Article on McKee

[Roy\'82]

Nice article on McKee from the INCH newstand:

http://www.syracuse.com/sports/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1073554559223770.xml

Is Dos Amigos still the only Mexican place in town? Believe it or not when it oppened around 1980 that was my first exposure to Mexican food.

Refried Roy

[Will]

There's also Viva Taqueria near the Commons, although I've never been there and have no idea if it's good Mexican food or not.  And, of course, there's Taco Bell. :-P

[DisplacedCornellian]

Viva Taqueria is actually pretty good and fairly cheap.  There is also Coyote Loco over near East Hill Plaza...but I've never been there and have heard mixed things.

[peterg]

Dos Amigos is long gone.

[peterg]

Coyote Loco closed at the end of the summer.  We've lost the best margaritas around here.  To all you entrepreneurs who want to return to Ithaca, in my estimation there's room for a good Mexican restaurant in town.

[Greg Berge]

Juana's Cantina used to be great when it was a tiny place up on Buffalo (?) St.   The lesson of Coyote Loco is don't locate an overpriced yuppie lunch place right next door to the bovine artificial insemination facility.



Post Edited (01-08-04 23:28)

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

Juana's Cantina!  ::banana::

That was my first introduction to Mexican food.  And just a half block from my apartment.

JH

[dss28]

Also, the Statler offers those Southwestern wraps....  ::nut::

[jtwcornell91]

Don't forget Taco Night at RPU :-P

[The Rancor]

there is no good mexican food in ithaca. after years of living in the southwest, i can verify that there just isnt anything this side of the Mississippi river that compares (not even in NYC a mecca of fantastic gastronomy....) Any one who tells you different just dosnt know what they are talking about. Viva Diarrhea is cheap and plentiful, but mexican it is not. never trust a mexican place that has no lard and serves crappy salsa. Sorry mcKee, you just need to eat when you go home, like i do.

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

The Rancor:

If you're looking for a hole-in-the-wall taqueria like you'd find in Harlingen, Nogales, or San Ysidro, you're right, you won't find that east of the Mississippi.  Hell, you won't find it north of I-10, maybe even I-8!  

But I disagree that "real" Mexican restaurants don't exist here.  I suspect they'd never survive in a major city that doesn't have a substantial Mexican population, since they wouldn't draw enough business to pay the rent without caving to the lowest common denominator.  

My experience is you'll find real Mexican food in the smaller cities, where the cost of a business isn't so outrageous.  It will be family owned - a woman and her daughter who decided to open a restaurant in their home (like one here in PA), or something like that.  That way they can survive on a dedicated group of knowledgeable, regular clientele, without having to "gringo-fy" their menu.

But anything other than that might as well be Chi-Chi's.

JH

JH

[dss28]

K, I'm officially in the mood for Mexican now.  Maybe John Harvard's will have some nachos or something.

[The Rancor]

i'm still looking, my friend, and if you know of anything in a 2 hour radius of ithaca, i'm there! i've concidered having Mamma Rancor send me some  burritos from Robertos, my Las Vegas 24/7 favorite. the carne assadda is the shizznit. but for fairness, i couldnt find a decent pizza for the life of me while i lived there!

[Jeff Hopkins \'82]

I admit it, they're few and far between.

But if you ever get to Allentown (yes, Allentown), the restaurant here is called Amigo Mio.  It's located on the first floor of a house at 5th & Susquehanna.  They actually made a list of the top 200 Mexican restaurants in the USA about 20 years back.  However, it keeps rather erratic hours, since if there's any sort of family-based conflict, they close.  

Therefore, I wouldn't head here on a whim.  We're 3+ hours from Ithaca,  and there's NOTHING else to hold your interest if they're closed.

JH

[Section A]

Well this is WAY off-topic now, but..........Speaking of burritos, have any of you ever been to Chipotle? It's a growing chain here in the midwest (I believe it originated in Denver) and is extremely popular. Their burritos are fantastic.