The Chinese Mexican Phenomenon
After bruising the Chinese restaurant ego last week, it’s time to make amends and celebrate the strange and wonderful phenomenon that is the Chinese-run Mexican restaurant — because only the masters of all products pirated could repackage an entire cuisine with such skill.
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I had never seen a Mexican restaurant staffed entirely by Chinese people before moving to New York, and so I was curious as to the phenomenon’s origin. The concept was created by a Chinese immigrant named Mr. Zheng who, motivated by the market saturation of Chinese restaurants and the low cost of Mexican food, opened his first Fresco Tortillas on Lexington Avenue in 1991. Since then, his empire has spread, leaving a host of spin-offs in its wake. And this is where our local hero Fresh Taco comes into the mix.
Located on the corner of Cypress and Putnam, Fresh Taco was a haven for me when I moved to the neighborhood. My first place in Bushwick was a basement apartment with Chiclet-sized windows and a kitchen heavily populated by creatures of the night. Needless to say, I didn’t cook much. I wandered into Fresh Taco one evening while looking for cheap eats and have remained a loyal customer ever since.
While the menu has a staggering 145 items ranging from pasta with broccoli to paella, I always order the black bean burrito. For $3.45, tax included, I get a pancake-like tortilla, made fresh in house, slathered with beans and piled high with rice and cheese. Throw in the complimentary, homemade guacamole and sour cream and I usually can’t finish the entire burrito in one sitting.
Complimenting the food is the matching red polo-shirted and -capped staff’s friendly, fast service, and the store’s cleanliness.
The rice is a little tasteless, the guacamole can be watery at times, and I’m not a big fan of their chicken, but considering the price and service, Fresh Taco is a real neighborhood gem. They have been around since 1993, and if that’s not an endorsement in itself, I don’t know what is.
Fresh Taco
799 Cypress Avenue | 718-821-6563
Price: Tacos $2, Other: $1-$19
Hours: Mon-Thu 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12:30am, Sun Noon-11pm
Delivery: $7 minimum
Looks like vomit
I have to agree that that is truly retch-inducing for me, but I’m not a fan of most interpretations of Mexican food anyhow.
Since living in New York I’ve come to realize that if I get hungry for Mexican food I have to buy a plane ticket heading West.
As long as you don’t try to think you’re eating mexican food when you eat fresh taco, the stuff is alright. i dig it.
it looks amazing. all that cheese and guac. i’ve seen it a hundred times there, but maybe i’ll have to go in.
As for the i’d rather “buy a plane ticket west” folk, sorry bushwick’s cheap dining doesn’t meet your 3 star budget.
i love ALL chinese tex mex places. healthy and yummy in your tummy. don’t eat the meat.
could mr. zheng really claim credit for this whole phenomenon? in crown heights you have plenty of chinese owned jamaican or trini restaurants, and in queens the chinese run all sorts of (non-chinese) ethnic restaurants. i just figured the chinese were crafty entrepreneurs. either way, i will check out fresh taco.
Back when I was living in Brooklyn in the 70’s and driving a cab Cuban-Chinese restaurants started popping up. The was a on named La Casa Wong (not kidding) located on 8th Avenue in the 50’s near Columbus circle. Edible too.
However, I now live in Texas and I avoid Tex-Mex, regardless of the chef’s name or country of origin, I would recommend avoidance to anyone who asked.
If you want true Mexican head to Suydam.
Hahahaha, I know this place well, I still often stop there. It’s pretty good. Ridgewood was a little starving for Mexican food places until recently, and this one filled the void pretty well. It’s been there quite a few years now (and easy to get to from Bushwick).
I almost bust a gut in laughter when I first went in there some years ago. As when you walk in, it looks like your typical chinese take out….everything from the equipment to the staff. It even has all those photos of their different “meals” back lit from behind like your typical chinese take out has. Their menu looks like your typical Chinese take out menu, except what is so funny as that it’s Mexican food.
Instead of:
87: Chicken with snow pea (no s of course)
88. Chicken with shrimp sauce
89. Chicken with string bean (no s again of couse)
it has:
87: Chicken quesedilla with jack cheese
88: Chicken quesedilla with guacamole
89: Chicken quesedilla with black bean (no s of course)
etc.
Here’s their menu. It reall is not bad. The funnies thing is that there is a knock off one just across the street, and they must have been in “war” with eachother, as signs on the window say something to “This is the one and only Fresh Taco, others are imposters” or something like that:
http://www.freshtaco.com/menu_ridgewood.html
The Cuban-Chinese phenomenon I believe was started by actual Cubans of Chinese descent.
Kevin, why on earth would you avoid Tex Mex? ESPECIALLY living in Texas? I truly cannot comprehend that… I know plenty of people from Texas or other southern places that refuse to eat “mexican” food up here, and after visiting Texas, I can’t blame them. I had some of the best food of my life in Texas. Even cheap tacos tasted gourmet to me. Why wouldn’t you eat Tex Mex? I think you’re missing out.
@ Jeremy Sapienza: I think you are right. There are many Cubans of Chinese descent. My high school Spanish teacher brought us to a Chinese Cuban place to demonstrate the cultural diversity of Cuba.
#7 those are probably run by west indian people of chinese descent.
Um, there are numerous authentic Mexican places in Bushwick… its a really large segment of the population. The food is good and inexpensive. There are even locals who sell delicious Mexican food on the street that they cook at home.
Why would anyone go to one of these places? Its like going to Italy and eating at the Olive Garden.
“The Cuban-Chinese phenomenon I believe was started by actual Cubans of Chinese descent.”
yeah. it’s a whole different ballgame than these places, which are 99% operated by rural mainland chinese immigrants that couldn’t tell you which two countries bordered mexico with a blank map right in front of them.
the most hilarious misinterpretation of an entire cuisine since, well, taco bell.
it’s all about getting the most out of the dumpling rolling machine. i think that’s how it all began
Perplexed. This place is in Ridgewood, which still to this day is sort of starved for Mexican food….and when this placed opened, even more so.
Anyone notice the neon sign says “Tax Mexican”?
I am confused by the photo of the burrito. It looks like a bunch of cheese melted over rice.
Best Mexican food I’ve ever had is at Barrio Chino (Chinese decor, not management) on the Lower East Side. The tacos al pastor at the place on Maria Hernandez park also rule.
The Cuban Chinese restaurant was bega by Cuban immigrants who had Chinese ancestry dating back a generation or two in Cuba. Mainly from Hong Kong. Albeit fewer in number you can still find a few in Washington and Jackson Heights.
Cross culture stores are nothing to New York though the Chinese have taken it further then what was once the norm.
Before the late 1990s Mexican food in New York was about as rare as snow in Miami. Spanish in New York meant Puerto Rican and in the stores GOYA was the only game.
Sort of similar situation with Chinese businesses before the Chinese re-takeover of Hong Kong most outer borough neighborhoods had about two Chinese takeouts or even none. How fast that all changed by the late 90s and the name of the game is making money.
There were two Cuban/Chinese restaurants on 8th Ave in Manhattan until the early 2000s. La Chinita Linda, on about 19th St and Sam Chinita’s about a block away. Their menus were a combination of Latin and Asian foods (I said combination, not “fusion”). They were cheap places to get good food, very old school, before 8th Ave between 14th and 23rd became “upscale.”
These Fresh Taco places, on the other hand, were always at a lower price-point, and always more geared to take-out. Post #16 above is correct, these places have nothing to do with Chinese/Cuban culture or cuisine and are in fact franchise type places typically run by Chinese immigrants from China.
I think of them as Taco Bells actually, maybe a little bit worse in terms of quality of food though. After trying a couple different ones ten years ago, I never returned, as it was typically nasty fare smothered in cheese. Why someone would eat here rather than explore the authentic mexican options that abound in Bushwick nowadays is baffling to me.
The writer’s article on actual Chinese places last week, “Seeking Decent Chinese in Bushwick” was rather lame as well, as I was thinking we’d actually get a review of several Chinese places and instead got an inane “walking tour” with little substance. It would be great if someone would actually do some research on decent Chinese food in the hood, but I believe there was a Forum thread on that topic some time ago w/several people chiming in.
In response to Haley’s email above, Tex-Mex is not something that I’m fond of, however, Mexican cuisine is something totally different altogether. I truly like Mexican food, but Tex-Mex has always been blah to me.
But, I sometimes wonder if I had Tex-Mex while I was still swilling beer it might of been a different story. It strikes me as perfect beer food.
All these comments are hilarious!…”Tax-Mex” Get a steak burrito while you wait for your stimulus check. BTW, try Yummy Taco on Myrtle Ave, I can’t get enough of these Chinese run Mexican take-out joints and they deliver!!!
Yep good spot … definitely in RIDGEWOOD..and not in Bushwick.