So true about the variations in Mexican food. I've eaten all around the country and in the Mexican interior. Mexican interior food was so good--- Real beef burritos, not hamburger, just dripping with the tastiest au jus, the best tasting pollo asado I've ever had--- cooked and bought in the outside marketplace, and giant cast iron pots filled with oil that strips of meat were thrown into to make the best chicharonnes. Outside of the SW, Mexican food is mediocre at best and a version of Tex-Mex. California Mexican is pretty pathetic. Tex-Mex tends to be a heavier cusine and uses red chile sauce. Since I moved to New Mexico, I've been in heaven. Green chiles rule but we do have the red sauce too. A common question when you place your order is, Red or Green? Although, some people like Christmas which is both. New Mexican tends to be lighter than Tex-Mex. Another thing we have out here are Indian tacos, which are made of delicious Native American fry bread wrapped around traditional taco fillings. My son when stationed at the Navy Submarine base in Connecticut was having withdrawal symptoms. The only "Mexican" restaraunt within miles was a Taco Bell, where no lover of Mexican food would ever step foot. I helped him survive by sending lots of salsa from his favorite home eatery. When he came home on leave, he was like an addict who hadn't had a fix. He was insisted on going out to get New Mexican every night. You couldn't get him to go to any other kind of restaurant because it would be a long time before he got the good stuff again. lol