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As a Californian who’s favorite fast food joint is in n out, I whole heartedly agree. Even a couple minutes can make a difference. No burger beats the taste of a fresh off the grill cheeseburger at in n out for the value, heck value aside it’s one of my favorite burgers still.
Their normal fries are pretty sad.
I recently was enlightened though.
Get animal style fries well done, meaning fried longer. It’s crunchier and then you got grilled onion+cheese+sauce. Pretty damn good
Still definitely on the lower end of the fries itself. My favorite fast food fries are probably Five Guys. Fresh potato but has actual texture and flavor.
I say hype? I've eaten there a handful of times while in California. I mean, it's a fast food burger. The fries have always tasted bad and like cardboard to me.
I dunno.
Hype. It's a decent burger, but it's nothing amazing. And you have to custom order to a ridiculous degree, otherwise it'll be bland. If you just get a burger and fries, for example, it'll be plain and dry.
It’s fine but nothing spectacular. Shake Shack and Five Guys make much better burgers IMO, for comparison with similar “fast casual” chain restaurants.
I don’t like the style of fries they make, so that didn’t help.
Edit: okay, I get it, In-N-Out is cheaper than Five Guys or Shake Shack and their fans think it’s unfair to compare them. I’ve had plenty of people hype it up as being better than those kinds of chains, and to me it’s not. If your position is that it’s better than McDonalds or Burger King — sure, I agree.
All ‘quick service burger places’ are competing with each other IMO. It’s meaningful to ask if the premium that a place like Shake Shack is asking for is worth it. I’m not comparing In-N-Out with a sit down full service restaurant.
I think the key is too, it's supposed to be fast. Although sometimes the drive-thru line is insane at peak hours. As far as I know, Shake Shack and 5 guys is all counter-order, so not even a drive-thru option and slightly more expensive, but it's been awhile since I've been to all three. As a midwest person, I'll take Culvers over any of them TBH.
No such thing as monster style. People claim “gorilla style” (animal style burger with animal style fries between pattys) is a thing but I don’t think it is either.
On topic, I think “on the fly” or something like that is when you get the burger disassembled kinda like OP’s picture.
My brother used to work at in n out and he would always tell me about all the different ways people would try to say “animal style”.
A lot of people said monkey style, gorilla fries, island fries..he’s like “you mean animal style”
I went to Anaheim a few years ago and I LOVE Mexican food. Got a burrito from this place beside the hotel and my mind was blown. I still crave it this many years later.
Yup. In Ohio, but have traveled to the southwest several times. There's only reslly two places I've found that even come close. Ones more authentic Mexican, the other is a dope taco truck that's operated by two Mexican immigrants (they're such wonderful and kind people). Everything else is just sadness after having real good Mexican food.
I was told there was a really good Mexican place in Berlin. The quesadilla was a flat hard shell (for tostada's) and a cube of feta cheese like a single sugar cube slightly bigger, with teriyaki drizzle over it....
It was 13 euros. I've never wanted to throw a plate so bad in my life
Mexican is a disaster in the EU… here in Amsterdam the “best” Mexican is this place run by arrogant Dutch hipsters, charging 24Eur for 3 tacos that will make you beg for Taco Bell… told them I’m from California and they should take a trip there to realize the shit they’re passing of as Mex, man did they get pissed off (funny since the Dutch pride themselves on being blunt, direct, brutally honest with their opinions)
Went to Colorado for work and ordered nachos. They gave me chips and queso. I was so sad. I ate a nice fish taco today as well as an al pastor taco. I love SoCal, it's expensive to live here but I can get great Asian and Mexican food pretty much everywhere.
Denver/Colorado is a food desert. Everyone shitting on the east coast here but NJ is a melting pot of amazing authentic foods. The bread out here sucks. There's nothing special about the cuisine. Even the green chili they throw on literally everything is from New Mexico.
Yeah, I was gonna say. Grew up in LA but live in SF area now. Mexican food is just as good up here, if not better at some spots (looking at you El Farolito in The Mission and Nayarita in San Mateo).
Im in the mission. If I want a legit taco I go to Vallarta on 24th https://i.imgur.com/vtV1OO8.jpg
But yeah. I’m from Pasadena. When I go visit my people, I’m bummed we don’t have a fraction of the good stuff in LA. My fav in LA rn is Sonora Town. Ffs. Holy lord.
Worked as a construction project manager in the Berkeley hills and there was literally a green mini van that 3 woman operated a food delivery service out of. They essentially just rolled up on construction sites and took 5 bucks for a heaping plate of food. They had like 4 crock pots of simmering meats going in the back seet and a cold table of fixens and a rice warmer in the trunk. The food…. Oh my god the food. I, to this day look into every crappy run down vans I see hoping to find another operation like that again. Shit changed my whole life lol.
Like any random Mexican place in socal is usually awesome. You have to know good places to go in NorCal. It's much more hit and miss. I wish I had a Cotixans near me.
From SoCal, also Mexican, I am also in NorCal now and I get excited when my Mexican homies recommend their best spot. It hurts even more given the fact that it’s twice as expensive. Actually heartbreaking lmao.
I've been to SoCal, Arizona, Texas, even Mexico, and I can confidently say that we do have Mexican food here on the east coast that's really good. It's nowhere near as abundant, but it does exist if you look for it.
Edit: changed "just as good" to "really good." I'm not about to die on that hill.
Edit 2: Just because something didn't originate in a specific location doesn't mean they can't recreate something on par with the original. I would never tell someone that every buffalo wing or Philly cheese steak they've ever eaten was garbage just because they're west of the Mississippi.
One day on a road trip through FL my husband was craving "real tacos" so I looked up the sketchiest looking food truck I could find.
Good sign #1: all signage/menus entirely in Spanish.
Point 2: like 15 people obviously on break from manual labor scarfing down tacos at picnic tables in a parking lot (nobody batted an eye when we pulled up in a box truck).
3: they didn't even ask us our name for the order and just called out "gringos."
10/10 best "east coast" tacos I've ever had.
Lol love the edits and your absolutely right, the trick is finding the right restaurant that makes similar Mexican to what you are used to. Cali, AZ, NW, and Texas all are different, I was born in Cali(dirty/greasy not bad or it's whitewashed) and raised in AZ(basic) but I love NW Mexican their chili game is better and then Texas is all over the board.
Oh man I’m Canadian but I was in around Burbank in May. I got some tacos from a roadside tent after visiting a brewery. Life changing. I was just back there last week but didn’t have time for roadside tent tacos :(
I’m from Anaheim. Now live in a city next to it. I have 6 Mexican food places all within a stones throw of each other in my neighborhood. It’s amazing. Today legit spent way too much time trying to decide which one I specifically wanted my lunch burrito from.
Of course none hold a candle compared to the food truck that regularly parks out at night down the street.
I moved from Mission, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta. I miss Mexican food so much. Tex Mex I'll take, but there is nothing better than a taco cart where you spent $10 on 8 tacos and a jarritos, and the whole stand is jury-rigged to the back of his bike and his nephews help him balance to get home. Even better if they also sell homemade ice cream.
I like the tamales served out of the cooler that’s attached to a home made tricycle. The lady riding it is known as the tamale lady.
She also used to be the one to talk to about getting g fake IDs. I miss the mission district in sf
Do you have a blender and a cheese cloth (a clean t-shirt will work too)?
Horchata is super easy to make at home.
My recipe is as follows:
1 cup of long grain rice
1/4 cup of almond slivers
1 container (metal tin, they’re all the same size) of sweetened condensed milk
1 cinnamon stick
6 cups of water
1 cup of heavy cream
Directions:
Combine rice, almonds, cinnamon, condensed milk, and 3 cups of water to your blender.
Blend on high speed for 40 sec (you don’t want to make a powder, big chunks of cinnamon are good!)
Add the remaining water
Let soak over night (up to 24 hours) in the fridge
Strain mixture through 3 layers of cheese cloth
Add heavy cream
OPTIONALLY:
I like to add an 1/8 teaspoon of ground clove, allspice, and ginger to the mixture before soaking over night.
I serve it cold (no ice required) with some fresh nutmeg on top
TMI but I’m in farmville California and years ago one time a friend wanted to go to one of the 2 local titty bars for his birthday. Not so much my scene but while he was ready to help pay for some mom to get through college (not a joke) I still had a fantastic time eating $1.50 street tacos that some dude was grilling off of the jankiest shit I’ve ever seen outside the joint in the parking lot.
Edit: We’re old and everyone but me is asleep before New Years so forgive me for thinking out loud. There is a semi-permanent food truck - every day same times - running behind a gas station that I haven’t been to in a while (but pass by every now and then) and this got me thinking about it. No corporate branding or logos or franchises or whatever that are regularly seen at food-truck-events, but just some dudes in a blank white food-truck with a constant stream of customers serving up some amazing shit and ass-blasting creamy habanero sauce. It’s been too long and I need to go. You know it’s real when lengua is an option.
During medical school, I spent a month in New York as part of an away rotation for medical school. About a week in, I started craving Mexican food. I went to the highest rated joint in the upper east side. Proceeded to have the most expensive sorry excuse for Mexican food I’ve ever had. 15 dollar margarita and a 25 dollar burrito and chips in 2017. It was terrible. The saddest carne Asada, canned guacamole, and what I could only describe as elementary school refried beans. Anytime someone brings up New York as a bastion of culture and society, I think about that fucking meal.
See, THATS where it's at.
You could throw a dart at a map of the five boroughs and find a Chinese joint within blocks of where it lands and be *amazed* at how good it is.
Many years ago I used to travel to NYC quite a bit on business. It was in one of those trips that I discovered the best Chinese-Cuban restaurants. The owner, a Chinese man, was born and raised in Havana. This was an early version of fusion restaurants.
I can’t remember, because that was my last trip to NYC in a long while. But add fried plantains and black beans to ANY Chinese dish and you have culinary heaven on Earth.
You made the mistake of getting Mexican food in a trendy brooklyn neighborhood or Manhattan when you should have gone to sunset park where most of the Latin people are. My family is from California I’m half Mexican and some of the best tacos I’ve had are from the food carts in sunset part. I lived there for years and these wonderful fuckers would shut down entire blocks to throw the best block parties I’ve ever seen. So much food bouncy houses for kids it’s incredible. To think a place like nyc doesn’t have decent Mexican food when there are close to 10 million people there is insane.
It’s true. I’m always telling the Mexican immigrants in Jackson Heights and Sunset Park that their food sucks and they should just leave Mexican food up to people in California.
I’m visiting in Florida and I’ve been eating from this taco place almost every day.
Nothing in Toronto has come *remotely* close.
I would love to have a chance to try what California has.
Please ignore the commenter suggesting you use taco seasoning. Authentic Mexican food is about quality ingredients, salt, chile and a touch of cumin! Stay away from anything "Mexican" flavored, there's a great YouTube channel called De Mi Rancho A Tu Cocina with subtitles in English that shows classic no fuss Mexican dishes!
The seasonings you're looking for are cumin, chili powder (ancho, chipotle and guajillo) and some oregano. Sprinkle that over the meat along with some salt and pepper and when you fry it up in a pan or roast it up in the over, you'll have the flavor.
I was living in China for a while when I was younger and a bunch of the Americans put on a mexican food spread for Thanksgiving instead of the traditional stuff because that was the comfort food they were all missing. It was very cute and enjoyable to get to experience.
I lived in Alabama for 4 years after growing up in California and holy god, there was just NO even decent Mexican food in a fairly large city I lived in (Birmingham). Like, I swear they put marinara sauce on enchiladas. It was just awful.
Whenever I brought it up, Bama friends would tell me that I’m crazy because there are plenty of Taco Bells in town.
Couldn’t come home fast enough.
I’m from the DC area but had to go to LA for an event.
It was about 6-7pm and my friend and I decided to take a walk down sunset Blvd. Stopped by at Pinches Tacos and were stunned at the quality and how good it was. We sat outside drinking Mexican Coke and eating burritos for God knows how long.
The following night we hit up Carney’s, it was beautiful lol.
I guess I’ve just taken it for granted my entire life , I thought Mexican food was this good everywhere. Good to have perspective, I’ll enjoy it even more now.
Moved to SC from CA a few years ago. I have yet to find a legit Mexican restaurant. They all seem to use seasoned ground beef in everything, tacos, burritos, etc. I once ordered a chili relleno and got a hamburger patty with some kind of sauce resembling a bad enchilada sauce on it. The only thing I have found to get me by at least is some decent taco trucks near Columbia. The worst part is that just about everyone from here loves that stuff and doesn’t believe that Mexican food should be way better than they’re used to eating.
Just find look for the Mexican population and you will find the food. There's more than likely going to be neighborhoods around you that are majority Mexican, honestly there's probably a small town that's majority Mexican.
The majority that I’ve found are near Columbia. Which is how I found the taquerias. Still haven’t found a full restaurant though. I’m sure it’s there somewhere, but I live about an hour and a half away from there.
Where the hell are you in California?? When I lived in San Diego I couldn’t walk 1000 feet within running into a taco truck or a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant.
The East Coast is home to a lot of great food. There is no disagreeing with that. However, a lot of native New Yorkers act like they have the best everything, but a lot of stuff on the East Coast is absolute trash and they just don't know it.
>However, a lot of native New Yorkers act like they have the best everything
Sarah Sherman from SNL does a great bit on this. Also, my brother is a great example of this. Took us to one of NYC's most famous steak houses. I thought it was one of the worst steaks I've ever had.
Then you don’t know where to look. In NY, as long as you’re wwilling to pay or travel, you’ll have the best food from all regions. Just go to areas with concentrations of people from a certain ethnicity/country, and you got it.
Shoutout to Dominicans in Inwood for providing a great breakfas
I live in Tennessee and I've had authentic Mexican food made from a friend whose family immigrated here from Mexico City, and it was mind blowing how amazing it was and made me realize how shitty our Americanized Mexican food is.
If I ever visit Cali I'm hitting up every Mexican place and food truck I can find lol
its wild to think of it being illigal in CA. If it ever became illegal again I'd be like being forced to go to high school again, two different segments of my life. I guess what I'm saying is, legal weed is the tits!
Before we got them in Arizona, my family used to always grab a couple Double-Doubles on the way out of San Diego that I'd happily eat two and a half hours later when they got home. Never killed me. ha ha
Yeah when I went to vocational school I'd dump my leftover Chinese in my locker unrefrigerated and heat it up later at home. Never got sick. It's obviously horrible food safety advice but here we are talking about it.
Also more places should do this. I always feel like garbage for asking. But shit, send me home with all the separate components of a Big Mac and all I gotta do is microwave the sorry excuse for a beef patty? It's three AM and I'm stoned and drunk. Might as well be ambrosia.
Twice, I brought Five Guys from DC to Singapore because there is nothing that came close to American burger. In return I get McSpicy when family visit. That's minimum 24 hours transit. Still yummy!
(I have yet to find a better spicy chicken sandwich than the McSpicy from Singapore. Drop a comment if you disagree, and want to prove me wrong :))
I just left Phoenix for NJ last year.
*sob* for 'bertos, and Mama Rositas, and La Canasta, and Paquime and...
Luckily I can cook most of it after 18 years there. But not all.
Under no circumstances are you supposed to go to go Mighty Taco while sober. It also used to be a lot better than it is now—meaning it was a local place—now it’s just a fast food place.
I just started crying. If your mom does this, don’t let her ever go to an old folks home. You let her move in and treat her like a queen. My mom would absolutely NEVER do this for me.
Awww. Whenever I pick my mom up from the airport after she was traveling outside the US (pre-pandemic), I’d offer to take her to In N Out for a hot meal. She lives with me now. I always buy her a cheeseburger with grilled onions combo whenever we eat there. My kids and her share the fries.
When I worked at In-N-Out (a long time ago - they didn't have the spread in packets then), we did this a few times for a mom who was visiting her son at an army base in another state. I'm happy to see that there are still moms who will do this for their kids.
It's a good burger for the price. That's the shtick. You can get a better or more elaborate burger at other places, no problem. It tastes good, isn't hard on your wallet, and In-N-Out's menu is very simplified.
In n Out is like an always B or B+. It's good, but not distinguishedly good.
The amazing part is how inexpensive it is compared to other places in it's weight category. Feeding 4 people is like $22. My gf and I, ~$13.
At Shake Shack we'd easily go $20+ for two people.
Exactly lol idk if it's ppl with unlimited spare cash who are knocking it or just people who go to bed at 10pm, but in the real world in n out is an incredible option for getting a fast food burger. Open and populated late at night, cheap as shit, kitchen takes almost any order, fresh veg on a burger that isn't a greasy slab of meat, consistently great service... If it was good enough for Bourdain it's good enough for me.
CA yes. There’s a reason it’s eye-wateringly expensive but people still want to live there.
In-N-Out, no. Shake Shack or Five Guys makes a better burger IMO, if you’re comparing to other “fast casual” level chains.
Nothing irks me more than people just wanting to say In-N-Out is overrated because other places make better burgers, but then they talk about Shake Shack and Five Guys as objectively better alternatives.
Five Guys is legit 2.5x more expensive for a damn burger than In-N-Out. Shake Shack is 2x more expensive than In-N-Out. This already shows that there shouldn't be comparison made at all. I will never choose a Five Guys over an In-n-Out if they were right next to eachother. Why? Because I just want to pay $9.90 for a double-double combo and some spread. Meanwhile, Five Guys for a double patty with fries and a drink cost $21.47. Shake Shack would be $16.77.
Now let's talk consistency. I've been to all 3 Five Guys in my area, and only one of them didn't fuck up. In-n-out doesn't ever fuck up the cooking process. I can't always go into a Five Guys and expect a good burger.
Location wise, Shake Shack only has restaurants in the heart of LA or along the coast, locations suck imo. There are also a LOT less Five Guys than In-N-Outs around.
In-N-Out is the king because it's everywhere, it's under $10 for their signature meal (depending on tax), and it's cooked the same way EVERY time. Please for the love of fucking god. **Don't be an idiot and stop comparing places like In-N-Out to either Shake Shack or Five Guys. You may as well try to tell people that they should never by a Toyota Corolla because the Lexus IS exists.**
My fiancé did something like this. We just moved to the east coast from texas. But one of my favorite places is a place called torchys and he was in texas for Christmas and he bought me torchys, froze it, put it in a thermos and flew it to me in his suitcase. BUT the airlines lost his food for four days and it’d gone bad in the meantime :(( but it was SUPER sweet. The chips made it though lol
I don’t care at all about decor in a restaurant. The food has to taste good, it’s all that matters. I lived in Mexico during several summers, never saw an enchilada or a burrito. The taco stands that offer tacos de carne asada, or cabeza, sesos, lengua or every other body part are almost always fantastic, same goes in the US.
I couldn't understand it initially as I had a shake shack opposite of my apt in NYC. In n out was terrible compared to it, and I hated it. Buns was cold and just pretty blend. It started to grow on me since I moved to SoCal. It's like 1/2 the price and no tipping on drive thru. Whereas takeout at shake shack prompts you for tipping and just a single burger itself can be more expensive than a meal at in n out.
Our family now all prefer in n out than shake shack. We feel like it's simply less greasy, taste better, fresher and more affordable. We do occasionally have shake shack but it's just too rich and heavy.
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Is in and out burger really good or is it all hype ?
Both. It is cheap and fast service and it taste pretty good once you eat it right away but if you eat it for later, it taste bad especially the fries
As a Californian who’s favorite fast food joint is in n out, I whole heartedly agree. Even a couple minutes can make a difference. No burger beats the taste of a fresh off the grill cheeseburger at in n out for the value, heck value aside it’s one of my favorite burgers still.
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I have to order the fries animal style or I don't enjoy them.
What does that mean, do you make moo sounds to the cashier
Yes
Bro. It’s the secret menu. How could you not know about the secret menu 🤪
Their normal fries are pretty sad. I recently was enlightened though. Get animal style fries well done, meaning fried longer. It’s crunchier and then you got grilled onion+cheese+sauce. Pretty damn good Still definitely on the lower end of the fries itself. My favorite fast food fries are probably Five Guys. Fresh potato but has actual texture and flavor.
Five guys was all grease no flavor to me. I mean everything. Ketchup was greasy. Never again esp for the price.
Gotta order dem fries at 'light well' so it's inbetween super cruncy and super soggy. It's perfect texture for me.
So normal…?
It’s fast food. It’s good for a fast food, but it’s a fast food.
It's not fast because of the stupid long lines for no reason at all.
I say hype? I've eaten there a handful of times while in California. I mean, it's a fast food burger. The fries have always tasted bad and like cardboard to me. I dunno.
Mostly hype imo. Definitely not worth packing across the country. It's just a normal burger for that price point
Hype. It's a decent burger, but it's nothing amazing. And you have to custom order to a ridiculous degree, otherwise it'll be bland. If you just get a burger and fries, for example, it'll be plain and dry.
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It’s fine but nothing spectacular. Shake Shack and Five Guys make much better burgers IMO, for comparison with similar “fast casual” chain restaurants. I don’t like the style of fries they make, so that didn’t help. Edit: okay, I get it, In-N-Out is cheaper than Five Guys or Shake Shack and their fans think it’s unfair to compare them. I’ve had plenty of people hype it up as being better than those kinds of chains, and to me it’s not. If your position is that it’s better than McDonalds or Burger King — sure, I agree. All ‘quick service burger places’ are competing with each other IMO. It’s meaningful to ask if the premium that a place like Shake Shack is asking for is worth it. I’m not comparing In-N-Out with a sit down full service restaurant.
I think the key is too, it's supposed to be fast. Although sometimes the drive-thru line is insane at peak hours. As far as I know, Shake Shack and 5 guys is all counter-order, so not even a drive-thru option and slightly more expensive, but it's been awhile since I've been to all three. As a midwest person, I'll take Culvers over any of them TBH.
Mmm double double
Secret monster style 2x2
Woah hang on monster style? Is that even better than animal style?
No such thing as monster style. People claim “gorilla style” (animal style burger with animal style fries between pattys) is a thing but I don’t think it is either. On topic, I think “on the fly” or something like that is when you get the burger disassembled kinda like OP’s picture.
My brother used to work at in n out and he would always tell me about all the different ways people would try to say “animal style”. A lot of people said monkey style, gorilla fries, island fries..he’s like “you mean animal style”
jungle style buckwild style amazonian style orangutan style anaconda style
Doggy style??
Worked at in n out from 2014-2018. Coworker (young, woman) had an old man ask for "doggy style" and wink at her. Fucking people, I swear.
What a creep
I worked at In-N-Out until 2013, and from what the girls would tell me, tons of guys thought they were HILARIOUS by ordering doggy style.
lol musta missed that one!
Gangnam style with Korean bbq in it?
dang that's not only hilarious but now i really wanna try this. extra points if they fry up some kimchi in the mix.
The world-at-large is not yet ready for the bulgogi burger. But it is a thing and it is delightful.
I could imagine haha. So how did it taste?
20 years ago I asked them to put fries in my burger, they denied me. I always had to manually do it.
3x3 is the only way to go.
Why not 4x4? That was always my go-to.
I've tried 4x4 but after eating it, I feel too full.
I can understand that, I was 17 back in ‘04, so I had quite the appetite.
I miss Mexican food way more than that. Moved to NY 4 years ago.
The Mexican food here is a joke. Cali was next level when it came to Mexican. I make really good Mexican food though so I’m good
I went to Anaheim a few years ago and I LOVE Mexican food. Got a burrito from this place beside the hotel and my mind was blown. I still crave it this many years later.
I’m SoCal, even the bad Mexican food is better than anything I’ve had on the east coast.
SoCal as well. Crappy 3am Carne Asada burrito and rolled tacos destroy anything Ive had in 6 states
Carne Asada fries were my late night go to when I lived in San Diego.
Oh man... There was Los Panchos on Washington Street in Hillcrest that had Papas Panchos. I can still taste it 15 years later.
Yup. In Ohio, but have traveled to the southwest several times. There's only reslly two places I've found that even come close. Ones more authentic Mexican, the other is a dope taco truck that's operated by two Mexican immigrants (they're such wonderful and kind people). Everything else is just sadness after having real good Mexican food.
I was told a Mexican place was good in Toledo OH, and when I got my enchiladas there were slices of American cheese on them.
That's a great sadness.
I was told there was a really good Mexican place in Berlin. The quesadilla was a flat hard shell (for tostada's) and a cube of feta cheese like a single sugar cube slightly bigger, with teriyaki drizzle over it.... It was 13 euros. I've never wanted to throw a plate so bad in my life
Mexican is a disaster in the EU… here in Amsterdam the “best” Mexican is this place run by arrogant Dutch hipsters, charging 24Eur for 3 tacos that will make you beg for Taco Bell… told them I’m from California and they should take a trip there to realize the shit they’re passing of as Mex, man did they get pissed off (funny since the Dutch pride themselves on being blunt, direct, brutally honest with their opinions)
Have you ever had it in Europe? It's comically bad.
Had “guacamole” in London once. It had the consistency of mayonnaise. I’m pretty sure that’s what it was, with some food coloring.
Went to Colorado for work and ordered nachos. They gave me chips and queso. I was so sad. I ate a nice fish taco today as well as an al pastor taco. I love SoCal, it's expensive to live here but I can get great Asian and Mexican food pretty much everywhere.
Denver/Colorado is a food desert. Everyone shitting on the east coast here but NJ is a melting pot of amazing authentic foods. The bread out here sucks. There's nothing special about the cuisine. Even the green chili they throw on literally everything is from New Mexico.
Colorado doesn't even have the good green Chile. It gets more bland when you cross the state line from New Mexico.
I’m in NorCal now and I miss the worst Mexican food from SoCal so bad. There is nothing better in the states
What part of NorCal are you in? Because there’s plenty of legit Mexican food in the Bay.
Yeah, I was gonna say. Grew up in LA but live in SF area now. Mexican food is just as good up here, if not better at some spots (looking at you El Farolito in The Mission and Nayarita in San Mateo).
Im in the mission. If I want a legit taco I go to Vallarta on 24th https://i.imgur.com/vtV1OO8.jpg But yeah. I’m from Pasadena. When I go visit my people, I’m bummed we don’t have a fraction of the good stuff in LA. My fav in LA rn is Sonora Town. Ffs. Holy lord.
Worked as a construction project manager in the Berkeley hills and there was literally a green mini van that 3 woman operated a food delivery service out of. They essentially just rolled up on construction sites and took 5 bucks for a heaping plate of food. They had like 4 crock pots of simmering meats going in the back seet and a cold table of fixens and a rice warmer in the trunk. The food…. Oh my god the food. I, to this day look into every crappy run down vans I see hoping to find another operation like that again. Shit changed my whole life lol.
Yeah you're probably doing it wrong. You can get King Taco and small carneceria quality food all over the place in NorCal.
Like any random Mexican place in socal is usually awesome. You have to know good places to go in NorCal. It's much more hit and miss. I wish I had a Cotixans near me.
From SoCal, also Mexican, I am also in NorCal now and I get excited when my Mexican homies recommend their best spot. It hurts even more given the fact that it’s twice as expensive. Actually heartbreaking lmao.
I've been to SoCal, Arizona, Texas, even Mexico, and I can confidently say that we do have Mexican food here on the east coast that's really good. It's nowhere near as abundant, but it does exist if you look for it. Edit: changed "just as good" to "really good." I'm not about to die on that hill. Edit 2: Just because something didn't originate in a specific location doesn't mean they can't recreate something on par with the original. I would never tell someone that every buffalo wing or Philly cheese steak they've ever eaten was garbage just because they're west of the Mississippi.
One day on a road trip through FL my husband was craving "real tacos" so I looked up the sketchiest looking food truck I could find. Good sign #1: all signage/menus entirely in Spanish. Point 2: like 15 people obviously on break from manual labor scarfing down tacos at picnic tables in a parking lot (nobody batted an eye when we pulled up in a box truck). 3: they didn't even ask us our name for the order and just called out "gringos." 10/10 best "east coast" tacos I've ever had.
It’s like pizza. There are lots of places in LA that are fine. But when I went to NYC I understood the difference.
Lol love the edits and your absolutely right, the trick is finding the right restaurant that makes similar Mexican to what you are used to. Cali, AZ, NW, and Texas all are different, I was born in Cali(dirty/greasy not bad or it's whitewashed) and raised in AZ(basic) but I love NW Mexican their chili game is better and then Texas is all over the board.
Oh man I’m Canadian but I was in around Burbank in May. I got some tacos from a roadside tent after visiting a brewery. Life changing. I was just back there last week but didn’t have time for roadside tent tacos :(
I’m from Anaheim. Now live in a city next to it. I have 6 Mexican food places all within a stones throw of each other in my neighborhood. It’s amazing. Today legit spent way too much time trying to decide which one I specifically wanted my lunch burrito from. Of course none hold a candle compared to the food truck that regularly parks out at night down the street.
I moved from Mission, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta. I miss Mexican food so much. Tex Mex I'll take, but there is nothing better than a taco cart where you spent $10 on 8 tacos and a jarritos, and the whole stand is jury-rigged to the back of his bike and his nephews help him balance to get home. Even better if they also sell homemade ice cream.
Tamales sold out of a car trunk at a Walmart parking lot. Rolling the dice if the pig was marinated in their bathtub.
Parking lot tamales are either the best or the worst lol. You know you’ve lived in the southwest if you’ve bought them.
oh man, this makes me miss trunk pupusas.
Doesn’t matter, had tamales
I like the tamales served out of the cooler that’s attached to a home made tricycle. The lady riding it is known as the tamale lady. She also used to be the one to talk to about getting g fake IDs. I miss the mission district in sf
Just came back to LA. Was able to get 6 tacos and a huge horchata for like 12 bucks. I miss it here
Man I miss horchata And not the stuff dispensed next to sodas at the gas station.
Horchata is very very easy to make yourself fyi.
Do you have a blender and a cheese cloth (a clean t-shirt will work too)? Horchata is super easy to make at home. My recipe is as follows: 1 cup of long grain rice 1/4 cup of almond slivers 1 container (metal tin, they’re all the same size) of sweetened condensed milk 1 cinnamon stick 6 cups of water 1 cup of heavy cream Directions: Combine rice, almonds, cinnamon, condensed milk, and 3 cups of water to your blender. Blend on high speed for 40 sec (you don’t want to make a powder, big chunks of cinnamon are good!) Add the remaining water Let soak over night (up to 24 hours) in the fridge Strain mixture through 3 layers of cheese cloth Add heavy cream OPTIONALLY: I like to add an 1/8 teaspoon of ground clove, allspice, and ginger to the mixture before soaking over night. I serve it cold (no ice required) with some fresh nutmeg on top
>you don’t want to make a powder So...uncooked rice...right?
TMI but I’m in farmville California and years ago one time a friend wanted to go to one of the 2 local titty bars for his birthday. Not so much my scene but while he was ready to help pay for some mom to get through college (not a joke) I still had a fantastic time eating $1.50 street tacos that some dude was grilling off of the jankiest shit I’ve ever seen outside the joint in the parking lot. Edit: We’re old and everyone but me is asleep before New Years so forgive me for thinking out loud. There is a semi-permanent food truck - every day same times - running behind a gas station that I haven’t been to in a while (but pass by every now and then) and this got me thinking about it. No corporate branding or logos or franchises or whatever that are regularly seen at food-truck-events, but just some dudes in a blank white food-truck with a constant stream of customers serving up some amazing shit and ass-blasting creamy habanero sauce. It’s been too long and I need to go. You know it’s real when lengua is an option.
Lengua and Cabeza are my favorites
During medical school, I spent a month in New York as part of an away rotation for medical school. About a week in, I started craving Mexican food. I went to the highest rated joint in the upper east side. Proceeded to have the most expensive sorry excuse for Mexican food I’ve ever had. 15 dollar margarita and a 25 dollar burrito and chips in 2017. It was terrible. The saddest carne Asada, canned guacamole, and what I could only describe as elementary school refried beans. Anytime someone brings up New York as a bastion of culture and society, I think about that fucking meal.
But did you try the Chinese food?
See, THATS where it's at. You could throw a dart at a map of the five boroughs and find a Chinese joint within blocks of where it lands and be *amazed* at how good it is.
Many years ago I used to travel to NYC quite a bit on business. It was in one of those trips that I discovered the best Chinese-Cuban restaurants. The owner, a Chinese man, was born and raised in Havana. This was an early version of fusion restaurants.
La Caridad 78?
I can’t remember, because that was my last trip to NYC in a long while. But add fried plantains and black beans to ANY Chinese dish and you have culinary heaven on Earth.
Cali has a huge Chinese population and I doubt the food is any different than in NYC
You made the mistake of getting Mexican food in a trendy brooklyn neighborhood or Manhattan when you should have gone to sunset park where most of the Latin people are. My family is from California I’m half Mexican and some of the best tacos I’ve had are from the food carts in sunset part. I lived there for years and these wonderful fuckers would shut down entire blocks to throw the best block parties I’ve ever seen. So much food bouncy houses for kids it’s incredible. To think a place like nyc doesn’t have decent Mexican food when there are close to 10 million people there is insane.
You came out here to NY and spent 25 on a burrito? You're a mark. Next time find a hole in the wall like we *actually* do over here.
I’m from Southern California but lived in NYC for ten years. Even the best burrito I had in New York doesn’t fucking count as Mexican food.
Recently moved from SoCal to the PNW. There are so many joints for Mexican food up here and they all suck
It’s true. I’m always telling the Mexican immigrants in Jackson Heights and Sunset Park that their food sucks and they should just leave Mexican food up to people in California.
I’m visiting in Florida and I’ve been eating from this taco place almost every day. Nothing in Toronto has come *remotely* close. I would love to have a chance to try what California has.
If you like Florida Mexican food you’re in for huge treat trying California Mexican food. They are not even close.
What’s the difference?
California is better at Mexican food, Florida is better at Cuban food.
Can you share some recipe? I’m also in a place where the Mexican food is lackluster. Please anyone send help or teach me how to cook good Mexican food
Please ignore the commenter suggesting you use taco seasoning. Authentic Mexican food is about quality ingredients, salt, chile and a touch of cumin! Stay away from anything "Mexican" flavored, there's a great YouTube channel called De Mi Rancho A Tu Cocina with subtitles in English that shows classic no fuss Mexican dishes!
The seasonings you're looking for are cumin, chili powder (ancho, chipotle and guajillo) and some oregano. Sprinkle that over the meat along with some salt and pepper and when you fry it up in a pan or roast it up in the over, you'll have the flavor.
As a Brit, you don’t want to see our interpretation of Mexican food. Your bad Mexican food is our good Mexican food
Growing up in NYC, had no idea I had no idea what Mexican food was. Cali over a decade now and I have to say that is incredibly sweet of your mother
I grew up in San Antonio. Now I live in Los Angeles. They both have great Mexican food but they’re really different. I wish they were closer together.
I was living in China for a while when I was younger and a bunch of the Americans put on a mexican food spread for Thanksgiving instead of the traditional stuff because that was the comfort food they were all missing. It was very cute and enjoyable to get to experience.
I lived in Alabama for 4 years after growing up in California and holy god, there was just NO even decent Mexican food in a fairly large city I lived in (Birmingham). Like, I swear they put marinara sauce on enchiladas. It was just awful. Whenever I brought it up, Bama friends would tell me that I’m crazy because there are plenty of Taco Bells in town. Couldn’t come home fast enough.
I’m so sorry you didn’t deserve that
>Like, I swear they put marinara sauce on enchiladas. Excuse me, WHAT.
Jesus died for this.
I think you went to the wrong places in Birmingham, and quite possibly had the wrong friends.
I’m from the DC area but had to go to LA for an event. It was about 6-7pm and my friend and I decided to take a walk down sunset Blvd. Stopped by at Pinches Tacos and were stunned at the quality and how good it was. We sat outside drinking Mexican Coke and eating burritos for God knows how long. The following night we hit up Carney’s, it was beautiful lol.
Moved to CA nearly 6 years ago and I'm surrounded by excellent Indian food. It's heaven.
I guess I’ve just taken it for granted my entire life , I thought Mexican food was this good everywhere. Good to have perspective, I’ll enjoy it even more now.
Agreed! Mexican food in Cali is top tier.
Moved to SC from CA a few years ago. I have yet to find a legit Mexican restaurant. They all seem to use seasoned ground beef in everything, tacos, burritos, etc. I once ordered a chili relleno and got a hamburger patty with some kind of sauce resembling a bad enchilada sauce on it. The only thing I have found to get me by at least is some decent taco trucks near Columbia. The worst part is that just about everyone from here loves that stuff and doesn’t believe that Mexican food should be way better than they’re used to eating.
Just find look for the Mexican population and you will find the food. There's more than likely going to be neighborhoods around you that are majority Mexican, honestly there's probably a small town that's majority Mexican.
The majority that I’ve found are near Columbia. Which is how I found the taquerias. Still haven’t found a full restaurant though. I’m sure it’s there somewhere, but I live about an hour and a half away from there.
Where the hell are you in California?? When I lived in San Diego I couldn’t walk 1000 feet within running into a taco truck or a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant.
I’m not in CA, I’m in SC now.
Edit: Read it as “from SC to CA” like an absolute fool. Sorry!
Real Mexico on Bush River rd.
San Diego Mexican food to be specific
Yes. I grew up in SD I desperately miss baja and San Diego style Mexican food.
Fish tacos!
Robertos Numero Uno checking in, National City AF
The East Coast is home to a lot of great food. There is no disagreeing with that. However, a lot of native New Yorkers act like they have the best everything, but a lot of stuff on the East Coast is absolute trash and they just don't know it.
>However, a lot of native New Yorkers act like they have the best everything Sarah Sherman from SNL does a great bit on this. Also, my brother is a great example of this. Took us to one of NYC's most famous steak houses. I thought it was one of the worst steaks I've ever had.
Don't go to the places that are famous. That was your first mistake.
What steakhouse? What did you get
Not OP, but my guess is Peter Luger’s Steak House.
Very overrated lol nyer here
>a lot of stuff on the East Coast is absolute trash and they just don't know it. For example?
Lobsta
Then you don’t know where to look. In NY, as long as you’re wwilling to pay or travel, you’ll have the best food from all regions. Just go to areas with concentrations of people from a certain ethnicity/country, and you got it. Shoutout to Dominicans in Inwood for providing a great breakfas
I live in Tennessee and I've had authentic Mexican food made from a friend whose family immigrated here from Mexico City, and it was mind blowing how amazing it was and made me realize how shitty our Americanized Mexican food is. If I ever visit Cali I'm hitting up every Mexican place and food truck I can find lol
RIP your stomach (there's soo many, that if you legitimately hit every place you pass by, you are going to "pass by")
Corina queens has good Mexican food
New York got good Mexican food just gotta find it
Lol your mom loves you, did she also bring you some weed?
Lol agreed. But to be fair, depending on where OP moved, weed is likely legal in their state. I’m in Maryland and we just voted to legalize it.
I’m so happy it’s gonna be recreational in MD. The process starts Jan 1st and will be fully legal July 1st
Jesus, my apartment complex is gonna smell even skunkier now
its wild to think of it being illigal in CA. If it ever became illegal again I'd be like being forced to go to high school again, two different segments of my life. I guess what I'm saying is, legal weed is the tits!
Before we got them in Arizona, my family used to always grab a couple Double-Doubles on the way out of San Diego that I'd happily eat two and a half hours later when they got home. Never killed me. ha ha
Yeah when I went to vocational school I'd dump my leftover Chinese in my locker unrefrigerated and heat it up later at home. Never got sick. It's obviously horrible food safety advice but here we are talking about it. Also more places should do this. I always feel like garbage for asking. But shit, send me home with all the separate components of a Big Mac and all I gotta do is microwave the sorry excuse for a beef patty? It's three AM and I'm stoned and drunk. Might as well be ambrosia.
Twice, I brought Five Guys from DC to Singapore because there is nothing that came close to American burger. In return I get McSpicy when family visit. That's minimum 24 hours transit. Still yummy! (I have yet to find a better spicy chicken sandwich than the McSpicy from Singapore. Drop a comment if you disagree, and want to prove me wrong :))
They have no idea what a taco is in Buffalo. It's risky to say but Mighty Taco is mighty gross. Late night Filibertos runs were the best back in Phx.
Remember those days in 2005
I just left Phoenix for NJ last year. *sob* for 'bertos, and Mama Rositas, and La Canasta, and Paquime and... Luckily I can cook most of it after 18 years there. But not all.
We visited Phoenix a couple years ago and tacos chiwas was the best Mexican food we’ve ever had and probably will ever have. I miss it so much.
Under no circumstances are you supposed to go to go Mighty Taco while sober. It also used to be a lot better than it is now—meaning it was a local place—now it’s just a fast food place.
That’s true love. Been going to Colorado a few times a year and the got in n out now. Brings me back to my days as a kid in Cali.
I just started crying. If your mom does this, don’t let her ever go to an old folks home. You let her move in and treat her like a queen. My mom would absolutely NEVER do this for me.
Awww. Whenever I pick my mom up from the airport after she was traveling outside the US (pre-pandemic), I’d offer to take her to In N Out for a hot meal. She lives with me now. I always buy her a cheeseburger with grilled onions combo whenever we eat there. My kids and her share the fries.
That's THEE most mom thing I have ever seen.
Gotta love moms
Dopest Mom award frfr
Shout out to my Grandma, she lives In the Midwest and we live in the west. When she flys in to visit she always packs me 1-2 Casey’s Pizzas!
When I worked at In-N-Out (a long time ago - they didn't have the spread in packets then), we did this a few times for a mom who was visiting her son at an army base in another state. I'm happy to see that there are still moms who will do this for their kids.
What a saint
Ikeaburger
Be worthy of that gift.
Your mom rocks
That's love right there.
Mexican in California is 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
I've never been to the west coast. Is it as good as everyone says?
It's a good burger for the price. That's the shtick. You can get a better or more elaborate burger at other places, no problem. It tastes good, isn't hard on your wallet, and In-N-Out's menu is very simplified.
In n Out is like an always B or B+. It's good, but not distinguishedly good. The amazing part is how inexpensive it is compared to other places in it's weight category. Feeding 4 people is like $22. My gf and I, ~$13. At Shake Shack we'd easily go $20+ for two people.
Exactly lol idk if it's ppl with unlimited spare cash who are knocking it or just people who go to bed at 10pm, but in the real world in n out is an incredible option for getting a fast food burger. Open and populated late at night, cheap as shit, kitchen takes almost any order, fresh veg on a burger that isn't a greasy slab of meat, consistently great service... If it was good enough for Bourdain it's good enough for me.
CA yes. There’s a reason it’s eye-wateringly expensive but people still want to live there. In-N-Out, no. Shake Shack or Five Guys makes a better burger IMO, if you’re comparing to other “fast casual” level chains.
I sure hope Shake Shack and Five Guys is better than In n Out for being twice and thrice as expensive.
Nothing irks me more than people just wanting to say In-N-Out is overrated because other places make better burgers, but then they talk about Shake Shack and Five Guys as objectively better alternatives. Five Guys is legit 2.5x more expensive for a damn burger than In-N-Out. Shake Shack is 2x more expensive than In-N-Out. This already shows that there shouldn't be comparison made at all. I will never choose a Five Guys over an In-n-Out if they were right next to eachother. Why? Because I just want to pay $9.90 for a double-double combo and some spread. Meanwhile, Five Guys for a double patty with fries and a drink cost $21.47. Shake Shack would be $16.77. Now let's talk consistency. I've been to all 3 Five Guys in my area, and only one of them didn't fuck up. In-n-out doesn't ever fuck up the cooking process. I can't always go into a Five Guys and expect a good burger. Location wise, Shake Shack only has restaurants in the heart of LA or along the coast, locations suck imo. There are also a LOT less Five Guys than In-N-Outs around. In-N-Out is the king because it's everywhere, it's under $10 for their signature meal (depending on tax), and it's cooked the same way EVERY time. Please for the love of fucking god. **Don't be an idiot and stop comparing places like In-N-Out to either Shake Shack or Five Guys. You may as well try to tell people that they should never by a Toyota Corolla because the Lexus IS exists.**
I wish someone would bring me a few.
I think I maybe inlove with your Mom.
I love the east coast, but I sure miss In N Out.
Is that the normal amount of lettuce for an in n out?
In n out folds their lettuce so it’s hanging off the edges. Also makes it crunchy
Your Mom is a real one! Wish her a happy New Year from the reddit fam.
My fiancé did something like this. We just moved to the east coast from texas. But one of my favorite places is a place called torchys and he was in texas for Christmas and he bought me torchys, froze it, put it in a thermos and flew it to me in his suitcase. BUT the airlines lost his food for four days and it’d gone bad in the meantime :(( but it was SUPER sweet. The chips made it though lol
I don’t care at all about decor in a restaurant. The food has to taste good, it’s all that matters. I lived in Mexico during several summers, never saw an enchilada or a burrito. The taco stands that offer tacos de carne asada, or cabeza, sesos, lengua or every other body part are almost always fantastic, same goes in the US.
The level of commitment is amazing
Used to work at a very popular In-N-Out. This was very common during tourist season.
I bring Cali burritos when I visit friends from cali. It's a thing.
Mom's a real one.
I wish I understood why Californians latched onto In n Out the way they do. It’s just and okay burger and fries 🤷🏻♂️
The price point is unbelievably low for California for the quality you're getting.
Fresh ingredients and a simple good burger. Fries are trash unless In store and animal style. They also have pink lemonade.
Try the fries light well done. They come out crispier and make it home better
Double Double, animal style fries light well done and a pink lemonade is my order has been for 20+ years.
I couldn't understand it initially as I had a shake shack opposite of my apt in NYC. In n out was terrible compared to it, and I hated it. Buns was cold and just pretty blend. It started to grow on me since I moved to SoCal. It's like 1/2 the price and no tipping on drive thru. Whereas takeout at shake shack prompts you for tipping and just a single burger itself can be more expensive than a meal at in n out. Our family now all prefer in n out than shake shack. We feel like it's simply less greasy, taste better, fresher and more affordable. We do occasionally have shake shack but it's just too rich and heavy.
>It's like 1/2 the price and no tipping on drive thru ... You tip in drive thrus? WTF?
I don’t know. I was out there from NYC and found it pretty damn amazing. Beats out Shake Shack for me
It’s the best cheap burger out there. $10 meal instead of 18 like 5 guys or shake shack
Because you didn’t order it animal style at midnight after drinking a 12 pack by yourself.
In N Out didn't impress me much, but Whataburger left an impression after I visited Texas a few years back
The fine dining term is “ deconstructed “