Chefs Warn About This Common Habit At Mexican Restaurants

Too often, we tend to stick to our favorites when dining at Mexican restaurants, missing out on a range of strikingly rich cuisine. It's an understandable approach, but ordering the same dishes on every visit is actually one of the common mistakes diners make at Mexican restaurants. Sure, not every meal needs to be a culinary adventure, but trying something new can lead to happy discoveries. "If you approach the menu with curiosity and trust, the whole experience will be even more rewarding," says Chef Alex Tellez of Philadelphia's Sor Ynez.

One reason for staying with the same dish is familiarity, especially if you've mostly eaten at Mexican chains. "Mexican-inspired" outlets make up about 10% of all U.S. restaurants, and almost half of them fall into fast food, Tex-Mex, food truck, or taco-focused categories (via Pew Research Center). The cuisine's reputation for spice-laden dishes and cooking with meats such as tripe or beef tongue may also dissuade eaters who aren't acquainted with recipes featuring them. 

While spice and offal cuts have their place in Mexican cuisine, there's so much more to explore. Gerardo Duarte, the executive chef of Mayahuel in Astoria, New York, agrees. "Experienced guests understand the diversity of the cuisine. Dishes like pulpo encacahuatado or our tuna tartare with avocado purée, mango, salsa macha, and crispy sweet potato chicharrón highlight that," he explains.
The next time you're at a Mexican eatery, spend some time parsing through the menu or asking the staff for recommendations. There are dozens of Mexican dishes, like chiles rellenos, that should be on every foodie's bucket list.

A simple strategy for dipping your toes into authentic Mexican fare is balancing familiar formats with unfamiliar ingredients. Many of Mexico's most widespread dishes have regional variations you can try. One example is the highly customizable taco. Fillings can range from grilled steak (carne asada) and tender slow-cooked pork (carnitas) to options like Tacos de cabeza, which uses meat from the cow's head. Mexico City gave us the popular tacos al pastor, filled with thin strips of browned pork marinated with aromatics, spices, and sweet grilled pineapple. Since the mid-2010s, the saucy, distinctly red birria tacos have gone from being relatively unknown to a common fixture on Mexican fast food menus across the country. 

Soups are another common comfort food that forms a good catalogue of authentic flavors. Sopa Azteca, a light Aztec soup with crispy tortilla strips, or the highly configurable Pozole, with its hearty mix of meat, hominy (nixtamalized corn), herbs, and vegetables, are good starting points. For those looking to delve deeper, there's the meaty and traditional menudo, made with beef tripe. 

Then there are the salsas. These crucial accompaniments aren't just for spice heads — they enhance the flavor, moisture, acidity, and (potentially) heat of whatever you're eating. Dishes come with specific salsa pairings, the most common being salsa roja and salsa verde. Mole, a finishing sauce with deeply layered flavors, is another essential Mexican staple. A mole's ingredients incorporate Mexico's deepest cultural influences over centuries, going back to the Aztecs, making it one of the best ways to experience the country's cuisine.