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Really good authentic mexican — Brooklynian

Really good authentic mexican

carmen
carmen
edited November -1 in Park Slope
In or out of the slope-
my boyfriend is from socal and is a total baby about mexican food- nothing but the super authentic will please him and he complains about basically every mexican place we've ever tried. He's a fan of the Tijuana-style meat-off-the-street mexican foods...is there anywhere in the 5 boroughs that has REALLY authentic, good mexican? I've tired lots of citysearch rated places but they're all too "american" for his taste...

Comments

  • old time brooklyn
    old time brooklyn
    He sounds like a winner.
  • ljnd
    ljnd
    There's a guy in Soho - he has a cart - it's called Calexico. Guy I know from SF swears by it. SWEARS.The cart's on Wooster and Prince. You can Google it too.
  • santa
    santa
    sunset park

    red hook ballfields if thats still happening.
  • raw
    raw
    Old Time Brooklyn wrote: He sounds like a winner.
    That is mean.

    I have a similar problem, finding most local "Mexican" food to be American food hiding under a pound of cheese. I had a nice meal at Mezcal's on 5th Avenue near Union Street once, but I'm not sure how authentic it was.
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    have you been to chavella's?

    and the ballfields, of course, god willing and the parks department don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg....
  • daver
    daver
    sweet tea wrote: have you been to chavella's?

    and the ballfields, of course, god willing and the parks department don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg....
    I love Chavella's, but it probably isn't the southwest style that someone from California is going to be looking for. Although I highly recommend giving it a try. I haven't found any SW style like you get out there in NYC, but I will try the cart mentioned in this thread on Prince.

    I would suggest that you encourage your friend to enjoy the wide variety of food available here the you can't get in California, and to enjoy the SW stuff there when he visits.
  • triebensee
    triebensee
    There's a cart run by a nice couple outside across the street from the Queens Center Mall on 59th Street (Woodhaven Blvd). They're at the edge of the outdoor parking lot. Very good and cheap.

    I've heard the intersection of Junction Boulevard and 37th Avenue is the/an epicenter of Central American/Mexican epicuria.

    Closer to home, Sunset Park has a lot of authentic Mexican restaurants. My favorite is Tequilito (sp?) on 4th Avenue around 52nd Street.
  • filmlover44
    filmlover44
    I've tried a couple of the Sunset Park places. One was awful, another has good burritos (but not authentic). Redhook ball park is your best bet. We absolutely love it there but it's not looking good right now for another season.
  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior
    goto Roosevelt ave in queens. i forget what part of queens it is. but you'll find restaurant after restaurant lol and hell they even have Chinese Mexican there i mean Chinese from Mexico :o.
  • givemecandy
    givemecandy
    People from LA refuse to acknowledge the existence of authentic Mexican food in NY. The Mexican community in LA is diverse, and there are regional cuisines (Yucatecan, Oaxacan) that you just don't see here. In addition, LA-style Mexican food is its own cuisine, like, oh, Brooklyn Italian-American. You're as likely to find great LA-Mex in Brooklyn as you are to find a good sfogliatelle in Hollywood.

    Most authentic Mexican food in New York is the cuisine of Puebla, which turns off Angelenos because they don't use flour tortillas for anything. Only corn. The rest of the lot here is either upscale and expensive (Rocking Horse, Dos Caminos), or the above-mentioned slop covered in cheese (Rancho Allegre, Mezcal's et al).

    If the LA guy doesn't like Taqueria Coatzingo in Jackson Heights (and tell him NOT to order a burrito!!) then he should avoid eating any Mexican food outside of the Southwest. Tacos Matamoros on 45th and 5th in Sunset Park is a more local option.
  • daver
    daver
    armchair_warrior wrote: goto Roosevelt ave in queens. i forget what part of queens it is. but you'll find restaurant after restaurant lol and hell they even have Chinese Mexican there i mean Chinese from Mexico :o.
    I used to eat at a place like that in Arizona called Chino Bandido. My favorite was the chile relleno / jade red chicken combo with black beans and jerk fried rice. yum!
  • benzapp
    benzapp
    GiveMeCandy wrote:

    Most authentic Mexican food in New York is the cuisine of Puebla, which turns off Angelenos because they don't use flour tortillas for anything. Only corn.
    I think this is a bit inaccurate. Homemade corn tortillas are a think to behold, and are popular all over the northern part of Mexico and Texas. Honestly, I've never had anything but dried out manufactured crap in NYC myself - but you'll be hard pressed to find an abuela in Texas who doesn't occasionally make homemade tortillas.

    Also, the largest corn tortilla manufacturer (Gruma) is based in Monterrey.
  • givemecandy
    givemecandy
    True, we have a major tortilla problem in NYC. But I've also been served plenty of tacos in Los Angeles and San Francisco on similar dried out, manufactured corn tortillas. The best tacos I've been served in the US--not the best overall Mexican but the best tacos--on fresh tortillas--have been in small or medium-sized cities like Durham, NC and Woodburn, OR

    Many NY Mexican places make quesadillas, sopes, and huaraches from fresh (but instant) masa. For amazing quesadillas made from masa and freshly pulled string cheese (don't know the Mexican term for it) I can at least recommend a place in the Bronx called Rinconcito Mexicano, at 381 East 138th Street by the 1st stop on the 6 train. But surely there's a comparable quesadilla on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn.

    I was just trying to point out that ordering a burrito from a relatively authentic Pueblan Mexican place is like ordering a Sichuan dish at a Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown and lamenting that it isn't spicy enough/doesn't have any Sichuan peppercorns in it.
  • filmlover44
    filmlover44
    armchair_warrior wrote: goto Roosevelt ave in queens. i forget what part of queens it is. but you'll find restaurant after restaurant lol and hell they even have Chinese Mexican there i mean Chinese from Mexico :o.
    A family member who spent lots of time in Mexico told me that the best Chinese food that he ever had was in Mexico City.
  • filmlover44
    filmlover44
    GiveMeCandy wrote: True, we have a major tortilla problem in NYC. But I've also been served plenty of tacos in Los Angeles and San Francisco on similar dried out, manufactured corn tortillas. The best tacos I've been served in the US--not the best overall Mexican but the best tacos--on fresh tortillas--have been in small or medium-sized cities like Durham, NC and Woodburn, OR

    Many NY Mexican places make quesadillas, sopes, and huaraches from fresh (but instant) masa. For amazing quesadillas made from masa and freshly pulled string cheese (don't know the Mexican term for it) I can at least recommend a place in the Bronx called Rinconcito Mexicano, at 381 East 138th Street by the 1st stop on the 6 train. But surely there's a comparable quesadilla on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn.

    I was just trying to point out that ordering a burrito from a relatively authentic Pueblan Mexican place is like ordering a Sichuan dish at a Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown and lamenting that it isn't spicy enough/doesn't have any Sichuan peppercorns in it.
    And yet a good California Burrito is a wonderful, wonderful thing! I LOVE SouthWestern Mexican American food. I remember when the burrito places first opened up around here. That was exciting. They weren't quite San Francisco Mission district but man were they a good alternative to the cheese slathered refried been crap most New Yorkers thought was "Mexican". That was embarrassing.
  • leet
    leet
    The people who run Chavella's are from Mexico City. Have you tried that place? I don't know what's authentic or not, but I like their food.

    It's not Tex-Mex or LA style, but it is Mexican food.
  • daver
    daver
    leet wrote: The people who run Chavella's are from Mexico City. Have you tried that place? I don't know what's authentic or not, but I like their food.

    It's not Tex-Mex or LA style, but it is Mexican food.
    I love Chavella's, but $5 says that it won't be what SoCal guy is looking for. BUT- if he can get past that, he'll get to enjoy some really good food.
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