I was a little kid in SoCal and moved to NY at age 7. There was (IIRC) exactly one Mexican restaurant on Long Island. Mom would make tacos for us at home; the supermarkets at least sold taco shells. I don’t think they even had Taco Bell (a SoCal thing, originally); I don’t remember ever seeing one until I went back to visit as an adult.
We took a trip to see relatives in St. Louis and at least they had a Mexican fast food place there (at this far remove I don’t remember the name of it).
When we moved to TX, Taco Bueno was everywhere and, at the time, seemed delicious (but again this is after several years of very little Mexican food). As I mentioned in an earlier thread I’ve not eaten there since the late 80s, when Casa Bonita was no longer involved and/or they cut the quality and/or I’d had better food elsewhere in the meantime.
Funny. I was a little kid on Long Island (Huntington/Cold Spring Harbor) and we moved to San Diego when I was 7. Even at that age the difference in food options had a huge impact on me. I missed the Hamburger ChooChoo, but it wasn’t just the restaurants and grocery stores. It was also having 5 different kinds of fruit trees in the neighborhood to graze on. And, to be fair, San Diego has its fair share of Casa Bonitas.
So there is a line somewhere near the northern NM border above which they start doing this weird thing where “green chili sauce” necessarily has pork in it and “red chili sauce” necessarily has beef. I’m a vegetarian who lives 20 miles from Hatch and I can say, this bothers me.
I had a similar experience when I moved from Southern California to NoCal and “Mexican Food” suddenly meant Mission-style burritos. This was before Chipotle so it was weird to suddenly get these huge burritos that were filled with rice. At least the Mission-style burritos tasted good though. Now you are more likely to get Mission-style burritos in SoCal than you are to get what I used to think of as a burrito.
What, like Sea World? What kind of place are you talking about because I similarly moved from Colorado Springs to El Cajon when I was 10 and I don’t have anything that translates from Casa Bonita to San Diego? I’ve heard that they closed Anthony’s. Is that the kind of thing you are talking about?
lol, Anthony’s “Fish” Grotto. I’d forgotten about that place. For whatever reason my parents loved to drag us there in the 1970s. It had a dock you could sail up to, which was about the only nice thing about it.
So, it’s been 35 years since I’ve lived there, but I recall places like Sombrero’s and strip mall Mexican places where food was slopped onto the plate. So, times have changed? Perhaps I should have written “when I lived there, up through the 1980s.” I dunno El Cajon that well. Growing up that seemed very far away. Now it seems practically downtown, as far as I can tell from recent visits.
Kind of a side note, but what happened to that AMAZING thread that was on BB a few years back about life in Denver in the 70’s/80’s? Anyway to read that one again?
Yeah that was exactly my experience of it as well.
There is a big difference between the bad Mexican food that you had in San Diego and Casa Bonita though, and that was that it was genuinely weird and fun for kids, independent of the food. It was closer to being like going to Sea World just for the playground thing or spending the whole day in the Bird House at the Wild Animal park. It wasn’t about the food.
I miss Colorado. I’ve been to Casa Bonita twice looooooong ago, and I remember waiting in a long line to get food. I remember the food being meh, but the sopapillas were good. It’s remarkable that Casa Bonita is still around after all these decades and I’d hate to see it die.
The symptoms are in the lack of crowds, and they’re not going to come if the owners keep doing what they’re doing. Keep the kitsch and fix what’s broken.
Speaking of Denver attractions, how is Elitch’s doing?
I happily participate in regional American Mexican food snobbery. Here goes.
After college in Central Texas, I believed that only there could I find good Mexican food.
My time in Arizona only furthered that notion, though there were some bright spots in the birthplace of the chimichanga.
Once I moved to New Mexico, chile became the focus, both red and green, Hatch, Chimayo, wherever. The only drawback is that good chile can cover lower quality ingredients and people still rave.
Now in Colorado, I’ve learned to appreciate their idea of green chile, but went through withdrawal for a while. It’s very different. Actual red chile from NM is almost unheard of on restaurant menus here, so I make it myself. Don’t get me started on CO sopapillas… There’s little here I have seen besides small taco joints that compares to the food in either NM or TX, but there are some gems.
Overall, if I could have the adovada enchiladas with green at Horseman’s Haven in Santa Fe every day, I would.
I’ve no opinion on CA food because I have had Mexican food there exactly once and been to both Baja Fresh and Rubio’s once each. Data missing.
I grew up in Wichita, but now I realize why my parents never took us to Casey Jones’ Junction (a restaurant serving system which carted your plate around the perimeter of the prep area on a model railroad train) or Shakey’s Pizza.
Ate there many times whenever I visited my mother who used to live in Denver. Food was edible, but the sopapillas were fantastic. Fake jail cells to entertain kids on the entrance waiting line, divers diving from what looked be a dangerous height, all sorts of extra goofiness that made dining out a fun experience. Never change, Case Bonita!
Having grown up in Denver and lived here for 40+ years, Casa Bonita is a landmark tourist attraction - but nobody here thinks of it as an actual restaurant with edible food. It’s a place for birthday parties and to take out of town relatives who heard about it on South Park and can’t believe it’s a real place.
I recall going there many times as a kid; we’ve taken our kids there as they grew up - and most recently we’ve taken various grand nieces and nephews for their birthdays - it’s pretty much a rite of passage. My wife’s cousin worked there for a couple of years as a young aspiring actor - his job was to run around as Chiquita the gorilla being chased by his handlers and harassing diners. Another cousin was a cliff diver for a season.
The kitsch and crappiness is part of the charm. Black Bart’s Cave, the weird arcade games and the endless sopaipilla’s (with the little flag on the table you raise when you want more) are the stuff of kid’s dreams. I’m all in favor of Matt and Trey taking over as long as they don’t alter the heart of what makes CB so awesome. I trust them more than some other faceless corporate entity for sure.
I won’t argue that. TexMex and traditional Mexican food are very very different things to those who are exposed to both. There’s a notable Brazilian influence in the menu of some of the more ambitious Texas Mexican food restaurant, too, nowadays. Personally, I still prefer TexMex. Whatever your preference, its best to follow the locals to the family run spots. (if you ever have a free spring/autumn evening in Ft. Worth, go find Joe T Garcias. The food is very good, but the outdoor seating is spectacular.)
We had a trend here at the northern part of VT called “VerMexican”, which used local ingredients to make Mexican-inspired food. All 4 of those restaurants have since closed, leaving the area with the choice of microwaved cat food, way too greasy Mexican-ish joints, or places that charge $8 for a taco. Even a Taco Bell craving is a 45 minute drive from Burlington.
The Kansas City Taco was born when Mexican immigrants began moving to KC and into the Italian neighborhoods, creating the fried taco with parmesan! Superb! Tourists eat the BBQ here, but make sure to get a Kansas City Taco too (not to be confused with KC Taco Company, an $8 per taco bar likely owned by rich white dudes without a soul).
Trashiness can be written off as “character”.