New York is a land of superlatives, where natives and transplants alike talk up their city with Mohammad Ali-esque conviction. They will argue their superiority to absurdity, even when they are wrong, on matters like civility, driving, beaches and the weather. In other words, even when they lose, they are convinced that have won.
Yet in spite of this trash-talking exceptionalism, New Yorkers have somehow managed to cowardly surrender when it comes to the subject of Mexican food, a cuisine that inspires quixotic fandom with its diversity of tastes and styles. Even Adam Platt, New York Magazine’s food critic, recently prefaced his recurring video series, in which he and his teenage daughter trade their respective generational takes on classic foods, by saying, “I don’t think New York has great Mexican food .”Never mind the fact that they then proceed to gorge on a variety of tacos.
So what gives, New Yorkers?
According to Steven Alvarez, a Mexican American and English professor-turned-food writer, New Yorkers have no idea what they are talking about — and they are really missing out.
As he explained to Gothamist and on The Brian Lehrer Show on Thursday, most Mexicans in New York are from Puebla, a state in south-central Mexico, hence its nickname of “Puebla York.” Although Poblanos have been fixtures in the city’s working-class community, especially in bodegas and restaurants, their unique style of Mexican food has been largely overshadowed by more mainstream versions like Tex-Mex and Cal-Mex.
Alvarez recently charted the history of the Poblano community in New York in an essay for Eater, aptly titled “Anyone Saying New York’s Mexican Food Sucks Hasn’t Visited Puebla York.”
Over the years, Poblano food has popped up in bodegas and restaurants in outer-borough neighborhoods where Mexicans have fanned out and formed "Little Mexicos": East Harlem in Manhattan; Corona and Jackson Heights, Queens; Port Richmond, Staten Island; Mott Haven, South Bronx; and Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
The signature Poblano dishes may be the taco placero, which translates into “market taco,” a reference to where the delicacies are typically sold in southern Mexican cities. The taco placero, which made its debut in the bodega taquería (bodegas with makeshift taco stands in the back), has been described as “off-the-wall.” Its large tortilla base allows for improvisation, but the most common toppings are “rice, grilled jalapeños, and “a fat, white orb of a hardboiled egg plunked down in the center,” according to the Village Voice.
Alvarez, who was raised in Arizona and moved to New York in 2005, confessed that he initially had the same reservations about Mexican food in New York City. But as he writes in his Eater essay, his mind was blown after accidentally stumbling across a taco placeros stand in East Harlem. “The taco’s layered textures combined the softness of the egg, rice, nopal, and tortilla with the spicy crunch of the rajas, which warmed the way for the salsa roja I added,” he wrote. “It was nothing like the Sonoran-style grilled meat tacos I had known in Arizona: I had arrived in Puebla York.”
He told Gothamist that he became interested in the history of food after reading Gustavo Arellano’s widely hailed book “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America,” about the evolution (and appropriation) of Mexican food.
He now teaches a class at St. John’s University called “Taco Literacy,” in which students write about their personal connections to food and contemplate the social, political and economic forces that have shaped their experiences. He ticked off a list of questions he likes to ask them: “Whose hands have touched it? Who gets to eat it? Who gets to eat in the restaurant where it is served?”
Ultimately, he argued, “You cannot know the food without knowing the people.”
Which is all the more reason why New Yorkers, at this pivotal moment, in this worldly city, need to do better when it comes to Mexican food, and for that matter, Hispanic cuisines in general. Mexicans rank as the third largest Latinx group in New York City, after Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, who they are expected to surpass in 2036.
Demographics aside, in a city that is all about eating out, Mexicans have been an ubiquitous and invaluable presence in restaurants, from dishwashers to busboys to prep cooks and increasingly, chefs. They are the “backbone of the industry,” as the late food writer Anthony Bourdain rightly pointed out.
Across the outer-boroughs, Alvarez has many favorite Mexican spots, but likes to recommend La Morada, a popular Oaxacan (which, by the way, is another growing Mexican community in New York City) restaurant in the fast-gentrifying South Bronx. The food is great, he told Gothamist, but it’s more than that. Natalia Mendez and her family, who owns La Morada, have created a community and political organizing space where immigrants learn about their rights. Her son Marco Saavedra co-wrote a book about undocumented youth. In September 2011, he was arrested during a protest in Charlotte, North Carolina against U.S. immigration policy. His story was featured in the Prospect and on an episode of "This American Life".
The secret to tasting good Mexican food in New York City is ridiculously obvious and true of any cuisine. “To really find fantastic food you have to find where Mexican folks are living,” Alvarez said on the Brian Lehrer Show.
But he also reminded New Yorkers, “If you are not of that community, you are entering that community. It’s not parachuting in and taking your Instagram and leaving. It’s appreciating that.”
