Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America

Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America is a 2012 history by the journalist Gustavo Arellano, published by Scribner, that traces how Mexican dishes, products and restaurants became part of everyday American life.

Author

Gustavo Arellano, a lifelong Orange County resident, was best known at the time for his syndicated column ¡Ask a Mexican!, which The Austin Chronicle reported ran in nearly 40 papers. In the same interview he explained that the book grew out of a suggestion from his agent after he described the Mexican food he had been eating in New York.

Contents

Kirkus Reviews summarizes the book as a history of how Mexican food crossed the border into American homes, restaurants and grocery stores. Its chapters take in Chicago's street-corner tamale vendors, canned tortillas, chili con carne and chili cook-offs, bottled salsa, the first frozen-margarita machine (now in the Smithsonian), the rise of the Mexican restaurant and of chains such as Taco Bell and Chi-Chi's, the Tex-Mex versus "authentic" debate, and Mexican cookbooks written mostly by non-Mexicans. It ends with the author's five favorite Mexican meals in the United States. A recurring theme is the claim that salsa became the country's best-selling condiment, overtaking ketchup.

Tacos in the book

Arellano argues that many popular American beliefs about Mexican food history are false or only half true. Asked by The Austin Chronicle for his favorite taco, he named the acorazado of Cuernavaca, and he singled out San Antonio's puffy tacos and Austin's breakfast tacos for praise.

Reviews

See also

• American Tacos: A History and Guide
• Taco Bell
• Tex-Mex tacos
• Tacos acorazados
• Puffy taco
• Breakfast taco
• Hard-shell taco

References

1. "Taco USA". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Let's Talk Taco". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2026-10-10.