AltWeeklies Wire
The Five Most Influential Cities in the Development of Mexican Food in the U.S.new

Settling once and for all what city helped define Mexican food in the United States more than any other. Unsurprisingly, it's a fight to the death between California and Texas.
OC Weekly |
Gustavo Arellano |
03-05-2012 |
Food+Drink
Announcing Another Mexican Food Genre: Bro-Mexnew

The aesthetic of Bro-Mex restaurants centers around the world of energy drinks, surf culture, and MMA. Their clientele think lucha libre masks are hilarious, have Mexican-American friends or--if they're Mexican-American--don't speak much Spanish, and think Gringo Bandito is the greatest creation since Ed Hardy lighters.
OC Weekly |
Gustavo Arellano |
05-12-2011 |
Food+Drink
¡Panocha!new

Five words that signify a foodstuff in one Latin American country, but a crude term for 'vagina' in another.
OC Weekly |
Gustavo Arellano |
02-16-2011 |
Food+Drink
A Trip to Where Taco Bell Begannew
A visit to the exact location where Bell's Hamburgers and Hot Dogs opened in 1952. It's here that Glen Bell decided to try and sell tacos -- although tellingly, his largely Latino clientele forsook his Mexican offerings in favor of the hamburger and hot dogs.
OC Weekly |
Gustavo Arellano |
12-21-2010 |
Food+Drink
5 Authentic Mexican Dishes That Would Make Rick Bayless Screamnew

Mexican food in all its manifestations is just a tasty extension of "Greater Mexico" and the idea that Mexico and its culture doesn't stop at the border.
OC Weekly |
Gustavo Arellano |
10-04-2010 |
Food+Drink
Tags: Rick Bayless, Mexican Food
As a Famous Desegregation Case Gets its Historical Due, One Family Feels Left Outnew
Mendez v. Westminster never made it into the official Orange County story, though, existing only in the historical margins of ethnic studies. But this wrong is finally being righted. But one plaintiff family -- the Ramirezes -- feel like they're being written out of this newly filled historical gap.
Ask a Mexican: Insurance Omissionsnew
"My insurance company tells me 60 percent of accidents in California are with uninsured Mexican drivers. Why don't they just take buses like I did when I couldn't afford a car?"
The Clash Between the Black Panthers and the Santa Ana Police, 40 Years Laternew

"I think people want to forget this," former Orange County Black Panther head Daniel Lynem says. "If they could wipe it from the history books, they would. And for the most part, they have."
Tales From Orange County's Taco Trucksnew

The roach coach. Botulism on wheels. Mobile Montezuma's revenge. The humble taco truck, known universally in Latino OC as loncheras, its workers as loncheros, has finally left its mooring as the feedbag for immigrants, construction workers and prescient foodies and become mainstream, even hip.
OC Weekly |
Gustavo Arellano |
07-28-2009 |
Food+Drink
Ask a Mexican: Are You Still Beating Your Senora?new
Loaded question aside, Mexican men are infamous for spousal abuse in the gabacho mind partly out of stereotype (the machismo cult, the most misunderstood cultural tendency since the American love of empire-building), but also partly out of truth.
Ask a Mexican: Pinche Chestersnew
"What is the deal with Mexican denial when it comes to dealing with child sexual abuse?"
Law & Border Hypocrisy, Part 982,776new
The Mexican can’t help but grin extra-grande when he hears people profess to love legal immigrants and hate the illegal ones.
Tags: Immigration, humor
Ask a Mexican: Cursing Kiddies, Dancing Gabachos, y Mucho Mas!new
A special four-pregunta edition.
Tags: language, humor & satire
Ask a Mexican: Special Navidad Shopping Guide Editionnew
A couple of columnas ago, I published a short list of my favorite books regarding Mexicans and Mexican-Americans and urged ustedes to submit better choices so that gabachos can have a Christmas shopping list for their favorite Mexicans or can understand nosotros better. Muchos responded.
Ask a Mexican: If You Have to Ask ...new
"Why is it that those of us who oppose illegal immigration are called racist by many Mexicans?"