and love shawarama and gyros. Al pastor tacos fit right in.
As for gringos getting smug about which places have the best Mexican food, don't forget that we have at least three distinct regional styles of Mexican American cuisine in the US, in addition to what immigrants and great chefs bring to us. A decade ago I only knew the US styles (CA, NM and TexMex), Oaxacan, Baja and Yucateccan. Now I live in a heavily Puebla neighborhood, and have really developed a taste for that cuisine. So much so I fucking want to go to Puebla this year.
So it shouldn't be a big surprise. Your cuisine lands here and people have their preferences for it. Same happened to Chinese. Many Americans love Chinese American food, but some have clear preferences for Cantonese or Sichuan.
>>7561557
You can easily find lame Norteño restaurants, too, because for a long time that was all we had.
>>7561574
At El Tesoro? I've had great meals there, and a couple lame ones. I think it's a case of the menu being too big for everything on it to be really good. Have yet to try the Salvadorian joint right next to it.
I've dabbled in the other Hispanic cuisines here with mixed results. There are two decent Peruvian chicken joints (and probably a few more I haven't noticed yet). Neither are anything special, but they're both tasty and cheap. Same is true for the Pollo Campero that just opened next to the 24hr Cuban bakery (which is worth hitting). As far as Latin Caribbean goes International is probably the best, though La Isla Cuchifritos is no slouch (and also has Mexican quipe and deep fried empenadas right next to the papas rellenas). Not much of a fan of La Fe on 4th. Then there's always Cafe Zona Sur if you want to drop a little more dough on some Hispanic-French fusion.
That's as far as I've gotten because Chinatown and Bay Ridge are constantly distracting me with equally enticing offerings.
>>7561604
Or Mexican Americans.
>>7562315
And some good Indian.
>>7562351
Queens may be the best borough for International eating, but it's more of a pain in the ass to get around than Brooklyn. I'm always planning to go it there, but rarely do.
>>7562315
One too many, its crazy over there.
>>7562350
True, this is where my brown friends take me to eat Indian.
>>7562351
You got that right, best is the hispanic clothing stores, female manaqueins in store windows have over-sized butts that make me giggle every time.
>>7562397
Wtf you talking about? Brooklyn is a nightmare to get around.
>>7562466
Not as bad as Queens, unless you're trying to go from South Brooklyn to Greenpoint and don't have a car.
What are some good varieties to try? Is the Lengua any good? I'm not picky at all, but the idea of eating a tongue kinda weirds me out
>>7563178
Tongue is okay, but stay away from tripe and and buche because they smell like stomach acid / puke.
Cabeza can be fantastic, make sure you ask for the cheek.
>>7563299
Cabeza is one of my favorites. Chorizo is good if you're looking for a blast of flavor. Al pastor is worth getting if the place actually has a gtro machine.
As for tripa, you're right in saying it's worth avoiding at many places. It's hard to do really well. A good example can be had at Tacos Matamoros on 5th Ave in Sunset Park.
>>7563299
Ew I definitely wouldn't wabt any pukey smelling meats
Is Cabeza head meat?
>>7564116
>Is Cabeza head meat?
Yes.
As for the menudo (tripe): this varies a lot. If it's poorly made then yeah, it tastes and smells awful. But properly cooked tripe is fucking delicious and has no hint of "stomach" smell/taste. It all depends on the cook making it.
>>7557664
Hnnnggggg....I fucking love tortas. I'm on the west coast, however. But I'd make sweet love to that torta. They're one of my favorite things to order at taco trucks/ taco stands.
>>7560823
Nah, those giant burritos are from NorCal. Fucking "Mission style". I live here and I fucking HATE them. Worst kind of burritos ever.
>>7560828
Tortas ahogadas fucking YES PLEASE. That's some good shit.
>>7564132
What are those?
>>7556908
>taco truck thread
allright which one of you bastards stole the little knight taco truck?
>>7564126
shout out to sac
>>7564147
Mission style burritos are basically what Chipotle and other chain burrito places are imitating. Giant burritos as big as your forearm, filled with meat or veg, beans, cheese, and rice. It's the rice that fucking kills it for me. If I want rice, I'll have it as a side dish, I fucking don't want it in my burrito.
>>7564164
*wink*
I fucking love Chando's.
>>7564167
I love rice in a burrito
I want to go to cosme but if I'd go that route I'd just get something closer to him Bracero in San Diego looks nice too. Glad to see actual Mexican chefs from Mexico doing Mexican fine dining in the US
>>7564167
You know you can request no rice or less rice, right? Or is that degree of social interaction crippling?
>>7564189
oops meant closer to home
>>7564191
>hi welcome to chipolte can i...
>NUMBER THREE
>looks at floor
>pays with a 20 doesn't wait for change
>runs to car
>crys and scoops rice out with fingers
>>7564191
I've never eaten at Chipotle, thanks very much. Why would I ever eat there when there's a million better options for burritos that don't come with a side of salmonella? Stop being so clumsily dad-core.
>>7564187
To each their own, but I find it repulsive.
We need more authentic Mexican here on Long Island
>>7564206
>never eaten there
>i dont like how much rice is on it
>never eaten there
>there are millions of better options
>never eaten there
>>7564125
>properly cooked tripe is fucking delicious and has no hint of "stomach" smell/taste. It all depends on the cook making it.
Exactly. Part of why I always get it at Matamoros is because they clean it properly, season it well, then grill it on the plancha so it's crispy on the outside, but still has some chew to it. Dome that way it's still a little weird, because you're still eating fucking tripe, but it can go toe to toe with any of the other taco offerings.
>>7564126
That Torta shop (Tortas a la Plancha Don Pepe) is seriously off the chain. Put it on your list if you ever make it to South Brooklyn. And being a West Coast Anon you might appreciate that the front of the place is a juice bar, and the back is the torta shop. You can get your healthy and your crazy unhealthy from the same establishment.
>>7564132
>Fucking "Mission style"
With the exception of Oaxacan cheese on tortas/cemitas and a little cotijo or crema here and there I find I generally don't like the styles of Mexican food that lean in to the dairy. When I see lots of cheese, sour cream and flour tortillas (for that matter) I can be pretty sure that's not going to be the kind of Mexican food that turns my crank.
>>7564167
>It's the rice that fucking kills it for me.
For me it's the cheese and sour cream, plus the ridiculous size of the thing. I have nothing against rice, even in a taco. Pic related.
just a tip for you faggots
Puebla : Chile en Nogada, Mole Poblano, pipian , Manchamanteles, mole de caderas, chalupas (probably the only thing that taco bell might have done better), chanclas, tacos arabes, pollo a la naranja, sopa poblano, mixiotes, pork en adobo, cemitas, huitlacoche quesdillas
Oaxaca :Mole Negro, Yellow mole, Green mole, caper sauce, estofado de bodas, chintextle (dried shrimp and chile sauce) barbacoa enchilado, caldo de pierdas , caldo de gato, plantain turnovers , tlayuda (muh mexican pizza meme)
These are two different regions with different styles but every mexican region has some similarities. The north beingthe only exception
>>7556908
Build wall and make your own tacos, you lazy fuck destroying the economy with TPP shillings.
>>7564219
No one needs to have eaten at a Chipotle to know what it's like. It's fast food burritos, not fucking rocket science. Not to mention the fact that because of advertising, suburban moms, and tattooed wannabe hipsters, they've made it all too clear what eating at Chipotle is like. No thanks.
>>7564248
To be fair Chipotle has their appeal. People like college students and office workers who need a quick bite, but don't want to eat too much "fast food". By crowing about "local" and "sustainable" Chipotle has convinced them it's a better option than fast food (even though that's what it is). And to be fair there are more recognizable ingredients in a Chipotle burrito than in one from Taco Bell, and it's generally seen as a higher status place. So the coworkers who might laugh at you for eating Taco Bell won't raise an eyebrow if they see you at Chipotle.
But I can't see anyone who is actually a fan of Mexican food eating at either place unless there aren't any other options around.
>>7564273
There aren't many Mexican options by me (despite there being tons in Queens and Brooklyn not too far from me), and I only eat Taco Bell if it's 3AM and I'm drunk
>>7562397
Pain in the ass to get around Queens? For international eating you can take the N or R trains into different parts of Astoria, most places will be within 2 to 10 minutes walking distance. You can take the 7 train to end up in Jackson Heights, Flushing and Corona, again, most places will be within walking distance. You're talking 30minutes tops by mass transit from midtown Manhattan. Coming from Brooklyn? Get on the G train you dumb hick.
Where the fuck you people from originally and think the international food scene is out of the way in Queens?
>>7564285
Queens isn't "cool" enough for some people, and they'll only spend time in hipster Brooklyn and Manhattan
>>7564285
I'm in South Brooklyn. I'm spoiled with a 15 min subway ride to Manhattan, and just over a 30 min trip to Coney Island. An hour to Astoria or Flushing is daunting. Worth it when I do go, but daunting nonetheless.
And the G train is worst train by a long shot.
>>7564326
I take the G train to go from Church Ave to 4th Ave and it's fine
>>7564333
I've just spent more hours of my life than I'd ever want to waiting on the 4th Ave elevated platform in shit weather. Kind of over it. If I want to go to Flushing these days I take the Chinatown bus.
>>7564349
I feel like I barely have to wait for them
>>7564273
>By crowing about "local" and "sustainable" Chipotle has convinced them it's a better option than fast food
Anon, if you can't tell the difference between Chipotle and taco Bell quality, your mouth is broken.
I'd eat at Chipotle before I ate at another of your hole in the wall joints in Gravesend. Authentic doesn't mean good.
>>7564357
The whole system generally works great around rush hours. It's the off hours when it becomes a drag. Because it wasn't really designed for interborough travel, especially late. It was designed to get you to Manhattan and back. One of many reasons I don't participate in the Williamsburg and Bushwick nightlife scenes. And it keeps me away from Astoria for dinner. Because the trip out will only take an hour, but the trip back, after a nice meal and a glass or two of wine will be well over an hour, and I'll feel every minute of it. So I end up eating nearly as good Greek in Bay Ridge, even though I have fewer choices. That's 15 min by subway, bus or bike.
>>7564401
Even on a Sunday morning at 3AM, the longest you have to wait for a train is 20 minutes. I know going from Brooklyn to Queens by the N train or the Queens Blvd lines takes forever,though.
>mexican thread
>chipotle posts everywhere
never change /fa/
>>7564381
The difference in quality between Chipotle and TB is pretty obvious: Chipotle assembles your burrito from recognizable ingredients, whereas TB is more McDonald's tier in how heavily processed everything is. But if you look at the nutrition info for each they're not as far apart as you might think. They're still both fast food.
And in Gravesend I'd recommend Asian or old guard Italian-American joints over Mexican.
>>7564381
>Authentic doesn't mean good.
Depends on whether you're referring to a cuisine that happens to be good in the first place. I have no interest in authentic Finnish or Icelandic food, because those places really aren't great food cultures. Places like Mexico, China and SEA are. When eating those cuisines I'd rather have the foods that earned them their reputations than some hacky take on them. That applies across the board. The reason I'd much rather have tacos from El Bronco Mobil than Chipotle is the same as why I haven't been back to Momofuku, Mission Chinese or Pok Pok after one visit. The food at those places is great, but none of those flavors are a revelation to me. I've been eating that stuff closer to the source for years. I like to know what all the fuss is about, but I really don't feel the need to pay a premium for creative, beautifully plated versions of dishes I'm used to getting for pretty cheap at immigrant joints. These restaurants are run by chefs who hit immigrant joints, then sell upscale versions of those flavors to a crowd who would not hit such places. Good for them, but I'm not that audience.
>>7564381
Chipotle is definitely better than taco bell, but no way it's better than our hole in the walls in Brooklyn. And it's definitely not better than the actual Mexican restaurants we have here.
>>7564460
>everything is better in new york
>we have mexicans that make slightly better food than chipotle
>definitely better than taco bell
cool yeah i was considering moving to NYC but you convinced me now. you have food that is "definitely better than taco bell" and is only an hour subway ride from your house!?!
jesus im packing my bags right now.
>>7564484
How are you aware of what our Mexican food is like if you don't live here?
>>7564484
Just about any American city and many towns have restaurants that are far better than national chains. It's just that in the really major cities like NYC, LA and SF there are entire neighborhoods of such places. NYC especially benefits by being a major international city, so we have many cuisines represented that might be difficult or impossible to find in other parts of the country. That doesn't make NYC better, but it sure as fuck makes it a fun place to eat.
>>7564681
A buddy of mine recently hooked up with a total qt Mexican girl ten years younger than he is. He's already picking up dicey habits from her. The other day I watched him stir a heaping spoonful of mayo into his pozole, because that's how her family does it.
>>7564718
Nope. Lime flavored mayo is popular as fuck in Mexico, apparently.
>>7564733
I never asked where her family was from. Would be interesting to know.
Any Mexibros out there ever hear of mayo in Pozole?
>>7564460
This is a dumb comparison because they are different kind of food, but no, if it's a contest, Chipotle wins. It is better than your holes in the wall, because, E coli jokes aside, a big chain like that can afford to throw out product if it's starting to go off. I'm not willing to tolerate shitty Mexican food just because it is "authentic", and you are doing yourself and Mexican food a disservice by defending the crap that gets served in many of those outer borough (and, as I've said earlier) Manhattan Mexican spots catering to poor immigrants. I guarantee you if you got a candid opinion from a Mexican living in an overcrowded basement in Queens what he thought of the food here, he'd tell you it's shit. Because it is.
>>7564981
You, sir, are a fucking moron.
>>7564981
Then why do so many Mexicans eat at these places if they think it's so bad?
>>7564992
No U
>>7565004
Because they work 3 jobs, they're saving or sending money home, and they're going to the cheap place that's convenient. The restaurants know they have a relatively captive, highly price sensitive clientele. So there's little incentive to compete on quality.
This isn't a city where we have large neighborhoods of property owning middle class Mexicans. Our Mexicans are recent immigrants, often illegal, always tight with money, and without a lot of leisure time to be picky about their choice of restaurants.
>>7565097
Would you drink pozole out of a Mexican girl's sneakers?
>>7565097
There are some shitty places that line up with what you describe, but the popular places are slammed, and the turnover is high. There's no way they're sitting on any ingredients past their prime.
My neighborhood taco truck is a perfect example. When it is open there is almost always a line. There is always at least one refrigerated van parked next to it, sometimes one on either side to keep it stocked. And sometimes those vans make a run to the brick and mortar restaurant associated with the truck to restock themselves. The truck is open until 4AM every night, and there are lines until it closes.
The turnover is just too high for the food to be anything less than fresh. The same is true for many of the more popular places where I live. At dinner time the wait for a torta at Don Pepe is half an hour. Three men on a giant plancha cannot keep up with the demand. There's no way food is just sitting around in that place. It's too busy flying out the fucking door.
>>7565220
Yeah I was about to say, some of these places do so well that they have no incentive to use unfresh ingredients.
>>7564753
Mexican here: nope, it sounds horrifying to be honest, i can't imagine the combination, I only put oregano, salsa roja and lime in my pozole
>>7564753
Ive seen it done by a mexican that ate mayo / crema with everything. Shit was weird as fuck.
>>7557817
Thats not a bad point, that disgusting diner drip 'coahffee'
>>7561087
>NC
pfahahaha flyover state redneck detected
>>7565220
>The truck is open until 4AM every night, and there are lines until it closes.
Having a line at all hours is exceptional, no neighborhood has people walking around on the street at 4 AM except entertainment districts like the village, LES, and such. Let alone going out of their way to eat a taco. So, obviously, you cannot consider that place typical.
Earlier, someone was making the argument that it's 2016 now we have the regional Mexican food at least we're not the south. I believe the figure quoted was "98% of the mexican restaurants in the five boroughs are amazing", or something along those lines. Surely, you would not claim that 98% of the Mexican restaurants in the city have a line out the door at 4 AM.
I'd say it's more like 2 or 3 total are amazing, 5% are probably decent, another 20% are probably ok in a pinch, and the rest are pretty awful.
>>7565770
The thing with NYC is that word gets out. If you're good people often find you, then start holding other places to your standards. That's what's happened with Mexican food here over the last decade. The standards for Mexican food here were margarita mills and shit Tex Mex for years. Earlier in this thread I mentioned that Chinese folks who bought a flour tortilla maker made a killing for a moment applying the Chinese restaurant model (making 100 dishes from the same 20 ingredients) to Mexican food.
But that started changing in the early 2000's on two fronts. First you had some high end Mexican places opening up, setting higher standards. A few of these were opened by Mexican cooks who had made careers cooking in French restaurants, and applied that technique to Mexican cooking.
But the other front was the mostly Puebla immigrants who brought much better tacos and street food than what we were used to here with them.
Yeah, there are still plenty of places that get away with half-assing it in some neighborhoods. But you see much higher standards in neighborhoods that are actually destination places for dining out, as well as those with an actual Mexican population. Because when New Yorkers have tasted Stupak or Olivera's cooking, or even had some decent Puebla style tacos from a truck the kind of shit that kept places like Caliente Cab Co in business for years starts to lose its appeal.
And word gets out. You can get away with a lot of overpriced mediocrity if you have a great location or your food is super cheap. But generally once the standards have been raised most New Yorkers who make a habit of dining out are on board.
>>7566046
None of that really has anything to do with your (or that guy's if it wasn't you) 98% claim being basically the opposite of reality. Olivera's restaurant powered by tumblr bux is not the average Mexican restaurant. Taqueria El Asco in Parkchester is the average Mexican restaurant. Maybe you think it's a good idea to take a 1 hour 12 minute subway ride to eat there, not me, and not most people.
Your argument seems to be this:
>10 years ago white people went to Senor Frogs and mexicans didn't exist
>now, as demonstrated by Cosme, 98% of Mexican restaurants in the city have tasting menus of single-origin heirloom maize and period-correct 16th century artisan batch mezcal cocktails, you can find these in every neighborhood and the lines are down the block
>therefore, New York has great mexican food now
Parts of your argument are valid but the whole thing just sounds desperate, like something a tourism bureaucrat would come up with in a third world country. "Come visit Fukushima, we totally won't give you cancer!"
>>7566586
Try going to actual NYC neighborhoods, not just Times Square and St. Mark's Place.
>>7567028
I'm not the 98% guy, but I have watched the general state of Mexican food change in this town, and it's been a dramatic transformation over the last 15 years. There are still shitty places because there will always be people who think a margarita mill is a fun night out, and shitty ghetto Mexican hangs on the same way shitty ghetto Chinese, pizza and fried chicken do - by being part of the only cheap options in areas where poor people have few.
But for the average NYC diner Mexican has changed radically. It no longer means a SF style burrito or some lame TexMex on an oversized heated plate that's half taken up with rice and refried beans and very likely covered in cheese. Now the norm is brighter, fresher far less stodgy flavors. And the options are no longer just beef, chicken and pork - we're now dealing with more interesting specifics like al pastor, lengua, tinga, chorizo and more.
This would not be news in LA, which actually used to be fucking Mexico. But in NYC, a town that prides itself on having good food yet has traditionally been very weak when it comes to Mexican it is news. Because now we're not weak on the Mexican food front. The overall standards have improved substantially, and many places are excellent. And we're excited about that.
The same thing happened with Japanese food. We got a taste of it in in the 80's, got excited, and by the late 90's/early 2000's decent sushi and ramen were commonplace foods. Hell, there's still excitement over ramen here and there. So it really shouldn't be much of a surprise we're about good tacos becoming commonplace as well.
>>7567428
But we are weak on the Mexican food. Adding a shitty muh lengua joint in most neighborhoods may be an upgrade on what we had before, but it's like if Mexico bought a WW2 battleship to upgrade their Navy. Sure it's a physical presence but it doesn't make them a Naval power.
And your Japanese analogy is an interesting one. Every analogy has its limits but I'll just mention how Masa and Yasuda are nice but 98% of the ''''sushi'''' sold at sketchy places in Queens and Brooklyn is fucking gross.
>>7557664
>Don Pepe
>>7567699
Most sushi is fucking gross, and the stuff that isn't is usually very expensive. NYC has a lot of wealth, so the high end stuff tends to be very expensive.
But to your point about Mexican in NYC. NYC has always been an immigrant city. When you get away from the high end fine dining thing the best food here is stuff brought by immigrants, whether it's hot dogs, pizza, Italian subs, felafel, dumplings, curries, crispy skin roast duck, sundubu, Cuban sandwiches, banh mi, Jamaican beef patties or fucking gyros. If it's good and affordable chances are it was brought here by immigrants some time over the last 100-150 years. Hell, we had felafel before we had a fucking McDonald's.
But we didn't have a substantial number of Mexicans until recently. So most of us had no reference for Mexican beyond tepid takes on Cali- or Tex-Mex. Now we have entire neighborhoods that are heavily Mexican. And like the Middle Easterners, Greeks and Italians before them they're quickly discovering the locals enjoy a taste of their homeland as much as their countrymen.
And you joke about "muh lengua", but 20 years ago you'd have a hard time finding corn tortillas here. So stuff like lengua becoming commonplace is a radical improvement.
I've lived in LA, hung out in SF and been through Texas and the Southwest. The Mexican food I can get in Sunset Park is as good or better than anything I ate in those places. Different style, but just as good or better. And Sunset is one of many Mexican neighborhoods in this city. To say nothing of great Mexican options popping up in trendier neighborhoods like the EV/LES.
So for a US city is a great town for Mexican food, because I've been to the other parts of the country that crow about how great their Mexican food is, and what we've got now is on par with that, maybe better.
>>7557710
That's cool to hear anon, but do you happen to know why the influx of Mexicans? Especially considering how expensive NYC has become.
>>7567823
kek
>>7567759
I live in the city.
Where do I like the food? As I've mentioned I think Cosme is awesome. Presidente is good but kind of overpriced. I haven't had Empellon, I imagine it's along similar lines as Cosme. Beyond that, I've had OK, not memorable Mexican at some place in Woodside that I don't remember the name of, also in Union City NJ and Yonkers. By OK I mean I wouldn't make a special trip, but it wasn't gross like stuff I've had in Greenpoint, Chelsea, Bensonhurst, Tribeca, Forest Hills, and other "white people" areas (where the clientele was, nonetheless, Mexican)
But my favorite spots were in DF, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Wasn't so crazy about Queretaro or Guanajuato or Tijuana, I'm sure it was just for lack of luck and/or research. For US stuff I've had perfectly good inexpensive Mexican in the Bay Area, San Diego, and, oddly, Chicago, Minneapolis, and some shit town in southern Ohio.
Never really been to LA or Texas so I can't comment there.
>>7561208
>Not getting into a pissing contest, but I have a garden too
This is quote worthy
>>7568069
What's your idea of "plenty"? The guy was describing a taco truck with a line at 4 am. 100% of the people walking on that block are not stopping for tacos at 4am. So you have to assume it's dozens of hungry pedestrians at 4 am on that street.
Yeah you'll find that on a few blocks. Random block anywhere in the city? No. Unless you're some NYU kid who thinks "everyone" is out at 4:00 and "Manhattan" means St. Marks and equivalent.
>>7568125
I'm the guy who described the line at El Bronco Mobil. Most of the neighborhood is quiet late at night, but there are enough car service drivers and people who work odd hours to not just keep the taco truck in business at that hour, but a couple 24hr bakeries going as well.
But the rest of the neighborhood is pretty much dead by midnight.
>>7568181
Apparently you've never ventured off the NYU campus
Kips Bay, UES, UWS, Gramercy, Morningside, Yorkville etc are not crawling with drunk kids at 4 am.
>>7568262
Because you have this cartoon image of NYC as "the city that never sleeps" which would be expected of an NYU student who spends all his time within a 10 minute walk of Washington square park
>>7556940
where the hell is 14th and 3rd on long island bro?!
>>7568272
It's not a cartoon image, I'm in Queens and the super markets stay open 24hrs in my neighgborhood, several restaurants/diners, news stands and god knows what else. Like the local CVS and Rite Aid stay open 24hrs, same with dunkin donuts, never mind the bars and cafes.
>>7568277
Before 2000 it was even more alive, it's retarded now.
>>7568253
There are areas in Queens that are happening even on weekdays till 4am.
>>7557731
Seriously. Most taco/burrito places on LI are gimmicky west coast surfer dude garbage. I don't want an unseasoned burrito filled with buffalo chicken, French fries, onion rings and mozzarella sticks (I shit you not, this is a real thing). Yet people around here love this shit. Disgusting.
mexican food in la
>>7569898
>>7569905
>>7569905
>>7568277
New Orleans probably beats it, but only just.
>>7569909
>>7569929
>>7569929
>>7569929
>>7569937
>>7569941
This thread is making me hungry
>>7568333
Every borough has several million people living in it and many thousands of stores, bars, and restaurants. For every 24-hour CVS and bar that never closes, there are about 20 restaurants that shut down at 10 and about ten bars that shut down at 2 or 3.
Packs of drunk kids running around looking for a taco to post on instagram isn't the typical street scene anywhere in the five boroughs at 4 AM. The streets are basically empty in 98% of the city other than one or two stragglers going home from the Village or the LES. On a warm Saturday night you'll see more people for sure, but if you're honestly trying to argue that a taco truck can park itself on 71st street between 2nd and 3rd at 4 AM on a Tuesday and draw a line down the block, you're probably drunk right now.
>>7570609
Now you're just nitpicking, it's obviously not gonna be as crowded at 4AM as it will be at 4PM, but there are many people walking around on the main streets, often enough to support food trucks. Even if not food trucks, there are still many people outside.
In comparison to most other cities where even the downtown is deserted by midnight.
>>7569898
i wanna cum
>>7556908
Me and my Fuhrer just got into a discussion about this the other day. During his trips to New York apparently if youre mexican living in Puebla you HAVE to move to New York. He would talk to the cooks and say "youre from puebla right?" All of them said yes. Anyone want to explain why this is?
Oh and
>eating any form of spic cuisine outside of Southern California and Tijuana.
>>7571778
Ohhhh I see. Thats crazy though, basically politics involving where you move to.
Yeah dude used to live in San Diego and the Mexican food anywhere else is garbage except there and TJ. Met alot of people who seem to agree and Ive tried alot of restaurants. Texmex is the worst I hear.
>>7556908
Having lived on ranches in mexico in several states much of what I've heard here is disappointing, sometimes sad.
