I'd like you guys to add tex-mex restaurants to the list and also rate them 1 to 10. (overall rating but emphasis on food quality)

Been living in ZH for 7 years but still disappointed about the lack of good Mexican/American restaurants.

Here are the ones I frequently visit and their score:

-Papa Joe's
ZH (Niederdorf) 8/10

-Movie
ZH near Bahnhof 3/10

-Stars-n-Stripes
Brütten 7/10

-Desperado
6/10

-Cheyenne
ZH Oerlikon 7/10

-Tres Amigos
Bassersdorf 6/10

-Zig Zag
ZH (Niederdorf) 5/10



Damnit! Now I'm hungry again!

Stars and stripes(Berikon)

Nice food and service.

Tres Kilos in Seefeld is pretty good. Nice atmosphere but a bit cramped on the seating arrangements (some might say it's cosy). Think it's a bit more Mex than Tex, though.

Unfortunately most of my Tex-Mex dinning out experiences in Switzerland can be compared to just staying home and eating Pancho Villa instead (Tex-Mex line from Migros), which isn't bad but still doesn't make me want to jump up and say olé..!!!

With that said here are 2 places that come to mind (restaurant and area names are web links to said places):

Restaurant Yucatan at Bahnhofplatz in Engelberg is a nice trendy place to hang out at after a day of on the slopes. They also have live music on Wednesday. Food was good, atmosphere was great..!!
(special note: reservations can be made online on their website, now that's cool..!!)

Mezcalito Bodega and Bar in Brunnen can be found along the Seepromenade on Vierwaldstättersee (Lake Lucerne). They claim to be Switzerland's first dinner with it's own boat parking space. This place turned out to be a huge disappointment..!! Absolutely nothing "authentic" about the food (cheap would be a better description) and to add insult to injury, over priced as well.

Speaking of Tex/Mex, where's the best place for margaritas?

I've been to Brunnen and they were indeed terrible.

The Schiller Mexican bar in Lucerne has very good margaritas. Great before catching a movie.

Any other suggestions?

Again, Tres Kilos (Seefeld ZH) is good for this - you can order them by the jug.

Tres Kilos Seefeld - great Margaritas. . .

(At least better than the Herrliberg branch
- I do like the cosy seating arrangements )

8/10

I have to disagree on this one. After living in Austin 15 years and having been to Mexico numerous times I have at least some idea about what good Mexican and Tex Mex food tastes like. Tres Kilos serves neither Tex Mex nor Mexican food. The meat was about the only thing that tasted good. The tortillas were not very good. The salsa if you want to call it that reminded me of watered down ketchup, the guacamole was also tasteless and not made fresh from Avocados (more like some tube paste). Also the amount of salsa and guac you get is about sufficient to roll a cigarette.

Overall, we were very disappointed. Thank God for the little Mexican shop on Josef Strasse. I buy all sorts of peppers and tortillas etc. there and make my own Tex Mex. I really have yet to eat any good Mexican or Tex Mex in Switzerland (actually in Europe), but given the bad experiences I have made I must admit that I do avoid them.

Restaurant El Rancho
Bahnhofstrasse 42
2502 Biel/Bienne/BE 2.5/10


Since they opened about four years ago, I visited them many times for a dinner out with friends,unfortunately as they are the only mexican place in Bienne,they have gone downhill and the food is not as good anymore as it used to be at the beginning

Tho' the margaritas are still ok

I have long ago given up this battle.
Mexican food, resembling anything like that found in SoCal or Texas... or even Boston, DC, NYC... is not to be found in Europe. When living in Lyon, I realized that the non-spicy-inclined palattes of French, Swiss and many europeans does not lend itself well to the i'll-bet-i-can-eat-a-hotter-pepper-than-you or the that-was-so-spicy-i-just-soiled-myself mentality of Mexican food.
Give up. Eat some melted cheese.
(Or take a flight to Mexico during these cold winter months in Switzerland)

now that is just begging for this thread to be taken off piste into curry chat ... however I must agree, have tried two different Tex-Mex here in Bern & they are pitiful .... that & Desperadoes insistence on playing the most irritating birthday song ....

have had some great Tex-Mex in UK ... anyone remember Chimmychungas on the Byres Rd in Glasgow ?

as requested :

Papa Joes - 6/10 .... decent cocktails though
Desperadoes - 5/10

Chimmychungas - 8/10 ... fantastic cocktails & the atmosphere is great.

Actually, you can find quite decent Mexican food in Madrid. Or so i was told by my Mexican friends. Here, i find the food quite bland...

True, no good mexican food can be found on those overpriced restaurants.

The best I had was during the fiesta caliente at the Helvetia Platz on a stand handled by 3 real mexican guys.

Best since when my friend Veronica used to feed me with chilis in Geneva, she teached me to cook it for real ! Oh Vero how I miss you ...

No mames güey !

Those of you who added restaurants, can I ask you to edit your posts and add a 1 to 10 rating... I know it's subjective but still useful future reference.

I gave Papa Joe's the most points (8/10); they're still not the real deal but in terms of flavors they come pretty close. A tad overpriced though.

The Zurich version of Papa Joe's must be much better than the Basel version. I'd give the Mexican dishes I've tried at PJ's a 6/10. Not bad, and actually pretty tasty, but I've had much better, even in Switzerland.

In Basel:

PJs 4+1/10 (extra point for reasonably good if not small margaritas)
Tapadera 7 / 10 (a nice find for Basel, if only they could spice it up a bit)
ZicZag 6/10
any others?


btw, when we first moved here someone mentioned a good mexican place "just across the border in Germany"...does anyone know of any in Lorrach / Weil etc? I will commute inter-nationally for a hot tamale...

There's La Fonda just off Marktplatz. The Fajitas are okay, and the only thing really worth having as the prices are pretty high. I'd give that a 7/10 (a large non-smoking section gets it an extra point). No corn tortillas with the fajitas though.

I remember walking past the mexican place in Loerrach a couple years back. It looked interesting, but we never made it back to have a meal there.

"LaFawnduh", or "El Fondo," of course...i'd rate them a 4/10

Hi all if you are in Luzern, try Pacifico restaurant, the food is fab!! Its not to far from the bahnhof! The restaurant belongs to a hotel and there is also a night club!

Laura

The only Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurant that was worth visiting (IMO) with any regularity in Zurich closed a number of years back...that was Poco Loco. We never really tried much of the menu beyond the fajitas, but those were definitely worth the journey to Letzigrund. I understand there's still a Poco Loco in Lausanne, but I've never been to that one. Come back to Zurich, Poco Loco, we miss you!

I haven't been to Tres Kilos in a few years, but I remember that it was just ok, so maybe 5/10 IMO.