“The trouble with touring in America is constantly having to eat what everybody thinks is Mexican food.” – Lyle Lovett
Like Lyle, I love it – “it” being real Mexican food. And I love all of you. You know I do. Some of ELV’s loyal readers are good friends. Some of you are restaurant professionals. Others are chefs or winos (in the best sense of the word). All of you are serious foodies and/or lovers of good grub and where to find it. But with all due respect for your impeccable taste in all things culinary, and your prescient recognition of excellence in Las Vegas restaurant blogs/websites, I have a modest, respectful request:
QUIT SENDING ME TO MEXICAN RESTAURANTS BECAUSE NONE OF YOU HAVE A CLUE WHAT MAKES A GOOD ONE!
(Pause here for parenthetical explanation before continuing rant)
At the beginning of the year, Nevada Public Radio asked listeners to e-mail in suggestions for where I should dine and review for the coming twelve months. By a margin of 3 to 1, Mexican restaurants took the cake for places I just had to try “…because it’s new and fresh and the owners are real Mexicans (as opposed to fake Mexicans) and we love it and they make great margaritas and we love everything on the menu and you really need to try it!”
(Return to Rant)
And thus I went (against my better judgment) to a number of places that run the gamut from the expensive and flavorless (Las Galerias), to the salty and inedible (La Madonna), and finally to half a dozen others that are too small and pathetic to publicly trash. As I endured multiple meals with Smart and Final refried beans, wilted lettuce, frozen fish, prepackaged tortillas and all manner of ready-made, Sysco special entrees, I am left to ponder just how the plague of lowered expectations has infested almost every Mexican eatery in America…excepting certain areas of New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
And before you Californios howl in protest, with the exception of the Border Grill and a couple of tiny joints on Olvera Street, I’ve never had any decent Mexican meals in Southern California either.
Maybe it’s because everyone’s too drunk to care. Those cervezas and tequilas anesthetize more than just your brain you know.
I am hardly a Mexican food expert. Having only visited there a few times,* no claim is staked to ultimate knowledge of quality and finely tuned gastronomic distinctions. I’ve worked my way through some Diana Kennedy recipes, and pay close attention to whatever the Two Hot Tamales** and Rick Bayless*** cook and write about, but that’s about it.
But it doesn’t take Pancho F*cking Villa**** to recognize by-the-numbers-food, and a mind-numbing sameness to all of the menus and recipes. “But John,” you say, “they make their own salsas!” Big whoop…anyone can throw tomatoes and peppers in a blender. You want quality salsa? Go to El Sombrero – Las Vegas’s Oldest Restaurant – on Main Street and taste what Jose Aragon puts out every day (and has for almost fifty years).
Some of the more upscale places – Agave and Isla in the TI spring to mind – do a nice job attractively presenting classics and riffs on Mexican classics with strong flavors and good ingredients, but out in the ‘burbs, you’re getting bland versions of same-old, same-old stuff made with mediocre raw materials.
And none of you seem to know the difference.
I don’t know whether it’s infuriating or just sad…
Seeking wisdom from the oracle himself, I interviewed Bayless last year and put the question to him: Why are Mexican restaurants in America so lousy? His response:
“Most proprietors and cooks use too many canned, frozen and prepackaged ingredients. They don’t take the time to truly cook real recipes from scratch and hope (depend upon?) their customers won’t notice.”
He’s right. You don’t notice. Or care to at this point. So quit recommending Mexican restaurants to me until you get a clue what the food is supposed to taste like.
There, I said it. End of rant.
For a taste of the real enchilada, try these:
El Sombrero
807 Main St.
Las Vegas, NV 89101
702.382.9234
Border Grill
In Mandalay Bay
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702.632.7304
Agave
10820 Charleston Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89135
702.214.3500
Isla Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar
In the TI Hotel and Casino
3300 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
866.286.3809
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* Does a tour of the Juarez sex shows count?
** Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, chef/owners of Border Grill and Cuidad in SoCal and Border Grill in the Mandalay Bay
*** Chef/owner of Topolobampo and Frontera Grill in the Windy City, widely considered the two best/most authentic Mexican restaurants in America
**** not his real name
Good comments. It’s a rare find to come up with really good Mexican food up here where I live too. So many Mexican restaurants, so many mediocre meals. We have the same problem with Chinese too.
John, it’s interesting that you consult a bunch of gringos about Mexican food:
Rick Bayless
Diana Kennedy
Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, The Two Hot Tamales
Mind you, you might need to contact a Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic, like Jonathan Gold, who happens to live in … Los Angeles, hint, hint …
Have you ever tried a Oaxacan restaurant called Guelaguetza on Olympic Blvd. in Los Angeles? Or some Mexican food from taco trucks?
John, can we talk??
Sorry to say Russell, but those gringos cook food that is much more faithful to the original cuisine of Mexico than the dumbed-down versions promulgated by native sons and daughters….although I always value a Jonathon Gold recommendation (if you can find them) and a good taco truck.
Good tips, rjwong, but who wants, or has the time, to head to LA when a Mexican-food craving takes hold? I want good Mexican food here, dammit. My wife and I frequent Agave. Not because it’s great, or authentic, but because it’s usually pretty good to very good (although the service might be some of the worst in the city) and the salsa at the start of the meal is tasty. Frank & Fina’s in Summerlin is also good. Authentic? No – but they do a delicious pork chili verde and the service has always been friendly. What I want is the Mexican equivalent of what RAKU is to Japanese food. Where is THAT place in Vegas???
I think THAT place is dos caminos. I’ve been twice and thought it rivaled Border Grill both times. (Although the service and atmosphere -pre-renovation- is better at Border Grill).
Humbly,
Thanks for all the comments….there’s nothing like a good Mexican food debate….or a Mexican food taco….or a Mexican margarita….or….or……
Right on about the resaurants.
There are no serious Mexican restaurants in Las Vegas.
With the exeption of maybe Los Antojos and Isla.
Los Antojos is good for what they’re trying to do, Mexico city type
quick eatery.
It is located on Sahara and Eastern (I have’nt been there in a year)
El Sombrero?
The place serves Mexican-American food.
I went once.
The food was mediocre at best,I don’t blame you for saying it’s good though, based on what you have to work with.
The dissapointment begins when you order one of the Aguas Frescas
and ask if they’re homemade, the waiter always pauses akwardly then answers “no it’s from a powder” in a tone of voice that suggests I should be ok with that.
It goes downhill from there.
I always thought Coyte Cafe was good.
Taqueria Canyonita used to be good when it opened.
Check out Roberto Santibanez if you would like a Mexican born Chef in the U.S. doing great things.
http://robertosantibanez.com/
Check me out here-
http://www.myspace.com/chrisgpersonalchef
John, please have a look at Mexico Cooks! I think you’ll love it.
Mexico Cooks! is not only based in Mexico’s central highlands, it travels and tracks traditional regional home cooking, local culture, and way-off-the-beaten-track culinary events. Featured June 1 in Buena Mesa, the food supplement of Guadalajara’s newspaper *El Mural*, Mexico Cooks! offers authentic Mexico to foreigners from every continent. Updated every Saturday morning at 10:00, the next few weeks of Mexico Cooks! will feature a chile festival, Mexico’s oldest circus, and a mushroom festival.
Well…
It’s july 2009.
Situation still the same.
When you interviewed Chef Bayless did you happen to ask him what it would take to get him over here?