Things your dumb friends post on facebook

[JohnGalt]



Are these places really not that common? I mean, I don't really like Mexican food, and I especially don't like "casual dining" chain Mexican food, but even I can come up with a bunch of examples:

Rio Bravo (though I don't know if they still exist)
Don Pablo's
Pappasito's
On the Border

honestly, i've never heard of those places.

 

[Connemara]

Me neither. Chipotle, Moe's, Taco Bell, Qdoba...that's all I got.

 

[Texasmade]



Me neither. Chipotle, Moe's, Taco Bell, Qdoba...that's all I got.

It must suck to live without any decent Mexican food.

 

[MrG]



honestly, i've never heard of those places.

Me neither. Chipotle, Moe's, Taco Bell, Qdoba...that's all I got.

You guys definitely aren't missing out. I never knew I liked Mexican food at all until I hit up an authentic place. Turns out there are some dishes I really enjoy, but I'd only had ****** chain-restaurant versions so I had no clue it could be good.

 

[Douglas]



honestly, i've never heard of those places.

you lived in baltimore, no? there's a don pablos in owings mills, and another in white marsh.

 

[Harold falcon]



yeah i think he's joking or something. chevy's, senor frog's, etc etc. we haven't even mentioned taco bell, which in the future, after the restaurant wars, will be the only restaurant left.

Franchise wars, bro, Franchise Wars.

 

[donjuan17]

Anyone been to El Torito?

 

[BDC2823]



Anyone been to El Torito?

Yeah. As far as chain restaurants go, they're okay I guess. I have one a couple blocks away from me and have only gone there less than a handful of times, and most of those were for a happy hour margarita. They're usually quite busy which I don't really understand because all you have to do is drive down the street and you'd be flooded with Mexican restaurants with much better food at cheaper prices.

 

[Connemara]



You guys definitely aren't missing out. I never knew I liked Mexican food at all until I hit up an authentic place. Turns out there are some dishes I really enjoy, but I'd only had ****** chain-restaurant versions so I had no clue it could be good.

Yeah, there's a great hole in the wall taqueria near me that I don't go to enough. It's so good.

 

[HRoi]

I don't know all the names mentioned but those ones I do know aren't really Mexican restaurants. Chipotle is pretty darn good regardless, though

 

[MrG]



Yeah, there's a great hole in the wall taqueria near me that I don't go to enough. It's so good.

This is the way to go. There was a place in Athens that had fantastic authentic tacos, and the first time I ate there I went, "oh, so this is Mexican food. I can do this!" There's a similar place here in Atlanta (the place Bourdain hit when he was here), and the tacos are there, too.

I've also found that I like some items at nicer authentic Mexican joints, too. I've always liked mole, but I never knew just how good it could be until I had it at an authentic restaurant. So good.

I don't know all the names mentioned but those ones I do know aren't really Mexican restaurants. Chipotle is pretty darn good regardless, though

Most of them are Tex-Mex, I guess, but they're marketed as Mexican (or Mexican "inspired") food. Are they generally terrible rip-offs of the cuisine? Yes, but they're still Mexican restaurants in the same sense that a lot of ****** "casual dining" restaurants fit into whatever style of food they're mimicking. I mean, people still call Olive Garden "Italian" and Red Lobster "seafood," but that doesn't mean anyone who knows the first thing about either cuisine would be a fan.

 

[L'Incandescent]

What the hell how have you guys not heard of Chi Chi's? "♬ Chi Chi's, A Celebration of Food! ♬"

 

[JohnGalt]



Yeah. As far as chain restaurants go, they're okay I guess. I have one a couple blocks away from me and have only gone there less than a handful of times, and most of those were for a happy hour margarita. They're usually quite busy which I don't really understand because all you have to do is drive down the street and you'd be flooded with Mexican restaurants with much better food at cheaper prices.

You're making it too easy

 

[BDC2823]



You're making it too easy

You're too predictable.

 

[Harold falcon]

There's a burnt out Fresno's near me that's been condemned for the last decade. Junkies use it to shoot smack.