Mexi-Wars! Guzman y Gomez vs Mad Mex

You must know by now that I have a deep love for Mexican food! Need proof? Check out these posts: Andale, andale, arriba, arriba!, Mexiday! The basic ingredients, Mexiday! Orange and chipotle chicken tacos

Mexican cuisine has been so poorly misrepresented in Australia there should, in my opinion, be legal consequences against some ‘Mexican’ chain restaurants when they are clearly Tex-Mex, NOT Mexican! Ok, so maybe legal consequences is taking it a little far, but let me clarify that I have nothing against Tex-Mex. I lived is the Great Lone State, on and off for a few years and a little piece of my heart will always yearn for Texas. But basically, Tex-Mex is smothered in melted cheese and almost always served with a side of refried beans… YUM!

However, In my travels to Mexico and California, I’ve found that whilst refried beans do appear on many menus, the Mexican cuisine is much fresher and tastier. Fried prawn tacos, slow cooked pulled pork enchiladas, spicy bbq steak… sorry, I’m drooling on my keyboard!

Well, finally we have some great options coming to town, and two of my favourite food court options are Guzman y Gomez and Mad Mex – both great options but for different reasons. I’ve heard both have been compared to another American chain called Chipotle, one of my all time favourite cheap eats! But I must say, both GyG and MM fall slightly short of these lofty heights. If only I could combine the two… 

They both have very similar menu options: Burritos, Nachos, Quesdillas, Tacos, etc. The main differences being:

Some like it hot! GyG Quesdilla

GyG – The meat options here are definitely tastier and come in spicy or non-spicy versions. Spicy pork for me please! And whilst you can make a few changes, like swapping white rice for brown, the menu options come as stated. So if it says it has pico de gallo, that’s what you get. I’m sure you could make further alterations, but I doubt it’s encouraged. The other thing I love about GyG is the free condiment bar where you can choose from 3 types of Tabasco (regular, green or chipotle) and fresh coriander, red onion and pickled jalapeños. This is what brings me back to GyG!

Little snack today, Kids Nachos from Mad Mex

Mad Mex – this is much more like the Chipotle franchise because you can customise your meal the way you like it. You first choose your meat filling – barbacoa for me please! – then there’s 4 salsas, sour cream, queso, beans, cheese, lettuce, guac, etc. I love coming to Mad Mex for their salsas! Different meats need different salsas and sometimes I want to burn my taste buds off and sometimes I don’t.

So… which will you choose? ;)