I moved to SoCal in '05 from rural Georgia. Alberto’s was my first experience with SoCal Mexican fast food. Got a carne asada burrito. There was some exotic flavor in there that I couldn’t place, but it complemented the meat so well it easily became one of the best things I’d ever eaten.
Turns out the flavor was cilantro. The Mexican restaurants from back home in the Southeast catered so much to non-Mexican tastes that they pretty much didn’t use cilantro in anything. I’d been missing out my whole life up to that point!
I’m now living in the PNW, and while the Mexican food here is actually pretty good, I miss Alberto’s dearly.
I moved to SoCal in '05 from rural Georgia. Alberto’s was my first experience with SoCal Mexican fast food. Got a carne asada burrito. There was some exotic flavor in there that I couldn’t place, but it complemented the meat so well it easily became one of the best things I’d ever eaten. Turns out the flavor was cilantro. The Mexican restaurants from back home in the Southeast catered so much to non-Mexican tastes that they pretty much didn’t use cilantro in anything. I’d been missing out my whole life up to that point! I’m now living in the PNW, and while the Mexican food here is actually pretty good, I miss Alberto’s dearly.
Yeah. Cilantro is almost entirely missing from the mex food in The South. I have to get all of my cilantro fix at home.
I think the Indian restaurants use more of it than the Mexican places.
I grew up on Roberto’s from the moment I had a job as a teen. I’ll be chasing those meals the rest of my life.