Is Mexican food popular in Japan?

I am also from CA. I studied in the culinary arts some years ago. I cook Mexican at home but want to find the ingredients here in Japan. When I am in Tokyo and I cannot find the products I need for home, I stop in at "El Torritos" in Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, or Aoyama. There are a few other locations so if in Tokyo that is about the most authentic you are going to get. Being from CA means that real home cooked, mom and pop Mexican food was very common but my wife loved "El Torritos" in the states. I liked it, too. So to come to Japan and find "El Torritos" was a real treat.

Authentic Mexican Food in Japan? NO! Can you find anything close to mexican food here? maybe, but i doubt it. i've tried at least 20 "mexican restaurants" from okinawa to tokyo and in my humble opinion nothing is even close.

if you think "taco bell, el torrito or having a corrona" is mexican eat & drink up, have fun & enjoy your meal, but don't call it mexican!

Tex-Mex? enjoy that also.

here's a paragraph taken from wikipedia.org

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Mexican popular tradition tells the story of a man named Juan Mendez who used to sell tacos in a street stand, using a donkey as a transport for himself and the food, during the Mexican Revolution period (1910-1921) in the Bella Vista neighborhood in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. To keep the food warm, Juan had the idea of wrapping the food placed in a large flour tortilla inside individual napkins. He had a lot of success, and consumers came from other places around the Mexican border looking for the "food of the Burrito", the word they eventually adopted as the name for these large tacos.

Burritos are a traditional food of Ciudad Juárez, a city in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, where people buy them at restaurants and thousands of corner stands. In this border town there are eateries that have established their reputation after decades serving burritos. They are eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Usual ingredients include barbacoa, mole, chopped hot dogs cooked in a tomato and chile sauce, refried beans and cheese, deshebrada (shredded slow-cooked flank steak) and chile relleno (stuffed pepper). The deshebrada burrito also has a variation in chile colorado (mild to moderately hot) and salsa verde (very hot). The typical burrito sold in Juárez is generally smaller than the varieties sold in the USA, and may be a northern variation of the traditional "Taco de Canasta".

Although burritos are one of the most popular examples of Mexican cuisine outside of Mexico, in Mexico itself burritos are not common outside of northern Mexico, although they are beginning to appear in some non-traditional venues.

Wheat flour tortillas used in burritos are now often seen through much of Mexico, but at one time were peculiar to northwestern Mexico and Southwestern US Pueblo Indian tribes, possibly due to these areas being less than optimal for growing corn.

Burritos are commonly called tacos de harina (wheat flour tacos) in Central and Southern Mexico and burritas (feminine, with 'a') in northern-style restaurants outside of Northern Mexico proper. A long and thin fried burrito similar to a chimichanga is prepared in the state of Sonora and vicinity and is called a chivichanga

Try Salsita...lots of Mexicans living in Tokyo drop by and they all swear by the food served there.

http://www.sunnypages.jp/contacts/detail/513

Burritos are not invented in California or Texas, noway, burritos are in Mexico since time ago but it's more popular Tacos, Enchiladas, Pozole.
Burritos really exist in Mexico, please it's Mexican food, I can eat them in the corner or Mexican typical restaurant!! pls

My husbands family runs several restuarnts here in New Mexico. While we were in Japan we did find a mexican restaurant in Ikebukuro (somewhat attached to Sunshine 60). we went in on somewhat of a dare, but were pleasently surprised. It wasn't perfect, but it was nice to be able to have some soft tacos, salsa, and fajitas. Again, not perfect, but dang close. In fact, i've had worse in the US at some places.

By far the most legit Mexican restaurant I've found is El Pancho located in Shinsaibashi in Osaka. I grew up in SoCal eating Mexican food basically everyday, and also worked at El Cholo (if you're from LA you know what I'm talking about) for several years. I can promise you, El Pancho is the real deal. It easily surpasses the quality of most Mexican restaurants found in the US. The ambiance alone makes it worth a visit!

Located in Shinsaibashi, directly outside Exit 5 from the Subway station, right next to The Loft, in a tall narrow building on the 8th floor. It gets packed on the weekends, so reservations recommended: 0662-41-0588

I just got back from Okinawa, and I have 2 words for you: Taco Rice. It's all over the place. It's pretty tasty, at least what is made in restaurants. I brought a box of it back as a souvenir for my Mexican friend.

As a mexican, I tell you, it's no wonder mexican food is japanized. We people tend to make adaptations to dishes to make them likeable to local tastes. For example, don't take me wrong, but I've tasted mexican food in the US that has absolutely nothing to do with the real thing. Same thing happens to japanese cuisine in America or Mexico.
About salsa, there are plenty of salsas in mexican cuisine. And we don't use bell peppers that much. We use other kinds of chili, like ''chile verde'', ''pico de pájaro'', ''serranos'', and a long etc. If you want to try a really hot mexican sauce you should try the chiltepin sauce, made only of water, dried red chiltepines a little salt and garlic.
Thing with mexican food is that it is really hot, and not many foreigners can take it. I mean, something that may be hot for you would be really mild for us mexicans. We love chile!!
I remember this mexican restaurant in Tokyo, near Shiba koen, called "Don Papa" and it was fairly good.

well, there is mike's, which someone mentioned. there is pancho villa in the zama area...close to the sagamihara american housing area. there is la jolla's in tokyo, down the street and round the corner from the hiroo train station. food is pretty good, margaritas are not bad, and the service is good. it's ''japaneseified,'' but that's okay....and there are no dishes to wash when you are finished!!!!

''japaneseified'' yes you can find many places.

Anything close to "real" mexican . . . NO!

Wow that would be interesting to see, and to taste. However burritos and stuff like that aren't really Mexican food, trust me on that. It would be nice to see some tamales or menudo, flautas, some stuff like that, and I agree whoever said Taco Bell is mexican food is seriously disturbed!!O_O

As somebody already mentioned, Mexican and south American food is very popular in Okinawa. Due to a sizable expat community of Okinawans who emigrated to S. America esp. Brazil after the war.

There are Taco restaruants on practically every corner, incl. a local joint called ''Taco Bell'' with a large painted Xmas bell on the outside -can we say trademark infringement?

A local variant is Taco Rice. Basically everything you would put on a taco on top of Japanese rice.

Tortilla chips, taco seasoning, and salsa can be purchased at any Supermarket.

I have an allergy to green and hot peppers ( incl. chili powder) so I don't get to enjoy this part of Okinawan life, but from what my friends tell me the spices are toned down a bit.

Alrighty guys, I've never been to Japan, but about the burrito issue. Let me break it to you all. Burritos are more Mexican-American type of food, you can sure find them nowadays in Mexico but they weren't made there. Flour wasn't used in Mexico only tortillas de masa. Also come on!! There is like a billion other types of Mexican food not just burritos and tacos! Chalupas,Enchiladas, Menudo, Tamales, Chiles Rellenos, Arroz con pollo y salsa picante, guacamole, carne guisada to name a few! I highly doubt there is authentic Mexican food in Japan but eventually it will get there! But while in Japan I think its best to check out the food from there broaden your horizons a bit! ^_^

I am an American college student who has been living in Tokyo for about 4 months now. It has been a wonderful experience, but for someone who is allergic to most sea food, it can get a little difficult and pricy to enjoy a healthy variety. The strongest flavors the Japanese tend to favor are bitter and fishy. They eat things moderately sweet and salty, but least of all spicey. I came "assuming" there would be at least a Taco Bell in the city, but was greatly disappointed. I have to say, I am a Tex-Mex fan and I thought at least Tex-Mex would exist to some degree in Tokyo if not Mexican, because it tends to be less spicey. I am having a hard time trying to figure out why Tex-Mex or even Mexican food is doomed to fail here. If nothing else there certainly is a lot of foreigners here who would kill for anything close. There are a few places in Tokyo to catch some Mexican food as someone mentioned before, but far fewer than would be expected from such a large global market city. I enjoy Japanese food and other japanified varieties of world foods, but I need my japanified Mexican! And I want it at a reasonable price. I love Tex-Mex because its so cheap and filling. Nothing like that exists in Tokyo, unless you want ramen or meat-topped rice bowls.

As someone mentioned back in May of last year, I often go to Mike's, it's most certainly a lifesaver for me! Granted, the taste is a bit Japanese but it's easily the best tex-mex I've found. The prices were pretty damn good too, nothing close to the rip-offs in Akasaka, etc.

youre wrong laubowski...im mexican and um what you said is no mexican food...you're doing exactly what the so called "mexican restaurants" are doing...

they tailor food to the japanese palette...mmmmm real mexican food ....mole...taquitos yum

Among spicy foods, Indian and Korean foods are more popular in Japan, and you'll find more of these in most places; but Mexican food has its own devotees and can be found if you look for it.

Don't eat at El Poncho's in Osaka (terrible). Chico and Charlie's in Umeda is better (not real Mexican though). I just made my own as best I could lacking ingredients.