A chef shares 5 red flags to look for when dining at a Mexican restaurant

Chef Pati Jinich said some Mexican restaurants are more authentic than others.

Leo Caman/Shutterstock

The celebrity chef Pati Jinich knows how to spot a good — and bad — Mexican restaurant.
Cold salsa and premade guacamole are both bad signs, she said.
Jinich said many places are trying to do birria, but most of them aren’t authentic.

Pati Jinich, the chef known for programs including PBS’s “La Frontera” and “Pati’s Mexican Table,” has dined at countless Mexican and Mexican-inspired restaurants.

Though she’s had good meals at spots across the US, she said she can sense when an establishment isn’t doing her home country’s cuisine justice.

Here are the five red flags she looks out for at Mexican restaurants.

Cold salsa isn’t a good sign.

Small ceramic bowls with red and green salsas, pico de gallo, and chips on a table at a Mexican restaurant. — Semyon Nazarov/Getty Images

Salsa is a staple at any Mexican place, but Jinich told Business Insider that she’s skeptical when it’s served cold.

“Mexican salsas are best when they’re freshly made and when they’re either hot or lukewarm but not cold,” she said.

Even if the salsa is made in big batches ahead of time, which is common, the chef said it’s best to either bring it to room temperature by taking it out of the fridge or warm it up by simmering it on the stove.

“The cold temperature makes salsas less flavorful,” Jinich said. “When they are lukewarm or warm, their flavors are unlocked.”

Tortilla chips shouldn’t be thin and brittle.

A bowl of tortilla chips on a table at a Mexican restaurant. — LMPark Photos/Shutterstock

Though Jinich chef said serving a basket of chips before the meal is primarily an American invention, it’s now common in restaurants across the US and Mexico.

But not all tortilla chips are created equally.

“On the Mexican side of the border, the topos, or tortilla chips, tend to be made at the restaurant and with fresh corn tortillas, and they’re thicker, too,” she said.

She’s not a fan of the thin, easily cracked chips found in many Mexican restaurants in the US.

Premade guacamole is a big no.

Hands of two diners sharing a bowl of guacamole at a Mexican restaurant. — Iparraguirre Recio/Getty Images

If there’s one thing Jinich can’t stand, it’s low-quality, premade guac.

“Premade guacamole is a disgrace,” she said. “It just doesn’t taste at all like the guacamole that I know and that I love and that’s so easy to make.”

In Jinich’s eyes, a good restaurant should always make fresh guacamole, ideally tableside, if it’s on the menu.

Birria doesn’t belong on every Mexican menu.

A hand dipping a taco in birra. — cesar fernandez dominguez/Shutterstock

When made well, the meat stew known as birria should be tender and savory, but Jinich said the regional dish has become something of a fad.

Birria’s popularity on US menus has exploded in the past four years, and it’s available at chains like Qdoba and Sugar Factory.

“On the one hand, I’m happy when I see it, but on the other hand, many times, they’re just trying to put it on the menu,” she said. “They know it is going to appeal to customers, but when it’s not executed right, it’s disappointing.”

Proper preparation of birria includes a multihour process and requires a complex mix of herbs and spices. If you’re served a much more basic meat stew, it’s likely not authentic birria.

Be wary of fusion menus.

A Mexican-style pizza with lots of toppings and sauces, including green onions. — The Image Party/Shutterstock

Jinich is all for Americans and other cultures learning more about Mexican cuisine and incorporating it into their meals. However, she tends to avoid Mexican-fusion spots.

“I don’t love seeing in a Mexican restaurant when they do too many things,” she said. “For example, if you see a Mexican restaurant that also has sushi and pizza and pasta, that’s kind of a warning to me.”

This story was originally published on November 11, 2024, and most recently updated on October 20, 2025.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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