Mexican Food in CT

[UConnKev]

Mexican imo is one of the foods where the really good Mexican isn't THAT much better then the subpart Mexican.

That’s a very bad take.

 

[ARIDE]

Another food thread

I would like to get a sense of New Englanders’ experiences/tastes/preferences regarding Mexican food in CT/MA.

Several of you know that I live in San Diego. I’ve been out here for going on 5 years and will probably be here another few. I have been blessed to meet an amazing Colombian/PuertoRican girl out here who loves to cook (and clean!), and we sure plan on moving back to CT/MA in the next few years if all works out with us. Not in a particular rush to leave SD lol. She grew up in Miami but moved to CT when she was about 14 and her family is there now in I believe the Cheshire area; I’m a Jersey/UConn/Boston kid.

Having been out here for a bit, I’ve had some wild Mexican food that really is nothing like what I had as a kid in the northeast, where you get a shredded beef burrito or chicken enchiladas on flour tortillas at some place that mainly serves white people. When my people from the northeast come to visit, they’re obviously blown away... probably like having Midwest relatives coming up to the Tristate and having some real pizza... or heading south for some real fried chicken. My girl and I know that, if we were to start a food truck or something with some real Mexican food one day, roll up to breweries and serve, it could be wildly successful as a relatively niche cuisine in New England. I know that most people have been missing out on real Mexican food and would go crazy for some of the stuff I’ve been fortunate to enjoy out here. We want to start working on recipes sooner than later, and eventually turn this into a business venture when our hypothetical kids are in college and/or we are over our careers.

Who here has even heard of chilaquiles? Who knows what birria is? Or even sopes? Mulitas? Who knows the difference between tostadas and tostones? What are your best experiences in the northeast regarding Mexican food, from basic to gourmet? Anyone spend some significant time in a particular region of Mexico and knows of a specific dish that they wish they would have access to in the northeast?

Thanks everyone

Place at ob was incredible wish I could remember the name

 

[storrsroars]

That photo is so thoroughly "Americanized 'Mexican' glop on a plate", I'd dare say it's racist, lol.

Could be delicious, but honestly, you'd never see that kind of plating in Mexico City, unless it was at a backyard barbecue with a bunch of drunken Americans ;-)

 

[Guapo]

I found when I moved to Oregon that Mexican food is like Italian food. Regional styles are available and are in different parts of this country. The Jalisco style food I ate in Oregon has no relationship to the more Tex-Mex I grew up with around CT 30 years ago. Add in the Mission styles and New Mexico regional food is nothing like what I could find anywhere else. Awesome. There's always room for well done regional style foods since there are a lot of different Mexican foods.


If anyone knows how to find New Mexico style food around Savannah GA, with the smoky flavors, the green chili with the hatch chili's, tamales, please cough up the location. I'd kill for a good beef machaca. Maybe even a marginal one. Good luck on the cart.

hey a fellow Georgian. Savannah is awesome. I knew when I moved here, I’d be gaining quality comfort food and BBQ (and losing pizza/good Italian food) but something I was surprised about was gaining really good Mexican food.

It’s somewhat counterintuitive, but the rural south is one of the best places to find good authentic Mexican food, east of the Mississippi, because there has been such a huge influx of immigrants to do farm work or work in food processing plants. I don’t have a specific restaurant rec for down there, but I would start by looking at what google says are “the best” Mexican restaurants in some of the small towns between Savannah and Statesboro

 

[storrsroars]

That’s a very bad take.

I was gonna throw out Maya on 1st Ave in Manhattan to counter, as it was my fave higher end Mexican in the Northeast (wife says best scallops she's ever had) but I haven't been there in a dozen years. Then I looked at the current menu and Sandoval has completely dumbed it down. I feel like an idiot as I've recommended the place a couple of times in the past few years.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Very big difference between good Mexican and not so great. If you have not experienced it then you probably have not had true authentic Mexican. This can be said about just about all varieties of cooking though. Not to derail the thread but I actually like Peruvian and Venezuelan food over Mexican. While seasonings might be similar the final product is very different.

I love food by the way. It is amazing.

 

[c29328]

hey a fellow Georgian. Savannah is awesome. I knew when I moved here, I’d be gaining quality comfort food and BBQ (and losing pizza/good Italian food) but something I was surprised about was gaining really good Mexican food.

It’s somewhat counterintuitive, but the rural south is one of the best places to find good authentic Mexican food, east of the Mississippi, because there has been such a huge influx of immigrants to do farm work or work in food processing plants. I don’t have a specific restaurant rec for down there, but I would start by looking at what google says are “the best” Mexican restaurants in some of the small towns between Savannah and Statesboro

Interesting. Thanks for the advice. I'll start reaching out past Flaco's tacos

 

[storrsroars]

Very big difference between good Mexican and not so great. If you have not experienced it then you probably have not had true authentic Mexican. This can be said about just about all varieties of cooking though. Not to derail the thread but I actually like Peruvian and Venezuelan food over Mexican. While seasonings might be similar the final product is very different.

I love food by the way. It is amazing.

Peruvian food is like the first East meets West fusion cuisine. Lomo saltado, arroz chaufa, chebiche, etc.etc. If California grew bananas and pineapples back when the railroads were being built, our Chinese-American food might look very different.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Peruvian food is like the first East meets West fusion cuisine. Lomo saltado, arroz chaufa, chebiche, etc.etc. If California grew bananas and pineapples back when the railroads were being built, our Chinese-American food might look very different.

Precisely why I love it so much. The original fusion.

 

[Guapo]

Peruvian food is like the first East meets West fusion cuisine. Lomo saltado, arroz chaufa, chebiche, etc.etc. If California grew bananas and pineapples back when the railroads were being built, our Chinese-American food might look very different.

love Peruvian food

 

[UConnSwag11]

Lucky Taco Manchester

 

[Huskybass]

Sayulita in South Glastonbury and Rio Salado in Mystic are both great.

 

[Deepster]

Xicohtencatl Restaurant in Great barrington. Known for its mole.

When was the last time you ate there? I thought this place was one of the best around and the last two times (probably 1/2019-1/2020) were pretty subpar.

I have worked in restaurants a lot when I was younger so I am okay with just having a “bad day” and would like to hear they still had their mojo

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Monte Alban in Hartford is very good and have truly authentic tamales.

 

[fatlucy]

I think Port Chester, NY probably has the best representation of the various levels of authentic Mexican food in the Northeast. They have a lot of street food type places and a few higher end places.

In CT, Arturo Camacho has probably been the most successful with various iterations of Mexican food, mostly at the higher end. His newest is Camacho's Garage in Westville. I haven't been yet but I've heard nothing but raves. He is also behind Geronimo's in New Haven, which is more Southwestern than Mexican--but his tacos are excellent and very authentic.

Best authentic brick and mortar Mexican in New Haven right now is probably Mezcal on Mechanic Street; but the food trucks at Long Wharf are probably your best place to research. There are at least four or five different Mexican food trucks there every day, and most of their customers are Mexican.

CT also has a thriving high-end taco bar scene, including bartaco and bodega. Both excellent but more gourmet than authentic.

In VT, check out Mad Taco. Personally, I would model a food truck on that place if you are intending to serve the craft beer crowd, because that's what they get.

Dude, we live parallel lives.

 

[eastmill]

Once you have Tacos La Rosa in Willimantic, no other Mexican food will be the same again.

Once you have Tacos La Rosa in Willimantic, no other Mexican food will be the same again.

Taco de la Rosa is very nice.La Mexicana Grocery,far end of Valley St. was good.

 

[imno1]

Ixtapa in Hamden is decent for your typical tacos and stuff

 

[8893]

Ixtapa in Hamden is decent for your typical tacos and stuff

They also have one of the Long Wharf food trucks.

 

[huskymedic]

Ixtapa in Hamden is decent for your typical tacos and stuff

They also have one of the Long Wharf food trucks.

Best Tortilla Soup going IMO... cures whatever ails ya.

 

[beerfan]

I used to travel quite a bit for work, as a rule I found you could not get good Mexican foot east of the Mississippi and you could not get good pizza west of the Mississippi.

 

[alexd]

I used to travel quite a bit for work, as a rule I found you could not get good Mexican foot east of the Mississippi and you could not get good pizza west of the Mississippi.

It's a well known fact that pizza gets worse the farther you get from New Haven.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That’s a very bad take.

I think it is roughly accurate for the "Tex Mex" food, but otherwise yes. Definitely not accurate for the true regional cuisine.

 

[RMoore1999]

I lived in the San Jose area in the late 90s. Back then I loved the “fresh mex” places. There was nothing like that when I got to MA. Now they are all over. Local places run by actual Mexicans, not just the chains. I know chilaquiles because I had them for breakfast in Playa Del Carmen.

The street taco game is also vastly improved now. Both food trucks and sit down places. And while Tex Mex is still the most common, you can find legit Mexican places serving regional Mexican cuisine in MA. A great one opened in Southie when I lived there. This place in Falmouth is on par with anything I had in CA. Anejo Mexican Bistro & Tequila Bar, Falmouth, MA.

In short, it’s not the wasteland it was 20 years ago. I think you’ll be ok.

Edit. Forgot this place. View Menus - Temazcal Tequila Cantina - Boston. I’ve only been to the Seaport location, it’s a perfect pre-concert location. Food is good, if overpriced. The tequila and Mezcal selection are solid though.

The Brookline Anna's Taqueria is great...

 

[RowdyFan]

Rio Salado in Mystic

Have you tried Yoko Loco? The purple food truck that's parked at the old Cartway in Gale Ferry. Fantastic.

 

[djct1999]

Rincon in Norwalk. Their empanadas are incredible and a chicken burrito alone can feed a family of four.