Mexican Food Ratings by City

DETAILS ABOUT MEXICAN RESTAURANT REVIEWS:

Methodology Used  |   Regional Mexican Food Styles "Las Especialidades"  |   Heat Index "El Fuego"

Mexican Restaurants Listed by State

Arizona (3)  | Idaho (1)  | Nevada (2)  | New Mexico (42)  | Oklahoma (24)  | Texas (83)  | Utah (3)  | Washington (8)  | Wyoming (1)  | CLOSED

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Methodology Used

The original intent of this page was to list the best Mexican restaurant in each city. I would try as many restaurants as possible, and rate them on a one to ten scale (with ten being the best possible score). Then I would list the winner or winners that I think others would be most interested in trying. The rating was simply to give an idea of how the food in that city compared to Mexican food in other cities.

Over time, though, I have had a desire to rate all the restaurants I try. I have found that while most of the time the choice of the best restaurant is clear-cut, sometimes a lower-rated restaurant may have one or two outstanding dishes or the difference in quality may not be all that great and it may be more conveniently located for a lot of people and thus should be included on the list. It is particularly important to list several choices when there is more than one style available (see the section on Mexican food styles below). I see the value of this list more for people visiting cities with a limited amount of time who wish to make an informed choice than for local residents (locals usually know their city and have their own favorites that may or may not agree with my choices).

I am familiar with authentic Mexican food from the interior of Mexico, and much of what is served in the U.S. bears little resemblance to this. However, there are regional specialties in the U.S. that seem to correspond to the four border states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California). In the section below I describe each of these food types, as well as what I call "general" Mexican food that corresponds more to food from the Mexican interior. Interior food is generally not spicy as the border food is, and some of it is remarkably similar to American food. It's just that American customers have a certain expectation of Mexican food, so proprietors generally try to meet this expectation (with a corresponding diminishing of quality and downgrading in my rating).

Although I try to be fair and rate food from all categories according to that category, I have a definite bias towards genuine food from the interior and New Mexico style food. On my star rating scale I generally will not rate California or Arizona food higher than 4 stars, or Tex-Mex higher than 3 stars (except for the best places in Austin and San Antonio). My favorite dishes are enchiladas and some of the other New Mexico specialties such as posole and stuffed sopaipillas. I sometimes like chicken, but seldom try beef dishes or tacos unless they really look as if they will be the "real deal." I have created a separate category for Mexican seafood. My standard for seafood is what I have eaten in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas (it's too bad I don't know the name of the restaurant so I can recommend it to everybody!). To me the best enchiladas are the deep red spicy ones made with New Mexico chile. Green chile is good if it's fresh (such as in some restaurants in Las Cruces that serve local chile from the Mesilla Valley). If enchiladas are not New Mexico style, then I look for a good flavor. If they are not spicy, then I at least look for good cheese, and hopefully good chips and salsa will be served to meet the need for something spicy. If a restaurant claims to be authentic or serves food from the interior of Mexico, I generally try one of the wide variety of plates found in the interior (restaurants in Mexico generally do not specialize in enchiladas, and many do not serve chips--salsa is to put on top of the food, rather than for dipping the chips into).

I am biased against a number of things that may affect my ratings, including the following: Lard used in enchiladas instead of vegetable oil, Salsa that is too wimpy, Yellow cheese, or any non-Mexican style cheese, Too much garlic or comino in the enchilada sauce, Huge portions of food at inflated prices, Smoke that seeps into the non-smoking area, or really if there is a smoking area at all, Substituting music or entertainment for good food, and worst of all--Purposely changing the food for American tastes.

A very good trend I have seen is the spread of genuine, interior-style restaurants throughout the United States, including the four border states that have their own regional styles. Hopefully this will not only make better food available to the public, but will cause consumers to have a higher expectation when they go out for Mexican food. I like all types of Mexican food when it is done well, but I think the interior style food is raising the bar for all restaurants, causing many to turn away from the all-too-common "anglocized" Tex-Mex or "border food done badly" restaurant.

• All information listed is subject to change, and may not be up to date.
• It is only my opinion.
• It may be subject to me trying a dish that is not the restaurant's specialty.
• I may have gone on a day when they had an especially good or bad cook.
• I may have gone on a day when I was in an especially good or bad mood.
• I hope it's accurate enough to be useful.

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Regional Mexican Food Styles

U. S. Regional Mexican Food Styles

Cal. California Style. There is not a great distinction between California and Arizona style. I describe California style as consisting largely of salads (taco salad, etc.), olives, sour cream, etc. Also "healthy" Mexican food (such as at Baja Fresh). California style has more variety than the other styles, and commonly serves a variety of fish, meats, tacos, etc. Flour tortillas are common.

NM New Mexico Style. Uses New Mexico red or green chiles. The chile has a strong, pure chile taste. Whole pinto beans are often served instead of refried. A dish unique to N.M. is stuffed sopaipillas, or "sopaipillas compuestas" (a large sopaipilla stuffed with different combinations of meat, beans, lettuce & tomato, and chile). N.M. also has a version of posole (hominy) that I have not found other places: served with chile and often times pork. I think a N.M. meal would not be complete without sopaipillas served with honey. Usually this is the dessert (served without sugar or cinammon as is often used in areas outside New Mexico). In Albuquerque it is common to serve sopaipillas with the meal (they are excellent with red chile, and the purpose of sopaipillas with honey is to kill the fire in your mouth from eating the hot chile). I must also mention the mole dishes served in N.M. style food (usually chicken and mole). The best way to describe mole is that it is a kind of chocolate sauce, although this really doesn't do it justice, and trying mole dishes served in different restaurants is almost an exercise in itself, such as trying to compare certain good Thai dishes. Mole is sometimes found in the other regions, particularly Arizona. I have found the best examples of New Mexican food in Española, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe, in that order (Santa Fe and to a lesser extent Albuquerque have a lot of "tourist" restaurants that do not typify the NM style very well). The food served in southern New Mexico is almost a distinct style, but I am listing both types as "New Mexico" style as long as it has the distinct NM characteristics. The differences in the styles include the following:

• Northern NM Style. Northern New Mexico uses blue corn tortillas which are stacked when used in enchiladas because the blue corn is more fragile than yellow corn. Green enchiladas are served with the chile in "chunks," and served stacked, sometimes with an egg on top. Green chile stew is common. Posole is more common in northern NM than in the south. Sopaipillas are served with the meal instead of dessert, although the restaurants that cater to tourists will serve them for dessert. Many communities have localized specialties. Since New Mexican food is really the staple diet in the area, it includes meats, vegetables, and a lot of dishes that the average person would not think of as "Mexican." For the purpose of this list, though, I mainly rate the items one would normally expect to find in Mexican restaurants.

• Southern NM Style. Probably the biggest difference in the south is a lack of some of the items that are typically served in the north such as blue corn tortillas and posole. The green enchiladas are also quite different at most restaurants, being served with the chile puréed as in El Paso restaurants. Southern NM restaurants generally serve enchiladas rolled unless you request that they be flat. Many people think the chiles rellenos are better in the south--they are grown around Las Cruces and Hatch, and the best I have encountered are at Chope's in La Mesa (south of Las Cruces). Southern N.M. restaurants tend to serve large "sopaipillas compuestas" stuffed with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and red or green chile, making a good sized meal, while northern restaurants tend to serve the regular sized "stuffed sopaipillas" that are more of a side dish.

Son. Sonora or Arizona Style. Found primarily in Arizona. Less spicy than N.M. style. Uses flour tortillas. Has red and green chile, but is not as strong as in New Mexico. Uses less cheese than the other styles. Carne seca is one of the distinctive dishes.

Tex. Tex-Mex Style. Typical dish is beef or cheese enchilada topped by chile con carne (a brown sauce with ground beef). The chile con carne or other enchilada sauce is usually brown and uses comino (cumin) instead of red or green chile as in the N.M. food. Served with refried beans and fried rice (cooked with tomatoes and spices such as garlic). I will have to make an editorial comment and say that generally Tex-Mex food is all the same, and there is nothing about it that I like as well as the other styles except one thing--it has the best chile con queso (a cheese sauce with chile in it). Sometimes restaurants serve cheese tacos, which is really nothing more than chile con queso poured on a tortilla. My rating for Tex-Mex restaurants is generally based on their freshness and the quality of the cheese, particularly the chile con queso. Around Austin and San Antonio there are a few exceptional Tex-Mex restaurants that stand well above the mediocrity typically associated with Tex-Mex food (at least in my mind). In my experience the really good Tex-Mex food has enchiladas that derive their flavor primarily from the cheese rather than the chile con carne sauce on top, tacos that are very greasy that may even be to the point of producing a pool of liquid on the plate as you pick it up (either ground beef or chicken enchiladas), and tamales that rival the ones in New Mexico. San Antonio also has its own style of enchiladas, with the tortilla soaked in a sauce that turns it red.

• EP. El Paso Style. El Paso has developed a unique style of food that has more in common with New Mexico style than Tex-Mex, primarily the use of red and green chile on enchiladas. What it shares with Tex-Mex is the use of refried beans rather than whole pinto beans, similar styles of rice, and chiles rellenos with a sauce on top. El Paso restaurants, however, generally do not serve taco salad or complimentary chile con queso as an appetizer as is popular in east Texas and Oklahoma. In fact, the chile con queso in El Paso (and New Mexico) is of a totally different character, being loaded with strips of green chile and using a very thick cheese--the queso is usually considered an entrée and many times is served on a combination plate as one of the items. When I first started eating food in El Paso there was a generous use of lard for the cooking oil, but I think most restaurants have now turned to vegetable oil. I have also seen an increase in the variety of food being served in recent years as immigrants from all parts of Mexico find more of an audience for different dishes from the interior that do not fit the traditional "El Paso style." I don't know why, but I have never seen any mole in the area other than brown. A real El Paso style lunch would be a "comida corrida" where the proprietor picks one or two entrées that you can order that will come with caldo (beef soup), a salad (usually with no dressing), rice and beans, and dessert if the restaurant is really generous (which does not happen very often). There are also fish and seafood specials on Fridays during Lent (comida de cuaresma) that should not be missed if you are in the area at the right time.

Mexican Regional Food Styles

Chih. Chihuahua Style. I think certain restaurants deserve their own category since they typify the food that is found across the border in Ciudad Juárez and the rest of Chihuahua State in Mexico. The food in Juárez is slightly different than the food in El Paso, and I think it can be described best as "home made" food, or even "street food," rather than "restaurant" food. "Juárez style" also describes restaurants that serve only one type of food (such as tacos, flautas, etc.) or a limited selection of foods, unless these foods come specifically from another state in Mexico besides Chihuahua. The comida corrida is a Juárez institution, and one of the distinguishing features of this type of restaurant. Another feature is the use of thicker sauce in the enchiladas, almost as if flour is added. Chihuahua food tends to use white cheese, being home to a large Mennonite colony which produces much of the cheese used in the state. Chiles rellenos always have a sauce on top and the relleno itself tends to be very greasy. Seafood is popular but, being in the desert, the freshest fish is usually not available--instead people usually like to eat shrimp. Chihuahua steaks and meat dishes such as milanesa used to be very good but with the greater presence of American-style ranches and feed lot operations, in my opinion the quality has gone downhill.

Other States State Name or Abbreviation Listed. If the restaurant owner is from a certain state in Mexico and/or serves food specifically from that state, the state will be listed. With the exception of Coahuila I probably would not be able to tell if the food is very authentic, but in most cases I will take their word for it.

Gen. General Style. Most commonly this is food from the Mexican interior. May use red chile instead of the brown found in Tex-Mex. Usually serves tacos and enchiladas, because this is what is expected from American customers, although this is not the primary diet found in Mexico. For the purpose of this survey "general style" is simply food that does not have the pronounced regional characteristics of the the border styles (Cal., Ariz, N.M., Texas).

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Heat Index

Spiciness of the enchiladas and/or other chile sauce.

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