¡Bienvenidos!

And it begins... The search for the best Mexican food on the Central Coast (from San Francisco down to San Luis Obispo) is on!

I love to eat, and what I love to eat most is Mexican food. I come by it honestly... My paternal grandmother was Mexican (although she swore she was Spanish!) and I still have fond memories of her making tamales at Christmas.  I was born and raised in Southern California (El Cajon to be exact, a suburb of San Diego) and grew up loving Mexican food.  I even worked at a Mexican food restaurant in high school (and probably managed to eat my pay check in tacos and enchiladas each month).  I joined the Army in 1996 and moved out of California, spending every year away trying to find Mexican cuisine that could match the comida sabrosa of my boyhood haunts.  The fact is, nothing I found (even in my years in Texas) compared with the quality and value of Mexican food prepared and sold in California.  Well, I have recently returned to my roots, moving back to California, settling near my parents and grandparents on California's Central Coast (which includes cities with fine Hispanic tradition and influence, like Monterey, Salinas, San Jose, etc.).

My family also shares my passion for good Mexican fare, and a scrumptious homemade Mexican favorite is often the centerpiece of family gatherings.  As we recently sat in a Seaside taqueria that we were trying for the first time (reviewed in my next post), my Mom and I began discussing how many different Mexican restaurants, taquerias, holes-in-the-wall, and lunch trucks there must be in the Central Coast region.  What if we could try them all? But, if we did that, how would we remember which ones we liked and which ones we didn't, which ones were good values and which ones might not be worth another visit?  It seemed like a food journal was in order, and what better way to journal than doing it for the world to see on a blog. That is what you've stumbled onto here.

This blog will be our running list of reviews on Mexican restaurants (big or small, chain or independent, cheap or expensive) at which we have occasion to dine on the Central Coast.  We'll provide details on the location of each, its average cost, whether or not it is a good value, and details about the food.  And, for good measure, we'll occasionally throw in tasty Mexican recipes my family enjoys or reviews on new recipes we try at home. I hope you all enjoy them (and this blog) as much as we do!