I went to a Mexican Restaurant where there weren't any tacos or burritos on the menu! What gives?

Question

I went to this Mexican restaurant in downtown Dallas that advertised itself as having "Oaxacan" cuisine (weird cuz the name is not pronounced that way). There weren't any tacos or burritos on the menu, and the servers got pretty upset when we kept pressing them about it. They were saying that we should try this stuff called molay, which is made of chocolate (on top of chicken???) I just thought that sounded pretty gross so we went up and left, then went to El Torito for some real mexican food. What the hecks up with this???

Answer 1

El Torito must not be real mexican food then. Take a trip to Mexico and see if you can find tacos and burritos...they will laugh at you. That's not authentic.

You got up and left? Way to continue the tradition that Americans are close minded and don't want anything to do with things outside of their bubble.

Before you make fun of culture...you should research it a little bit.

Answer 2

How ignorant can you be? If tacos and burritos are you be all end all of Mexican cuisine you deserve a restaurant like El Torito.
If a Mexican said that American cuisine is limited to Pizza, Hamburgers and Hot Dogs we would also be perceived as complete ignorants because there is apple pie, fried chicken, pot roast, baked beans, jambalaya and the entire gamut American traditional cuisine has to offer.

Oaxaca is one of 32 Mexican States, and one of the many regions in Mexico with their own distinctive cuisine. Mexican cuisine is a melange of Prehispanic Native Indian, Spanish and French cuisines, mole is a traditional dish from Oaxaca, mole is a dark sauce which does include chocolate as one of the many ingredients, but it is not the only one or the most important one as well. It is traditionally poured over chicken and eaten with white rice on the side, you missed a real treat by the way.

Tacos are Mexican, I'll grant you that, but they are not the only Mexican food worth knowing, since their popularity rose in the USA they have become Americanized to the point they cannot be considered true Mexican, more like quasi-Mexican Southwestern Tex Mex stuff, but if you refuse to even consider the existence of the enormous diversity in Mexican food which thank God is certainly not limited like your cultural preferences, go ahead live on in blissful ignorance, just another victim of American offensive cultural stereotypes against other nations and cultures.

Dallas, by the way is home to many travel educated people and Mexicans as well, who know how to appreciate the real thing.

Answer 3

Mexico is a large country, with regional cuisines. This restaurant features Oaxacan cuisine (that's the correct spelling, and the correct pronunciation is an Hispanic one and not an English one). Oaxaca is a more southern state in Mexico, while the northern states and Tex-Mex cuisines would include the foods that believed to be Mexican.

A mole sauce is made of bitter chocolate, with chili added. I'd think that this would actually be quite a delicious preparation, if I still ate rotting animal flesh.

Your attitude to this is the equivalent of going to a Siusan restaurant and expecting to find chow mein, which is an entirely American dish.

What's up with this is that you need to grow up and realize that the world is a great big place. Lose the attitude, dude.

Answer 4

Molay is a traditional dish. the mexicans cooked with chocolate at the time of the Incas and cortez. Its not chocolate as we think of it in abar and sweet...it is a pretty savoury substance actually and used to be a drink only. chocolate is a major traition in their cookeing and gross as it might seem what it adds is colour and depth of flavour. I guaranteee you wouldnt know it was chocolate per say!
Tacos and burritos are more americanised versions using their traditional breads. In Mexico they wouldnt eat that way!
You should have given it a go and seen what the "real food" tasted like, im sure you would have been agreeably surprised! I know you were shocked to find it so different, but its like American chinese food...it doesnt bear much relationship to chinese food in china!

I hope you will maybe be more open minded and try if it ever happens gain, you might have made an exciting discovery!

Answer 5

OK first off, Oaxaca is spelled right and pronounced the same it is spelled.(x is pronounced j in Spanish, just like Mexico is Mejico in Spanish) Now to the good stuff. If you go to Mexico and ask for a burrito, people will look at you funny because there is no such food. A burrito is something that Americans made up and called it Mexican food. Also when in Mexico, if you order tacos, they will always be soft tacos. The frying of a corn tortilla was another of those ideas Americans got. Now there are places like Taco Bell that want to resemble Mexican food, but in no way are. Real Mexican restaurants want to maintain the image an authenticity of Mexican food and will not produce fake "Mexican food". I know because I worked as a waiter at one of those places. Whenever somebody would walk in and ask for a hard taco with ground beef in it, I would think to myself, "why don't you just go to Taco Bell". You go to a French restaurant for French food, not french fries!

Answer 6

Mole is mexican food, my mother cooks it sometimes and it is very delicious.
Have you tried curry??, well I find it similar
I went to an Indian restaurant in Mexico city and curry is similar, the color and consistency, just different taste
Tacos are mexican also, but in your country you will not find the mexican taste in tacos unles you go to a mexican house and some mexican woman cook them.
Here in Mexico I can eat a lot of different tacos, but I like the steak tacos. Texmex??, Well I don´t think so, Aztecs, old mexican tribes, use to eat tacos and mole a long time ago.
Well If I were you, next time that I travel to Dallas, I would go to that restaurant and have some delicious mole
And chicken with mole!!, and rice....you will fall in love!!

Answer 7

have you traveled around the states???if so you would know that in each area there are different kinds of foods like the south has different kinds of food than the east and west ,and north ,well Thats how it is in Mexico as well.and mole" is wonderful and if you had been adventurous you would have gotten something wonderful to eat ,it sounds not so great if you hear whats in it ,but have you ever gotten an enchilada with a sort of slightly sweet and sort of cinnamon taste to the sauce??if so you have tasted a slightly different version of what mole" is like its so good!! try going back at lunch time and get a variety plate at a lower price that has mole" and give it a try i think you wont be disappointed.i thought the same thing when i hear about it until i ate it yummmmm,don't miss out just give it a try.i just made some for supper the other night and my son who is 16 and a picky eater loved it its best eaten with beans and salsa and warm corn tortillas ,and they have all kinds of different foods around Mexico ,have you ever tried something new from a different area like Chinese for the first time ??? there u go just go for it !! i wish you could let me know if you did try it and see what you thought,i do allow emails just add me to contacts and let me know have fun!!

Answer 8

They were serving real authentic cuisine from Oaxaca! Mole is actually pretty good and has hundreds of variations. Mexican food is not only tacos and burritos....that's like going to an American restaurant and expecting to see only hamburgers and fries.

Answer 9

There are so many Mexican foods, that you can eat 365 day something different, I am Mexican and i never had eaten a burrito, for my that's not real food
If that's what you want go to taco bell and stay there

Answer 10

This IS real Mexican food. What they serve at Taco Bell is Americanized Mexican food. Mole sauce has, as an ingredient, dark UNSWEETENED chocolate. It is fabulous.
(I always add unsweetened cocoa powder to my chili.)
If you travel to Mexico, it is only at tourist traps that you find tacos. They are strictly for American tastes. By that I mean the "McDonalds" generation of fast food, and bland unexciting food.
Really, try the chicken mole. You'll love it. (unless your idea of fine dining is a Big Mac.)