Mike G

Here's a thread from LTHForum about Chicago places:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=58

The theory is that Chicago actually has more authentic Mexican food (from certain regions at least) than places that border Mexico like California and Texas, because if you're on the border there's more interplay of the cultures and you develop a hybrid cuisine like Tex-Mex, where in Chicago the Mexican food is either straight off the bus authentic or totally inauthentic gringo food, there's little in between. Now, that could have some truth to it or it could be local boosterism (probably both; I have never had especially good Mex in California but I'd be very surprised if the real thing didn't exist in Texas). But anyone who has been to Mexico is heartily encouraged to test the validity of this theory any Sunday morning at Chicago's Maxwell Street Market, which really is one of the great cross-cultural experiences in America.