You had regular access to authentic Mexican at some point? I hear even our 'good' places pale in comparison to, say, Texas Mexican places. I hope to try that one day.
Oh, here in rural PA there's little in the way of real Mexican food. We have Chili's - more southwest - and Don Pablo's which is pretty good, but still a long drive for either for me. And we had Chi chi's till the green onion disaster, people getting ill, one or more died.
This place is about 60 miles west of me, and is yummo. It's the closest place. We discovered another at a mall about 90 miles away. When my son was younger, he spotted it, but I thought it was just a bar and didn't want to take my child there to eat. It's my favorite place to go. Best tamales I've had yet.
If I were in your position, my stomach would argue that the picture of Zapata was just a senseless fashion statement, like those Che shirts a lot of college kids wear. ;)
I will be driving by that way on Friday, Cinco de Mayo, and my stomach may just win that battle. ;-)
Of course, now that I am totally cognizant of the unassuming guy in the photo, well, I'll have to really dicuss and argue with my stomach before going in. It is delicious. However, it's one of the few 'real' Mexican places locally where the workers aren't friendly. Not that it matters, it was just a surprise.
Yes, being from Texas and hispanic, I had access to Mexican food - both family/home cooked meals and restaurant cooked meals- on a daily basis. I really miss my mom's cooking, but my wife cooks great Italian dishes, so it balances out.
Don Pablo's has a new item, Carnitas, that is very good; but for the most part, the places I've tried in NJ pale in comparison to places in Texas. One thing I did find here in abundance is good Italian food and the pizza here beats Texas hands down.
The place you described 60 miles west of you sounds great. It reminds of a smoke-house my father use to take me to for lunch waaay back when I was a kid and we were living in a small Texas town (Seguin).
The smoke-house was really a Mom & Pop Shop of sorts. You could tell that the store was really set up to be a meat market, but at the front of the store, just enough space was apportioned so that the butcher's wife could sell clothes and other trinkets that she had made. I remember seeing in the store window a mannequin in a wedding dress and how the dress had been tarnished from the smoke and smelled like barbeque. Who would buy that? LOL.
At the very back of the store were a row of tables that the butcher had set up for regular customers to come in, shoot the s#!t, and have lunch. I also remember thinking how odd it was that the cutlery was chained to the tables! We would always get the same thing- a couple of sausage links, a few slices of bread, and a Big Red. Then we would go to a building out back and pick out a few pounds of meat to take home for the week.
I hadn't thought about it till now, but I don't think I have ever told my dad how much I enjoyed going with him to that store.
Anyway, good luck fighting with your stomach!