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Blogs
May 18, 2012
Five Tex-Mex Food Specialties That Should Go Nationwide--Or At Least to California
From chili to the combo plate, fajitas to tacos al carbón, the frozen margarita machine to nachos, Texas has long dominated the national conversation on Mexican food in this country. But that's now irretrievably changed, as California and our onslaught of regional Mexican, Korean tacos, Mission bur ... More >>
Food
May 17, 2012
Rubalcava's and the Rise of Primo-Mex
[Hole In the Wall] This Placentia meat market is launching an audacious experiment with Mexican food
Blogs
May 15, 2012
Potzol den Cano: A Home Run In a Bowl (And On a Plate)
My in-laws make the best pozole in the world. This is not open for discussion; anyone who has ever had it at any Gutierrez family gathering knows the truth. Come Christmas time, certain houses from here to Lake Los Angeles smell like what my sister-in-law graciously refers to as "feet and butt s ... More >>
Food
May 10, 2012
Anepalco's Cafe Has Le Mexique
Danny Godinez's second restaurant serves Mexican meals in the French style
Blogs
April 25, 2012
Allerto's Mexican-Indian Comida is All-Halal All The Time!
Go to Allerto's if you're in the area, and you're craving Mexican and/or Indian food. Some might feel like they're making a pit stop on a road trip when entering the 24-hour restaurant. It's probably because it doubles up, with no barrier, to a gas station store. There are about a dozen small tables ... More >>
Blogs
April 23, 2012
Ten Great Mexican-American Combo Plates In Orange County
Sometimes we want regional Mexican food--corundas and pozole from Las Brisas de Apatzingán or thick, rich moles from El Moctezuma--and sometimes we just want the familiar old combination plate with its orangey rice and its goopy beans and its two enchiladas where the sauce runs into the other parts ... More >>
Food
April 5, 2012
How Doritos Were Born At Disneyland
Adapted from 'Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America'
Columns
April 5, 2012
Are There Different Kinds of Mexican Food?
[¡Ask a Mexican!] And how can I get a copy of 'Taco USA'?
Food
April 5, 2012
One Nation, Under Tacos
An excerpt from 'Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America'
Food
April 5, 2012
Taqueria Two Guys Cheeses It
[Hole In the Wall] This Santa Ana Mexican restaurant loves its cheese, damn the authenticity
Blogs
March 19, 2012
Taco Bell Celebrates Its 50th Aniversary This Week; 5 Ways the Bell Helped Mexican Food Become Better in the U.S.
Taco Bell, the Mexican fast-food giant everyone loves to hate, celebrates its 50th anniversary this week and...yeah. Heaven knows it's an easy whipping boy for everything wrong with Mexican food in this country: the bastardized meals, the incessant appropriation (this week: I finally reveal the n ... More >>
Blogs
March 5, 2012
The Five Most Influential Cities in the Development of Mexican Food in the United States
SO...my much-promised book, Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America finally hits the bookstores next month (April 10), and review copies are slowly making their way around the nation's newsrooms. So I might as well start giving out bits and pieces to entice ustedes to preorder the damn thing ... More >>
Food
March 1, 2012
Taqueria La Poblanita Embraces the Nuevo
[Hole In the Wall] This Anaheim eatery sells quesadillas more deity than tortilla
Blogs
February 23, 2012
Eating Good Mexican-American Food In... Greenwich Village?!
I hate driving past signs advertising New York pizza. With a couple of very rare exceptions, it's almost never any good, but people have this einredenish--this self-imposed delusion--that places advertising New York pizza will actually be able to produce the chewy, slightly sour crust, the tangy ... More >>
Blogs
February 16, 2012
10 Great Burritos in Orange County
O, cylindrical god!You can hate tacos, not favor hamburgers, even look down on pho, but I dare say anyone who doesn't eat burritos on at least a weekly basis might as well pack up and move to Los Angeles...where you'll find even more burritos. Orange County was burrito country long before those t ... More >>
Food
December 22, 2011
Tepache at El Chilango
[Hole In the Wall] The Mexico City-style mini-chain serves the rare fermented-pineapple drink—yum!
Blogs
December 14, 2011
Where to Buy Tamales in Orange County this Christmas
Because nothing exists on the Internet before three days ago, I'm reprinting a 2009 article I did on the best tamales in Orange County for the holidays--and I'm also ripping off a 2007 article I did on the same subject. I will also note that Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen and Taco María make great high ... More >>
Blogs
November 30, 2011
On the Line: Pedro Resendiz of Tamarindo Truck, Part Two
Day two with Pedro Resendiz gets to the heart of what makes the Tamarindo Truck tick. We tie together family, life experiences and the menu, which differentiates the Resendizes' luxe lonchera from the rest. He also shares his thoughts on receiving criticism (and the importance of having a thick s ... More >>
Blogs
November 17, 2011
Chef Gabbi's Tamale Demo At Orange Farmers Market THIS SATURDAY
Gabbi's Mexican KitchenGabbi's Market TamalesThe Christmas music is already playing at the mall, which means it's tamale-making season here in Southern California. This Saturday at 10:30 a.m., as part of the Chef Demo Series at the Orange Home Grown Farmers Market, Chef Gabbi Patrick of nearby Ga ... More >>
Blogs
September 26, 2011
Five Mexican-Food Empires Started By Americans Ripping Off Unnamed Mexicans
One of the few cases in Mexican-food history in the US where a Mexi wasn't ripped off by gabachos...Michelle posted earlier today about how the man credited with creating Fritos, former Frito-Lay executive, Arch West, just passed away in Dallas. First thing I told her? "The origin story for Dorit ... More >>
Blogs
September 19, 2011
Five Things You're Doing Wrong With Mexican Food
Flick user Ryan LeightyWe love Mexican food 'round here, and not just because I'm doing a book on the history of Mexican food in the United States. It's the native cuisine of Southern California, something many Americans have seamlessly assimilated into their day-to-day lives--and an easy subject ... More >>
Blogs
September 8, 2011
A Brief History of Tamales in Santa Ana
You know that book about the history of Mexican food in the United States that I mention in every other post? I released a brief, brief preview of it in the Food section of today's Los Angeles Times, specifically on the tamale wagons that ruled the streets of Southern California in the late 1890s ... More >>
Food
August 18, 2011
Lupita's Is a PeeWee Pupusa Place
[Hole In the Wall] The Costa Mesa dive specializes in Salvadoran and Guatemalan cuisine
Blogs
June 23, 2011
#81: Quesadilla Chilanga at Alebrije's Grill
ProfessorSalt.comSince nobody could guess the exact name of last week's Guess Where dish, I'll tell you now. It's a quesadilla chilanga from the pink Alebrije's lonchera parked on Cubbon and Main Street in Santa Ana. Some of you guessed almost right, but a quesadilla is not a taco, no ... More >>
Blogs
June 13, 2011
Five Commonly Mispronounced Mexican Food Terms that Americans Shouldn't Mispronounce
There was a time in our nation's history where Mexican restaurants--whether fast-food taco empires or El Torito Cal-Mex ambassadors--published pronunciation guides to aide customers in properly ordering their meals. Some of those places still exist, but you'd have to be an absolute pendejo in thi ... More >>
Food
May 19, 2011
Taqueria Don Victor Makes You Taste the Baa
[Hole In the Wall] At this Huntington Beach treasure, Hidalgo-style cookery shines
Blogs
May 5, 2011
Six Presidential Encounters with Mexican Food, Ranked from Best to Worst
The only president that matters today...So today is Cinco de Mayo blah blah blah blah. But instead of offering you places to drinko, your humble scribe likes learnin' people stuff, you know, the more arcane the better. So what more-random topic than a quick overview of American presidents and the ... More >>
Food
April 7, 2011
Soho Is Where the Taco Is
[Hole In the Wall] Reyna Market in Santa Ana is home to the Zambranos, the best taqueros in Orange County right now
Blogs
April 7, 2011
Ask a Comida Critic: Best Chile Relleno in OC?
Someone actually asked this months ago, but it got lost in the pile along with my W-2 (eep!). Anyhoo, the query:What's the best chile relleno in Orange County?I must admit: I never order the dish. A chile relleno is never about subtlety; it's supposed be greasy, gooey, eggy, a glop to be mixed al ... More >>
Blogs
March 29, 2011
Five (Largely Inaccurate) Oxford English Dictionary Entries for Mexican Foods
Last week, I reported on how the Oxford English Dictionary had just included "banh mi" into its august publication, a wonderful, surprising development. Also in the mix was "taquito," and that entry just pissed me off. Oh, I was happy that rolled, fried tacos finally received their due--but ... More >>
Blogs
March 24, 2011
Battle Bad-Ass Chilaquiles: Amorelia Mexican Cafe vs. Taquería Zamora!
Taquería Zamora's epic chilaquilesMy favorite breakfast after pozole is chilaquiles, that beautiful creation of beans, rice, eggs, crema, and tortilla strips of varying degrees of hardness--but it's one I rarely have outside my mother's kitchen. Far too many Mexican restaurants don't understand ... More >>
Blogs
March 4, 2011
A Mexican Dinner in 1890s Orange County with Madame Helena Modjeska
Wikimedia CommonsThe caption says it all...In doing general research for my book on the history of Mexican food in the United States, I've unearthed numerous accounts of non-Mexicans enjoying Mexican food for the first time, or quickly learning how to love the stuff. One of the earlier accounts I ... More >>
Food
March 3, 2011
Taqueria Rigoberto's Is the Loncheros' Lonchera
Eat like a taco-truck employee at this Santa Ana chef favorite
Blogs
February 2, 2011
Taco Asylum Is Tasty--But Not the Taco Part
Taco Asylum's homemade hot sauces, made from the world's two hottest peppers: a bit sludgy, could use more flavor given the heat overwhelms any discernable notes... "Okay, we need to remember that we are here objectively," said one of the Zambrano brothers behind Soho Taco. It wasn't Gabriel. Was ... More >>
Blogs
January 27, 2011
Gabacho Discs of Glory: Battle Grocery Store Flour Tortillas
Last week, your intrepid Forkers received a pitch from a company called Circle Foods selling as Tortillaland and advertising the availability of fresh, uncooked tortillas in the local grocery store. The company's website is a depressing attempt to evoke vaguely Mexican imagery while selling such ... More >>
Blogs
January 25, 2011
Get This In Your Belly: Coloradito de Puerco at El Moctezuma #2
Dave LiebermanI've been to El Moctezuma many times. I'm slowly working my way through its menu of Oaxacan specialities such as memelas; tlayudas; huge, banana-leaf-wrapped tamales; and of course plenty of moles.Until we took a visiting Marylander for Oaxacan food last week, I had never had the co ... More >>
Food
January 6, 2011
El Torito Founder Is Still the Big Enchilada
Does 86-year-old Larry J. Cano, who spread sit-down Mexican dining across the U.S., have one more cuisine-changing idea in him?
Columns
January 6, 2011
Dumping In the Desert
[¡Ask a Mexican!] Also, a racist tries to bait Gustavo, part MCMXLVIII
Blogs
December 23, 2010
¡Ask a Comida Critic! Why Olives on Some Tamales, But Not All?
Was waiting for someone to send me a query on tamales. From Elvia my Facebook amiga and fellow Chapman Panther: To olive or not to olive? I've bit into several red tamales so far this season and half of them surprise me with a huge black olive. My family does not add this to our corn husk lovelie ... More >>
Food
December 16, 2010
Fond of Fonda La Meche
[Hole In the Wall] Mexico City-style dishes abound in this tiny, homey Stanton dive
Blogs
December 15, 2010
1928 Vegan Tamale Pie--Yes, It's Possible, Thanks to Avanti Cafe
Earlier this summer, I issued Mark Cleveland of Avanti Cafe--perhaps the county's best practitioner of the vegan arts--a challenge. I gave him a copy of a recipe for tamale pie taken from a 1928 cookbook compiled by members of the Ebell Club of the Santa Ana Valley. I don't have the recipe in fro ... More >>
Blogs
December 10, 2010
Eat Here, Not There: Chimichanga
I've never truly understood the appeal of chimichangas, the fried burrito of the Arizona-Sonora region that made their way to Southern California in the 1930s. They're not bad, but I'm the type of guy that likes to grab his burrito, not slice it with a knife (exceptions, of course, for the smothe ... More >>
Blogs
December 7, 2010
Was 2010 the Year of the Fish Taco?
Photo by Das UbergeekLike we've been fundamentally late to many food trends (cupcakes, Pinkberry, churrascarias), OC has pioneered food trends that the lot of us laugh at when reporters declare them suddenly "in"--bánh mìs (and Vietnamese food, in general), luxe-loncheras, and now...fish tacos? ... More >>
Blogs
November 26, 2010
Comfort Food at El Pico de Gallo Taqueria
Dave LiebermanI'm sick of the word taquería. Seemingly every Mexican restaurant in these fair orange acres uses it to describe the food on offer, even when a place might better be described as a puesto, a fonda, a restaurante or a cenaduria. These shops do themselves a disservice, because while ... More >>
Blogs
November 26, 2010
Rick LeBlanc of Rick's Atomic Cafe Goes On the Line, Part Recipe!
Photo by Todd BarnesRick and his FridayHere is the last part of our On the Line feature with Rick LeBlanc of Rick's Atomic Cafe in Costa Mesa. In this installment, he shares his vegetarian taco recipe. And, for the record: we do not hold it against him that he roots for the New England Patriots, ... More >>
Food
November 25, 2010
Mondo Molotes at the El Moctezuma Empire
[Hole In the Wall] El Moctezuma Nos. 1, 2, and 3 all sell great Oaxacan food
Blogs
November 22, 2010
A Cure For Anti-Cemita-ism
Dave LiebermanIf you're going to be a proper hole-in-the-wall hound around these parts, the first thing you've got to learn is that a great deal of the best food in Orange County comes not from restaurants or food trucks, but rather from sandwich counters in grocery stores.
Blogs
November 9, 2010
Five Mexican Dishes With a Crazy-Ass Use of Cheese that Aren't Nachos
Got them for free, as does anyone who sits at this particular table...This past Saturday was National Nachos Day, that legendary borderlands dish of tortilla chips, jalapeño and goops of cheese. The above picture are the nachos at El Cholo Cafe, Southern California's oldest Mexican restaurant an ... More >>
Blogs
November 5, 2010
Eat Here, Not There: Regular Flour Quesadilla
Flickr user jamesg2One meal I never buy, and get angry when those around me buy it, is a regular quesadilla. I'm not talking about a regional version (more on that in a bit), but the basic: flour tortilla melted with an American cheese--sometimes cheddar, sometimes Monterey Jack. There is no reas ... More >>
Blogs
October 14, 2010
¡Ask a Comida Critic!: A Good Chimichanga?
I love Avanti Cafe in Costa Mesa for its vegetarian-vegan treats, so the following question from server Dion surprised me:Where can I get a good chimichanga?Being Hispanic Heritage Month is o-vah tomorrow, what better way to end my recent run of Latino-themed questions than with a treatise on thi ... More >>
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