Mexican Food in CT | The Boneyard

Mexican Food in CT

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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
 

Dream Jobbed 2.0

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It’s 30 degrees and I have 3 inches of frozen crud to get off the driveway. Don’t leave San Diego.

Regards to the food truck idea I think it’d be a huge hit.

Lucky Taco (certainly not authentic Mexican but great none the less) started that way and is poised to open a third brick and mortar location.
 
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My wife grew up in Albuquerque. It was mandatory that I love spicy New Mexican food. We've learned to cook all our favorites; chili carne, carne adovada, green chili stew, posole, and we buy tamales by the case bc my kids eat them for breakfast.
 

Goatmeat

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Sayulita in Glastonbury and Taco Bell in Manchester are both solid choices. Are you trying to tell me that the Doritos loco cheesy Gordita Crunchwrap is not authentic Mexican food?
 
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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

Sounds like a great idea overall - food trucks at breweries, with good food are always a hit.
Not sure about "hypothetical kids" with "a woman who's family, (you) believe," lives in the Cheshire area... just my .02...
 

ColchVEGAS

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Tamales are my favorite mexican dish, but have not been able to find a place that consistently makes good ones.
 
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My wife grew up in Albuquerque. It was mandatory that I love spicy New Mexican food. We've learned to cook all our favorites; chili carne, carne adovada, green chili stew, posole, and we buy tamales by the case bc my kids eat them for breakfast.
Figure it’d be a decent niche market to get into? Because the other thing is that most people I know from the northeast have never heard of chilaquiles... don’t know what it is... won’t recognize it... and will almost be scared off in a sense when they look and see a “chilaquiles” truck is at their favorite brewery.

We are thinking of doing all chilaquiles; obviously a couple variations of the traditional dish, but then fusion other cuisines in, like lox with bagel chips, sweet chilaquiles with pieces waffle cones or cannoli, Asian stuff with wonton chips, Italian with fried lasagna sheets, Indian with naan chips, etc
 
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For those who don’t know, chilaquiles are fried corn chips (think nachos) that are stewed in a red or green sauce, red onion, usually an egg or two scrambled in or over easy on top, and brisket/carnitas/barbacoa/pulled-chicken added in. Typically a more brunchy kind of dish. I’ve become a bit of a connoisseur lol, having had at least a dozen different places’ take on it
 
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My wife grew up in Albuquerque. It was mandatory that I love spicy New Mexican food. We've learned to cook all our favorites; chili carne, carne adovada, green chili stew, posole, and we buy tamales by the case bc my kids eat them for breakfast.
I spent a week in Albuquerque in March 2012 for an education conference and it was the most fun I had at a conference.

A) It was March Madness opening week, so not only was Albuquerque hosting that week, but New Mexico was a 5 seed and New Mexico State was a 13 seed. My conference also had big representation from Alabama, so they were pumped for the Tide's first dance in six years. My big regret is not getting a ticket to catch some games live, but the Alabama school rented a hotel conference room to watch the game on projection...it was a ton of fun. That was also the year Lehigh (an alma mater of a few of my friends' parents) beat Duke.

B) Green chili. My first true experience of green chili. The conference was from 8 AM-3 PM each day and they had breakfast and lunch catered and the green stuff was offered at every meal. Lathered my eggs and bacon with that stuff, spread it onto my sandwiches...Albuquerque has a good brewery scene so I'd spent each night at a different brewery for a happy hour and whatever dish they had with green chili...LOVE THAT STUFF!!!

C) It was my first time in the southwest, so I'd spend 3 PM-5 PM each day just driving around New Mexico blown away by the omnipresence of red: in the road, on the hills, in the dirt. Since then, I've been to Southern Utah and now my in-laws are in Arizona, but that was my first taste of the beautiful landscape of the southwest.

Back to thread...lots of different styles of Mexican food in Norwalk. Support your local businesses!

My personal favorite is Rincon Taqueria. Small menu, but huge servings. Their pork rice and beans is out of this world. They are cilantro forward in every offering, so fair warning.

For more traditional fare, Taco Tequila on Main Street is excellent. It's run by a husband/wife duo and they cater more towards traditional style tacos but they have some interesting combos like their chorizo and potato tacos. Can't beat their lunch special: $8 for three tacos of choice plus rice and beans.

Tacos El Azteca is a permanently parked truck a little further south on Main Street offering authentic Mexican street tacos. Their Tacos al Pastor are so freakin' fatty and wonderful...great place for a quick snack or a full gorge.

Also want to give a shout out to El Chilito (formerly El Charitto) in the Riverside neighborhood of Greenwich that was walking distance from my first apartment. It's in a tiny little storefront that used to be run as a grocery store by my great-grandmother during the Depression. Now, it's run by a lovely couple and the husband runs their truck in Jackie Robinson Park in Stamford. It's fattier and creamier than most Mexican food I've had, but their red mole is freakin' amazing and the store always smells like it.

I stumbled upon Taqueria Mexico in Wallingford on a drive up to the XL Center for last year's Wichita State game. Ate a duo of their carne asada and al Pastor tacos and both were very good. Left full, happy and full of energy to cheer on that insane game.
 
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8893

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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.
 
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Food trucks are a lot more work than many realize. Prep at a commercial kitchen, storage and cleaning of the truck, permits. For instance in New Haven you cannot park at LW without a permit and those are just not available. But for a hustler and good marketer they can be a lot of fun and with a good product a profitable business. Many trucks are struggling right now with work from home and no events.
 

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I don't know if Rancho Allegre in Georgetown is still around. The food was decent, not great, but the drinks were fantastic.

Puerta Vallarta is pretty good, if a bit inconsistent from visit to visit. They are in Avon, Wallingford, Newington, and 2 or 3 other places in Connecticut. Don't order the generic burritos, enchiladas, etc. Go deeper into the menu and it gets a lot better.

I found San Diego, like a lot of cities that have had big growth in recent years, to have a lot of chain restaurants, like everywhere. Beautiful weather, but other than a few high end places (and every city has those), the food wasn't great.
 

c29328

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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.
 
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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.

CT also has a thriving high-end taco bar scene, including bartaco and bodega. Both excellent but more gourmet than authentic.
+1 to Port Chester (I'm sure @8893 knows plenty of pre- Capitol Theater spots).

I'll give bartaco props. We go to the Westport one most often. Right on the Saugatuck River, the location makes it near impossible to get a table in the summertime (they don't take reservations) but I've eaten there outdoors in the winter. It's not "authentic" but it's very tasty and very well prepared. For a special dinner, you can easily get full and quenched for under $80 a pair. If you want to go when the weather is nice, get a table at 3:30 PM for an early dinner/happy hour, unless you want to wait 60-90 minutes and/or be surrounded by the types of people responsible for giving Fairfield county a bad rap.

Bodega is even more left of center than bartaco, but excellent. Run by the same owners of Valencia Luncheria, they have locations in Darien and Fairfield. Some taco ingredients include candied plantains, miso kale...you get my drift. I prefer the Fairfield location...we skip dessert and get rolled ice cream from Rolling Moo in the same complex: chopped banana with chocolate chips and peanut butter, yessir. Bodega is our go-to spot on the way to or from Webster Bank arena or a smaller bite before an FTC show.
 
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nelsonmuntz

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I think of a city as having "great food" when it isn't just the high end places, but also the mid priced and fast food. Austin for example, has a lot of great little local restaurants that are excellent. Chicago, surprisingly, has a lot of local fast food mexican, especially when you get outside the Loop or Gold Coast. The food is incredible, although your night is typically over after going to one of these places. You only go after the bars, not before.
 

8893

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+1 to Port Chester (I'm sure @8893 knows plenty of pre- Capitol Theater spots).

I'll give bartaco props. We go to the Westport one most often. Right on the Saugatuck River, the location makes it near impossible to get a table in the summertime (they don't take reservations) but I've eaten there outdoors in the winter. It's not "authentic" but it's very tasty and very well prepared. For a special dinner, you can easily get full and quenched for under $80 a pair. If you want to go when the weather is nice, get a table at 3:30 PM for an early dinner/happy hour.

Bodega is even more left of center than bartaco, but excellent. Run by the same owners of Valencia Luncheria, they have locations in Darien and Fairfield. Some taco ingredients include candied plantains, miso kale...you get my drift. I prefer the Fairfield location...we skip dessert and get rolled ice cream from Rolling Moo in the same complex: chopped banana with chocolate chips and peanut butter, yessir. Bodega is our go-to spot on the way to or from Webster Bank arena or a smaller bite before an FTC show.
I love the Fairfield Bodega. I try to find a reason to hit it whenever I am down that way; often before FTC shows. Their Passionfruit Margarita is also excellent. The place is tiny though.
 

87Xfer

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My wife grew up in Albuquerque. It was mandatory that I love spicy New Mexican food. We've learned to cook all our favorites; chili carne, carne adovada, green chili stew, posole, and we buy tamales by the case bc my kids eat them for breakfast.
Got a particular green chili stew recipe that you're fond of? I still have found one that we love, and it stinks, because we're swimming in green chilies around here. Do you guys ever visit ABQ? El Patio near the university has the best adovada I've ever had.
 

87Xfer

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Boxcar Cantina in Greenwich actually had really good NM food way back when they first opened. But that was eons ago. Anyone been there recently?
 

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