Has Mexican food become bland? Maybe…

Editor’s note: This is an editorial. Like a news article, an editorial is based on facts but also contains opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and bear no association with our editorial staff.

SALT LAKE CITY — Everyone in Utah has a favorite Mexican restaurant. Except maybe the newcomers from California. There’s a guy who used to work here who sneered that Utahns’ favorite condiment is sugar … and they even put it in their Mexican food.

I asked another Californian what her favorite Mexican place was and she said there weren’t any here in Utah. But when I asked this taco snob what her favorite place in California was, she said since the pandemic, they’ve all gone down or closed.

You might think that the most authentic Mexican restaurants are in Mexico City. But that’s not necessarily the case anymore, due to the weak stomachs of American tourists. The New York Times reports that some taco shops in Mexico City are turning down the heat to accommodate visitors.

At Taqueria Los Amigos, they’ve removed the serrano peppers from the pico and left only tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Locals accidentally get the pico and think, “Ugh… Why do I have lettuce in my mouth? What are you doing?” Which is actually “Que estas haciendo?”

Props for my 8^th Great Spanish teacher there.

But if you can’t find authentic Mexican food in Mexico City, where do you turn? My California burrito snob says the only answer is street tacos. They’re great, but like you, I still love my favorite Mexican place.

And if they add sugar? Well…that’s Utah.

Jeff Caplan is host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on on facebook. And X.

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