Mexican Food Trends
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Keith Timbes,  general manager at PR’S Mexican Restaurant in Orlando for more than 14 years, says Americans are becoming more open to Mexican fare because “you can get a good ‘big’ meal for a decent price.
    “With the prices of most restaurants and the price of Mexican food, our brand is generally cheaper.  But we are still able to maintain our costs.  Plus we are able to provide healthy products to our guests and give the quality they expect,” Timbes says.
     At PR’s, the three top-selling entrees are Pollo Fundido, which is blackened chicken and cream cheese rolled in a 12-inch flour tortilla, then fried to a golden brown, topped with spicy queso and served with rice. Then there’s Chicken Diablo, sautéed chicken breast in garlic, butter, pico de gallo and spicy sauce that is cooked to perfection then topped with pepperjack and cheddar cheeses. The entrée is served with black beans and rice and flour tortilla. A third customer favorite is Blackened Chicken Quesadilla — blackened chicken and cheeses placed in a 12-inch flour tortilla, cooked with green chilies inside and served with sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo.
    These favorite dishes are both traditional and trendy, because the trend for many customers is to expect authentic Mexican — rather than “Americanized” — cuisine when ordering at PR’s.
    “We have not changed our recipes in the 18 years that we have been open.  So, I do not think we have to tweak our recipes to suit the American tastes,” Timbes says. “But, it is also very important to come up with new products and tastes to suit the general public trends.  It is just like when everyone went on a health kick, we had to adjust some of our items to suit them.”

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    And, even though Mexican fare has historically been comparatively low-priced, Timbes sees diners willing to fork out the cash for higher-quality cuisine. “Guests do not want food out of a can or box. Our food is homemade every day and fresh produce sent in every morning. Our spices are mixed to our specifications,” he says.
    “The main thing that we are seeing is that people are willing to pay for the higher price items on the menu as long as you provide them with quality food and the service that they have come to expect in this industry. With our restaurant being in the Orlando area, our guests have so many choices to go and eat that you do not have a second chance to make a first impression, so it better be right the first time,” he says. “I would say that 70 to 80 percent of our business is repeat guests. With us being in the in the Orlando area, we don’t have the luxury of being relaxed in our food and drink quality and service. With the ever-changing trends, we have to keep up with those trends.  Pretty much boils down to good food and great service.”

East Meets West
     Michael Harder, COO of Stellar Restaurant Group, which owns Boloco — a 12-unit burrito chain based in Boston — says their top chef, Jason Hutchinson, is experimenting successfully with mixing the traditional burrito with other ethnic cuisines to come with such unusual items as the Bombay Burrito, filled with spicy curry, zesty tamarind sauce, tangy mango salsa, carrots, broccoli and brown rice in a whole wheat tortilla. Guests may order the Bombay Burrito with grilled steak, grilled chicken, organic tofu or vegetarian. And, that’s just the beginning of the ethnic border crossings.
    “We offer the Buffalo, BBQ and Cajun burritos, while not ethnic per se ,are clearly Americana. We also offer the Teriyaki and Bangkok, which are Japanese and Thai style, and finally the Summer Burrito, which is influenced by Caribbean tastes,” Harder says. “We have always looked for ways to give our guests more reasons to come to us. We look at the tortilla as the holder of great flavors similar to bread. When you do that, you open up the flavors you can put into it.”
    Harder sees the strong growth in the popularity of Mexican cuisine as a result of a melding of cultures.
    “I think this is a function more of the American palettes becoming more international from either more travel abroad or from different immigrant cultures bringing their cooking styles with them,” he says. “I do think you are also seeing a ‘fusion’ of different regional flavors.”
    Traditional Mexican flavors from the central part of the country are different than the Baja peninsula, he says.
    “They are both different from the more common Tex-Mex flavors.,” Harder says. “Restaurants are blending the flavors for their particular offerings, particularly if they feel the need to expand their offerings beyond their core menus.” NCB