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Good grief, anyone who says that San Antonio has bad Mexican food and is "touristy" clearly didn't stagger far enough from the Riverwalk to learn anything about this city and its cuisine. People who actually *live* here don't go near the tourist areas, unless they have no choice.

And to say that LA *isn't* touristy but still has good Mexican food is just laughable. I didn't find one decent restaurant in all of California when I lived there. The food was horrible, and the service abominable.

When you get away from the downtown area of San Antonio, that's when you find out just how awesome the Mexican food is here. There are dozens of wonderful mom-and pop joints tucked into unexpected places all over San Antonio. You just have to know how to look.

And if you want the best Mexican food, anywhere, Texas's Lower Rio Grande Valley is the place to go. Until you've had seso or eyeball soup or panchos, until you can lay out the perfect botana platter, you don't know jack about authentic MX food.

Tucson, Arizona. Glad to see so many giving love to The Old Pueblo.

1) Sonoran Hot Dogs (El Guero Canelo/BK's) - bacon wrapped hot dogs with beans, onions, mustard, mayo, tomatoes, your choice of salsas, cheese and grilled peppers/green onions on a soft bolillo roll. $2.29, $1.75 on Wednesdays.

2) 24 hour drive through taquerias. Under $4 for a burrito? At 3am?

3) Really good sit down Mexican restaurants. Mi Nidito. Love the nopales simmered in red chile sauce with freshly made flour tortillas.

4) Even the U of A's Mexican place, Cafe Sonora, has decent mole and chimichangas. If a damn college cafeteria can provide good Mexican food, there should be no argument.

I rest my case.

I went there last Saturday evening in the rain, and the line, though almost out the door, was remarkably swift. The down side is that I ordered my double cheeseburger rare, and it came out well over the medium they say cook all their meat to. My fries were similarly overcooked, though I've never had that problem at MSP.

I went there today. My only complaint was that their lemonade, which I absolutely love in MSP was very off. It didn't have the same tartness/sweetness to it. It was very watered down and pedestrian.

Oh well.

@BentSlightly, the Shake Shack is a NYC institution. Those who would be interested (and do obviously care) know that:

UWS -- Upper West Side of Manhattan
MSP -- Madison Square Park, the original location
AMNH -- American Museum of Natural History, right by the new location on the UWS
Shake Shack website (with all this info): www.shakeshack.com

No offense intended, please, but this is in a Talk > New York thread.

If you're having trouble sleeping, I've heard it's best to try something with a lot of carbs (which digest quickly and apparently make you feel more lethargic) as opposed to something with a lot of protein which might sit heavily in your stomach for hours. (i.e. from experience, handfuls and handfuls of trail mix right before bed do not help me sleep any better.)

Mostly I tend to gravitate towards warm liquids and sweet things, like warm milk/water and a cookie or two ;)

Animal crackers dipped in peanut butter, a spoonful or two of ice cream, or handfuls of dry cereal usually do the trick.

Leave out the onions, and don't make onion soup. :-)

I'm not sure what it is you are asking for. Specific recipes that don't use onions? There are lots. In most cases, you can just omit them. The flavor won't be the same but unless it is one of the primary ingredients, you should be ok. Is he allergic to ALL allium species -- like shallots and garlic and leeks? Or just onions? If so, then poor him! My sympathy.

If he can eat other onion-like things, then use them instead. I'm an onion hater but I find shallots, very finely minced, a substitute I can live with. But I'm not allergic. And leek is oniony enough. And what about onion powder? Can he eat that? The drying process might remove the substance in onion he is allergic to. But I wouldn't risk ANY substitutions unless you know for a fact that the substitute is safe for him to eat.

As for being picky, again, not sure what you are asking for. Just cook what he likes when he's home, and what you like when he's not. And maybe ask his mother what he likes best and how she prepared it for him.

My friend Clint took me there for the first time, many years ago, and it is the BEST. Small, not fancy, but burgers to DIE FOR.
remotehambo

@bentslightly Oh man you need to start a blog of its own on this one, very good subject. I will keep a look out for it. lol