Food is deeply ingrained in cultural identity, and is one way to learn about a community’s heritage, familial customs and values. In the U.S., Mexican food is one of the most popular cuisines, with 1 in 10 restaurants serving Mexican, according to recent findings from the Pew Research Center. This trend reflects an expanding Mexican American population, with 37.2 million people or 11.2% of the U.S. population tracing their ancestry back to Mexico.
They? Like, America as a whole doesn’t sell Mexican food, but only Tex-Mex?
No. America is absolutely massive and not homogenous.
There may be some areas without authentic Mexican food, but if you go anywhere within ~50 miles of a major city, you can usually find an authentic Mexican restaurant.
That said, they’re both great. Tex-Mex can also be great. They’re completely different types of food.
This is mostly true for the entire US. But not just Texmex, there are a lot of variations. Like the Chipotle burritos that started in San Fransisco.
And not just Mexican food, most food is altered somewhat for the US tastes. That orange chicken at the Chinese restaurant was invented in the us.
I have found what I believe are authentic Mexican restaurants. But we were the only non-Mexicans there and they were cooking dishes like whole fried fish.
There are a lot of Mexican neighborhoods with a lot of authentic Mexican food in America.
Dont get me wrong, there is a lot of Americanized Mexican food. But I’d bet for every Qdoba/El Rancho, there is a local family Mexican restaurant with an old guy watching Mexican soap operas.
It depends on the region. Texas absolutely. Iowa not so much. Though you can still probably find some if you try.
Spent a lot of time exploring Iowa?
I’d imagine there is less of everything in general, but ranch/farmland with seasonal employment doesn’t seem like it’d be lacking Mexican culture
Fairly enough no. But I’ve been, and to many other places.
I’ve lived in both San Antonio, TX and Kansas. And know them well.
In San Antonio TexMex and more authentic food abound. In Kansas some TexMex and very few more authentic places. You gotta seek them out.
As I said, they still exist. But it’s not like there’s one traditional place for every TexMex place
Texas and Iowa aren’t the only two regions in the US. My experience has been that, if you’re within 50 miles or so of a major US city (maybe more), you can usually find an authentic Mexican restaurant.
Absolutely, but what the other person said was it’s like one to one. You can find an authentic Mexican place in a ton of areas, but in a lot of the US it will take some looking.