Ted's Cafe Escondido in BA

[azbadpuppy]

quote:Originally posted by stymied

quote:Originally posted by azbadpuppy

quote:Originally posted by stymied

quote:Originally posted by azbadpuppy

quote:Originally posted by stymied

I haven't quite figured out the whole queso thing.  You know, in California you won't find queso on any menu anywhere.  I find the obsession here with queso kind of cheesy.

Thats why the Mexican food is better in Tulsa than in California. Nothing worse than hard plastic barely melted cheese on your nachos.

Well, you won't find nachos very much either in California--not real Mexican.  But I digress.  Ted's is pretty good Tex Mex.  It's probably $2 - $3 overpriced per entre IMO.  The wait is a drag too with 3 little monkeys that call me their father for some odd reason.

sgrizzle - cheese sauce?  chili?  you forgot gravy.  Never seen gravy as an option for my fries and burger before.

Hmmmm, lived in California for 6 years and never had a problem finding nachos at any and every Mexican restaurant. Never as good as ones you get in Tulsa, and I find a lot of the Mexican food to be very disappointing in CA.

"Mexican" food varies greatly depending on where you are, so it would be impossible to say any of it is "real". It all just depends on what tastes good.

I have to agree with TeeDub about the hour+ wait at Ted's. No food is worth that, especially with so many great options in Tulsa.

If you frequent Mexico and the restaurants there enough, you'll know what I am talking about.  There are plenty of places in California that serve "Americanized" versions of slightly more authentic Mexican food. Restaurants in Mexico not targeting American tourists don't even serve tortilla chips and salsa.  You can't even buy a burrito there.  Chips and the later concocted nachos were first introduced in the U.S.  Tortilla chips were invented sometime after World War II.  Nachos is purported to have been debuted at the Dallas State Fair in 1964.  There are about 5 main varieties of Mexican food in the U.S. - Sanoran, New Mexican, TexMex, Baja, and Monterey.  The later two being the predominant varieties in California.  We could argue which is best.  You are obviously partial to TexMex, but you can't call a snack invented for baseball games and fairs "real Mexican food".

You are absoultely right- I would never try to call any of it 'real'. Never did say that, did I? But trying to Claim California's 'authenticity' in Mexican food because you can't get nachos there (?) is simply not true.

Actually I'm partial to Sonoran but really I'm partial to anything that tastes great. The 'authentic' thing with Mexican food amuses me, since we are in America and not Mexico after all. The food eaten in Mexico is completely different that what is served here. As you yourself pointed out, there are many "Americanized" varieties of "Mexican" food. Just go with what you like.

[azbadpuppy]

quote:Originally posted by stymied

quote:Originally posted by azbadpuppy

quote:Originally posted by stymied

quote:Originally posted by azbadpuppy

quote:Originally posted by stymied

I haven't quite figured out the whole queso thing.  You know, in California you won't find queso on any menu anywhere.  I find the obsession here with queso kind of cheesy.

Thats why the Mexican food is better in Tulsa than in California. Nothing worse than hard plastic barely melted cheese on your nachos.

Well, you won't find nachos very much either in California--not real Mexican.  But I digress.  Ted's is pretty good Tex Mex.  It's probably $2 - $3 overpriced per entre IMO.  The wait is a drag too with 3 little monkeys that call me their father for some odd reason.

sgrizzle - cheese sauce?  chili?  you forgot gravy.  Never seen gravy as an option for my fries and burger before.

Hmmmm, lived in California for 6 years and never had a problem finding nachos at any and every Mexican restaurant. Never as good as ones you get in Tulsa, and I find a lot of the Mexican food to be very disappointing in CA.

"Mexican" food varies greatly depending on where you are, so it would be impossible to say any of it is "real". It all just depends on what tastes good.

I have to agree with TeeDub about the hour+ wait at Ted's. No food is worth that, especially with so many great options in Tulsa.

If you frequent Mexico and the restaurants there enough, you'll know what I am talking about.  There are plenty of places in California that serve "Americanized" versions of slightly more authentic Mexican food. Restaurants in Mexico not targeting American tourists don't even serve tortilla chips and salsa.  You can't even buy a burrito there.  Chips and the later concocted nachos were first introduced in the U.S.  Tortilla chips were invented sometime after World War II.  Nachos is purported to have been debuted at the Dallas State Fair in 1964.  There are about 5 main varieties of Mexican food in the U.S. - Sanoran, New Mexican, TexMex, Baja, and Monterey.  The later two being the predominant varieties in California.  We could argue which is best.  You are obviously partial to TexMex, but you can't call a snack invented for baseball games and fairs "real Mexican food".

Oh and by the way I live 6 miles from the Mexican border and frequent Mexico quite often and I still don't know what you are talking about.

[azbadpuppy]

One more thing- Nachos apparently were invented in Mexico in 1943. The story is easily found all over the internet.

[Ibanez]

My wife and I love Ted's. We live in Sand Springs and try to eat at Ted's at least once a month. Don't mind the wait because the food and service are both excellent.

Heck....I like it so much I'm taking the team of guys that work for me to lunch there today.

I can understand differences of opinion on the quality/taste of food, but those of you complaining about the service at Ted's are just looking for something to grumble about. Every time we have been there the service has been top nothch. Never had to wait on anything and refills were provided well before the point we even had to ask for them.

It just seems to me some of you are being elitist snobs when it comes to Ted's and other eating establishments in Tulsa.

[brunoflipper]

quote:Originally posted by wavoka

My wife and I love Ted's. We live in Sand Springs and try to eat at Ted's at least once a month. Don't mind the wait because the food and service are both excellent.

Heck....I like it so much I'm taking the team of guys that work for me to lunch there today.

I can understand differences of opinion on the quality/taste of food, but those of you complaining about the service at Ted's are just looking for something to grumble about. Every time we have been there the service has been top nothch. Never had to wait on anything and refills were provided well before the point we even had to ask for them.

It just seems to me some of you are being elitist snobs when it comes to Ted's and other eating establishments in Tulsa.

your final sentence completely contradicts the rest of your post...

you like it, it has always been great for you, you understand different tastes/preferences/experiences but people who don't like/go to ted's are "elitist snobs"???

[sgrizzle]

I disagree that I am "looking for something to grumble about" when I saw my waiter only twice in an hour. That is not a matter of opinion, it is categorically poor service.

I also disagree that I'm being an elitist snob if I consider Taco Bueno better. I don't have a regular table at Bueno between the Warrens and the Kaisers or anything.

My suggestion:
Restaurants should never let the wait exceed around 45 minutes. When the wait gets that high the priority becomes serving quickly, not well. Also, most customers who wait 90 minutes are going to be very hungry and very demanding. They will tear the place apart and find every flaw like a New York restaurant reviewer. During major openings like that, the manager, or an assistant, needs to make a visit to every customer before they leave because the potential for problems is much higher when you've just opened and the first impression rule holds true.

Ted made a good offer to anyone not happy with their visit. Very rare to see that kind of effort.

[Zoogly]

Thanks, but no thanks Ted.

I've paid twice, been burned twice.

Food was awful the first time. Friend insisted that I try again and guess what...

Still awful

Anyone know a Tulsa Mex restaurant with sopa de fidello??

Zoog

[garbo215]

I went to the BA location with some ladies from work. The food and service were good but average. It was more flashy and trendy than unique and tasty. For chain Mexican, I think On The Border is the best and it's much less expensive.
I really like Arizona (amazing white queso) or Santa Fe. I also like Rio Verde and Cancun, these are very small places with the emphasis on food and no emphasis on atmosphere - hence the food is amazing.
Mexico Viejo, Casa Laredo, Rancho Grande (great lunch buffet), and Costa Azul are also good non-chain restaurants.