Howdy, everyone! Phil from Texas here. Moved to Basel in December. Job hunting, setting up online store, enjoying life.

Welcome

Hello, welcome to the forum and indulge in Alsace wines right at your door

Welcome to Basel!

Welcome to Basel. You'll find the drugs right next door.

Heh!

Welcome to the forum and to Switzerland from an ex-Okie.

Are you here under family reunification? Because I can't see any other way you'd manage it since non-EU nationals need a job offer to move here unless they're very rich.

Medea getting right to the meat of it, I see


Welcome to Basel! I really hope that your online store sells some real Mexican burritos! I haven't had a good one since I moved here

Welcome! What kind of store are you setting up? Guns and cowboy boots? I used to travel regularly to Texas and loved it there, though the summer weather was way too hot for me.

Welcome to Basel! Although I’m a Brit I’m also ex-Shell so have spent far too much time falling out of bars in Houston. It’s a little slower and quieter round these parts but assuming you knew what you were getting into best of luck with the online shop. Hell of a time to move countries and start a new business

Burritos: I'm afraid you'll have to make those yourself for now. I haven't tried a taco here, yet (they are easy to make). Hint: get on YouTube and find out how to make quality home-made, Mexican mama style tortillas (yes, there is art to it, and no, the available pre-made tortillas here suck, big-time). Get a good rolling pin.

I am looking for ways to get my favorite foods here, fer sur'. I have found some dried peppers (guajillo, chipotle, ancho, arbol) at an Indian store here in Basel.

Sometimes, we can find fresh jalapenos, and stockpile them in the deep freeze. Have yet to find serrano peppers, will have to grow our own. Interestingly, habanero peppers (as in, wear gloves, they are so hot) are readily available (deep freeze again). We tried "skirt steak", it was good, but wasn't the same as real Texas fajitas.

I have found dried beans (pinto, black, kidney) and inexpensive ground meat from the Coop, so chili con carne (with and without beans). Tomatillos to make green enchilada sauce so far not found.

The Hyper-Ad Research Department continues to make discoveries. I keep looking, particularly for Swiss merchants who already have developed affiliate programs. Sometimes, I run into pleasant surprises.

My store definitely _won't_ be selling any perishables (red tape!), but dried peppers and other delicacies, probably. As I develop it, I'll look for new sources for new products, but the basic idea is to sell stuff I'm used to getting (usually, cheap) and is hard to find, of poor quality or prohibitively expensive here.

There's a shop in Basel https://elsol.ch/

Prohibitively expensive? Everything is expensive But, don't worry it's a temporary condition that disappears after some time. One day you'll realize you're just happy to get some quality products and don't remember the last times you have converted the prices to other currency.

I get my dry chiles from another Mexican shop in Zürich in Josefstrasse. I have a pending visit to the shop because they have started to distribute new distillates that got DO (designation of origin) 1 or 2 years ago.

How long does this process take? I still don't eat out here with the prices where they are. Pay is about 60% higher for me after moving here but a curry is 3-5 times more than back home - which I think is simply unreasonable. Mind you a curry in Germany is still twice what it'd be in Tooting and half as good (although still better than i was expecting). As for Mexican (by which I mean Cal-Mex - lets not be too ambitious) - no chance.

Love living here but food is .... not Switzerland's strength, especially if European food is not your thing.

Yeah on the hot. The first time my Swiss (now-)wife visited me, it was 108 F (42 C). Something of a shock for her. I'm glad I'm here now, I don't like the heat, either.

Guns? Naah, that is pretty well covered here. Dunno yet if they have good AR-15s here (I sold mine before I moved, and it hurt, but importing guns to CH is a major hassle), but I may find out. There is a lot less motivation to own guns here than in the Wild, wild west. I don't feel much in the way of physical danger, something that was not true in Austin.

Cowboy boots? Hell, yes! Haven't researched it yet, again, nobody NEEDS them here (purpose: ride horses a lot on a ranch, kill roaches the size of small dogs in the corners of the house, kicker dancin', wadin' through lots of bull/cow****, getting into fights [use your imagination there ...] and lookin' mighty different [heh!]), but I suspect people will LIKE them, and they are very different. Imported boots will be expensive, but they last well and are a pleasure to wear, once you get used to the heels.

Here's one I miss terribly, common in the US (especially Texas), but rare here: BBQ. I live in an apartment, a lovely one, but with a small balcony. There isn't room for a good, traditional BBQ pit, even a Hibachi, and the smoke from one would rapidly draw the unwelcome attention of the authorities. I'm researching alternatives, but cookin' up a good brisket, one that is so moist and tender it falls apart on your plate, does not yet appear possible in an apartment in CH. Pfau!

There is one thing, surprisingly, that Texas does very, very well, and I haven't yet found an equivalent in CH: good, smooth, tasty beer. The king of all Texas beers is Shiner Bock, from the Spötzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas. No one does it better, including every German beer I have ever tried. I am very likely to try importing Shiner Bock to CH.

Upshot: Can't get it here? Send me a PM, and I'll see what I can do. Where there is a will, there is a way. In the meantime, happy trails!

Well, most of times it makes no sense to go to a restaurant for anything which is not traditional Swiss or Italian.

Mexican shops sell most of basic ingredients, then go to Turkish shop for beef with a bit of fat and then it's fine. I can cook, my wife knows how to cook. Why rely on people from India posing as Mexican restaurant owners?

Who'd want a Texan import when you can get a smooth Czech Pilsener easily and anytime here?

I don't even drink beer.

Welcome to CH and EF. I could do with Texan weather now after a few weeks of mucky rain.

Ever experienced a big tornado or hurricane close up? It makes Europe look REAL GOOD.

Respectfully, as a fan of Pilsner Urquell, it is a very occasional indulgence, but not a regular drink. The beer most often encountered here in CH, Feldschlösschen, is a good beer, but rather sharp for my personal tastes. I'm OK with it, but I think Shiner is much better beer (again, personal, not objective, tastes). My father in law suspects I am crazy for believing this. Vive le difference!

Look for a place named Drinks of the World in Basel train station. You cannot leave there without a few beers. You might not like the prices, but beers are just fine.

Nope. But I love tumbleweed in the wind.

You can buy your own beer making kit for a few bucks in 'Nature&Decouvertes'.

Pilsner Urquell isn't even that good, though. Kozel, Radegast..Take your now-wife to one of the Czech Beer Spas.

The best burrito I had was in San Diego. Giant.

Howdy and welcome!

Texan here, lived for 10 years in Basel and am now in Bern. Nice to have another Texan in Switzerland!

You can get Shiner here, although it is quite pricey. They sell Lone Star at Beers of the World.

https://www.drink-shop.ch/de/bier/56...hoCLDkQAvD_BwE

You can get a nice cut of brisket at the butcher at Markplatz ... the butcher is South African / speaks English. He’s a bit strange, but at least you get brisket. (Siedfleisch)