Mexican Food Chain: Chili's And Taco Bell

The “Mexican” Food Chain Beginnings Big names like Chili’s and Taco Bell are known nationwide and even somewhat worldwide. A family looking for a dinner out might choose Chili’s, a sit down tex mex style cuisine. It’s pleasing to a large population yet has more flare than an Olive Garden. Taco Bell is fast food Mexican that Americans crave as a good dose of junk food. Big chains similar to these have been around since the early 1900’s. They are called Mexican restaurants, or Mexican chains, however they are far from their Mexican roots. Mexicans do not choice to eat Taco Bell because it reminds them of home. If they eat it, it’s for the same reasons any American would; good junk food. Chili’s and Taco Bell are not Mexican food restaurants
He established a restaurant called El Torito Grill. It was one of the first sit down Mexican restaurants. Before restaurants like this, Mexican food like, tacos, tamales, and chili con carne were severed from stands. Cano saw an opportunity for something that didn't exist in California yet. He couldn't cook so Cano hired “Mexican-born chefs and ordered them to cook what they, as mexicanos, ate—but with an eye for main stream” (Arellano 78). This is where the step away from Mexican food began. Cano wanted the Mexican flare and the Mexican food Americans enjoy, but he didn't want the traditional Mexican food. He wanted Americanized Mexican food. And this stands true today. If you go to Chili’s, Taco Bell, or Chipotle you will receive Americanized Mexican food. If you go to a local immigrant restaurant, their tacos will not look or taste like the ones sold in the chain restaurants. This is because our “Mexican” chains aren't actually Mexican foods. They are tailored to the American population. Arellano wrote, “you can hide the Mexican, but the Mexican will emerge” (Arellano 74). We can Americanize the Mexican culture all we want, however at the end of the day we still crave the food they have brought