7 ms·

When I lived in California, Mexican food was cheap and almost always delicious. Where I currently live (somewhere in Europe), Mexican food is always expensive,

by kleiba 9y ago

When I lived in California, Mexican food was cheap and almost always delicious. Where I currently live (somewhere in Europe), Mexican food is always expensive, sometimes good, but most often mediocre. I am yet to have an amazing and cheap Mexican meal over here.

icantdrive55 9y ago
If someone held a gun to my head, and told he to open a restaurant with my meager saving; I always felt it would be a take-out burrito place. I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like a burrito, or pizza. My point is I think a clean burrito joint would go over practically anywhere. It needs to be clean, and the portions need to be generous, and the owner needs to keep an eye on the business.
- PeterisP 9y ago
  In many parts of Europe kebab shops have taken the role that burritos and such occupy in Americas; the dishes are a bit different in ingredients and taste, but they're similar enough in the business details & way of consumption to be pretty much replacements for each other.
  - freeflight 9y ago
    In some places, there's pretty much a kebap shop over-saturation, at least in Germany. Luckily these past years a lot of the "US food" has become way more popular. Tons of "artisan burger" restaurants and burrito/taco shops popping up. US-style food trucks, with all kinds of different offerings, also have become very popular.
    - stevenwoo 9y ago
      The BBC covered the kebab situation in Germany last year. http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170203-germanys-favourite-fast-food http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170203-germanys-favourite-...
      - passiveincomelg 9y ago
        From the article: "But it’s not just the taste, large portions or affordability – costing anywhere between €4.50 to €14." I haven't seen a 14 Euro Doener anywhere, but I'm sure they exist. But 4.50 is definitely not the cheapest. 2.50-3.50 is actually the most common price I see around Berlin.
        krageon 9y ago
        A proper one with some kind of meat in it? Or just a bald one with maybe some lettuce in it?
        passiveincomelg 9y ago
        "Some kind of meat", yes. I can't imagine it to be of high quality, so hesitate to call it "proper". AFAIK the main noticable difference is whether the kebab is made of ground meat or not. The latter being more expensive and supposedly of higher quality. But in the end it's mostly going to be factory meat so it makes no difference, IMHO (there are exceptions of course: https://www.meraba.de/ https://www.meraba.de/).
    - thesimon 9y ago
      >Tons of "artisan burger" restaurants and burrito/taco shops popping up. US-style food trucks, with all kinds of different offerings, also have become very popular. More upmarket segment and pricing though, not really in the category of kebap shops.
      - freeflight 9y ago
        Kebap shops already have had burger competition, in their price category, for quite a while with McD/BK.
  - dsr_ 9y ago
    The US is ready for a kebab invasion. It will almost certainly happen in the next five years. The peak will hit when a franchise chain of kebab places goes national. I'd keep my eyes on Chicken & Rice Guys (3 locations around Boston, plus a truck), but they really need ten million dollars or so to win the domestic market.
    - girvo 9y ago
      And after trying to steal my countries idiotic politicians statement about smashed avo and millenials, you’ll be stealing our HSPs [0] next! [0] Halal Snack Pack, served originally by west Sydney kebab shops, it’s literally the greatest food to eat drunk. Which I find amusing — we do love our irony down here!
      - toomanybeersies 9y ago
        Oh dear lord I love HSPs. Nothing like shovelling 2000 calories of meat and potatoes down your gullet after a boozy night.
      - jpatokal 9y ago
        For everybody wondering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal_snack_pack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal_snack_pack Basically french fries/chips covered with kebab meat and liberally doused with various sauces.
    - bobthepanda 9y ago
      Halal Guys from New York is already national, and actually has international locations: https://thehalalguys.com/locations/ https://thehalalguys.com/locations/
    - golemiprague 9y ago
      But the whole idea of the kebab shop or chicken shop is that it is not a franchise chain, except from nandos. The beauty of it is that each kebab shop differ a little bit from the other creating a landscape of discovery and awe. We wouldn't have the pengest munch if not for this diversity of cheap chicken shops.
- tokyodude 9y ago
  in my experience the Japanese more often than not don’t like burritos or in particular don’t like Mexican style beans.
- fyfy18 9y ago
  IMO I think a lot of people feel the same, which is why you end up with so many mediocre Mexican restaurants. There’s an independent burrito place right next to my office (big tower block, so just being there guarantees them customers), and it has good prices (for London), good sized portions and is clean, but the taste is mediocre at best.
- animal531 9y ago
  I'm that person. The main reason being that I prefer food that start life on my plate separately, so that I can choose to take a bite of each in turn. After that I don't especially like cheese, which spoils a lot of these types of dishes. I find that a lot of people agree with my first point, it's rarer to find people that aren't into cheese.
JumpCrisscross 9y ago
> Mexican food is always expensive, sometimes good, but most often mediocre NYC.
- bradleyjg 9y ago
  Comes out to Queens (more specifically Elmhurst / Corona). I won't guarantee you'll like it, non gustibus and all that, but it's definitely not always expensive.
koliber 9y ago
I think it's a function of distance from source. Mexico is close to the US. The US has a sizable Mexican population, which means expertise. It also means there is a demand for Mexican food, which spurs competition. Finally, ingredients for Mexican food (whether sourced from Mexico or elsewhere) are readily available. This creates an environment where its possible to find delicious and reasonable priced Mexican food. Europe is far from Mexico, and the situation is different. Allow me to generalize "Europe": In Europe you can get delicious and cheap middle Eastern food. P.S. Where in Europe do you live? Last year we had a really good Mexican restaurant open in Warsaw, Poland.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> When I lived in California, Mexican food was cheap and almost always delicious. That quality Mexican food is more readily available in a place that used to be Mexico and which has since that time always had a substantial Mexican population is, perhaps, not so surprising.

by kleiba 9y ago

icantdrive55 9y ago

If someone held a gun to my head, and told he to open a restaurant with my meager saving; I always felt it would be a take-out burrito place. I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like a burrito, or pizza. My point is I think a clean burrito joint would go over practically anywhere. It needs to be clean, and the portions need to be generous, and the owner needs to keep an eye on the business.

PeterisP 9y ago
In many parts of Europe kebab shops have taken the role that burritos and such occupy in Americas; the dishes are a bit different in ingredients and taste, but they're similar enough in the business details & way of consumption to be pretty much replacements for each other.
- freeflight 9y ago
  In some places, there's pretty much a kebap shop over-saturation, at least in Germany. Luckily these past years a lot of the "US food" has become way more popular. Tons of "artisan burger" restaurants and burrito/taco shops popping up. US-style food trucks, with all kinds of different offerings, also have become very popular.
  - stevenwoo 9y ago
    The BBC covered the kebab situation in Germany last year. http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170203-germanys-favourite-fast-food http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170203-germanys-favourite-...
    - passiveincomelg 9y ago
      From the article: "But it’s not just the taste, large portions or affordability – costing anywhere between €4.50 to €14." I haven't seen a 14 Euro Doener anywhere, but I'm sure they exist. But 4.50 is definitely not the cheapest. 2.50-3.50 is actually the most common price I see around Berlin.
      - krageon 9y ago
        A proper one with some kind of meat in it? Or just a bald one with maybe some lettuce in it?
        passiveincomelg 9y ago
        "Some kind of meat", yes. I can't imagine it to be of high quality, so hesitate to call it "proper". AFAIK the main noticable difference is whether the kebab is made of ground meat or not. The latter being more expensive and supposedly of higher quality. But in the end it's mostly going to be factory meat so it makes no difference, IMHO (there are exceptions of course: https://www.meraba.de/ https://www.meraba.de/).
  - thesimon 9y ago
    >Tons of "artisan burger" restaurants and burrito/taco shops popping up. US-style food trucks, with all kinds of different offerings, also have become very popular. More upmarket segment and pricing though, not really in the category of kebap shops.
    - freeflight 9y ago
      Kebap shops already have had burger competition, in their price category, for quite a while with McD/BK.
- dsr_ 9y ago
  The US is ready for a kebab invasion. It will almost certainly happen in the next five years. The peak will hit when a franchise chain of kebab places goes national. I'd keep my eyes on Chicken & Rice Guys (3 locations around Boston, plus a truck), but they really need ten million dollars or so to win the domestic market.
  - girvo 9y ago
    And after trying to steal my countries idiotic politicians statement about smashed avo and millenials, you’ll be stealing our HSPs [0] next! [0] Halal Snack Pack, served originally by west Sydney kebab shops, it’s literally the greatest food to eat drunk. Which I find amusing — we do love our irony down here!
    - toomanybeersies 9y ago
      Oh dear lord I love HSPs. Nothing like shovelling 2000 calories of meat and potatoes down your gullet after a boozy night.
    - jpatokal 9y ago
      For everybody wondering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal_snack_pack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal_snack_pack Basically french fries/chips covered with kebab meat and liberally doused with various sauces.
  - bobthepanda 9y ago
    Halal Guys from New York is already national, and actually has international locations: https://thehalalguys.com/locations/ https://thehalalguys.com/locations/
  - golemiprague 9y ago
    But the whole idea of the kebab shop or chicken shop is that it is not a franchise chain, except from nandos. The beauty of it is that each kebab shop differ a little bit from the other creating a landscape of discovery and awe. We wouldn't have the pengest munch if not for this diversity of cheap chicken shops.
tokyodude 9y ago
in my experience the Japanese more often than not don’t like burritos or in particular don’t like Mexican style beans.
fyfy18 9y ago
IMO I think a lot of people feel the same, which is why you end up with so many mediocre Mexican restaurants. There’s an independent burrito place right next to my office (big tower block, so just being there guarantees them customers), and it has good prices (for London), good sized portions and is clean, but the taste is mediocre at best.
animal531 9y ago
I'm that person. The main reason being that I prefer food that start life on my plate separately, so that I can choose to take a bite of each in turn. After that I don't especially like cheese, which spoils a lot of these types of dishes. I find that a lot of people agree with my first point, it's rarer to find people that aren't into cheese.

JumpCrisscross 9y ago

> Mexican food is always expensive, sometimes good, but most often mediocre NYC.

bradleyjg 9y ago
Comes out to Queens (more specifically Elmhurst / Corona). I won't guarantee you'll like it, non gustibus and all that, but it's definitely not always expensive.

koliber 9y ago

I think it's a function of distance from source. Mexico is close to the US. The US has a sizable Mexican population, which means expertise. It also means there is a demand for Mexican food, which spurs competition. Finally, ingredients for Mexican food (whether sourced from Mexico or elsewhere) are readily available. This creates an environment where its possible to find delicious and reasonable priced Mexican food. Europe is far from Mexico, and the situation is different. Allow me to generalize "Europe": In Europe you can get delicious and cheap middle Eastern food. P.S. Where in Europe do you live? Last year we had a really good Mexican restaurant open in Warsaw, Poland.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> When I lived in California, Mexican food was cheap and almost always delicious. That quality Mexican food is more readily available in a place that used to be Mexico and which has since that time always had a substantial Mexican population is, perhaps, not so surprising.