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Mexican food restaurants are very popular nowadays in all the countries. Mexican cuisine occupies the third place by popularity after French and Italian. Many Mexican recipes are very easy but satisfying that is very convenient for fast food restaurants which actually boosted the popularity of Mexican cuisine.

People favour Mexican food  for its various daring recipes, spicy sauces, nourishing food and of course tequila. But in fact the food that is served in Mexican restaurants outside the country is far from being really Mexican. Usually it is a combination of Southwestern U.S. cuisine with cultural elements of the traditional Mexican one, and it is called Tex-Mex.

Actually even in Mexico views on traditional Mexican food restaurants are pretty different. In the restaurants of Puebla the most peculiar dish will be turkey or chicken accompanied by thick and sweet mole sauce. Restaurants of Veracruz rely all the traditional food on fish, flavored with chiles, olives and tomatoes. In Yukatan almost all the dishes are served with fruit-based sauces, and certain food is served in banana or orange leaves instead of plates. And finally, around Oaxaca the menu resembles the one of Puebla, but the restaurants of the region are worth visiting for their special coffee blend prepared with cinnamon and sugar.

But what makes Mexican food restaurants even more attractive to people, is their interior. Mexican furniture (made of pine usually) with its rich ornamentation and iron hardware, soft leather seats, Mexican interior design with its textured stucco walls and rough clay tile floors, honey-toned clay crockery and bright glassware all this gives an incredibly welcoming and warm atmosphere to Mexican restaurants. The bright patches of sculptures and pictures in the ancient Mayans' style add up to the homely climate and cheerfulness of Mexican restaurants.

Mexican food restaurants style both in interior and in dishes welcomes everyone. 

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It can be a surprise for many people to find out that authentic traditional Mexican food is pretty unlike the dishes that are served in Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants (Tex-Mex is a combination of US Southwestern and Mexican cuisine). People normally expect Mexican menu to be all hot and spicy, but traditional Mexican food is mild and much more diverse than it is usually imagined.It has many regional varieties, but of course the uniting theme of all the versions of traditional Mexican food is sauces, daring recipes and colourful decoration.

Mexican cuisine owes its diversity to its rich history. Food traditions of Mayans and Aztecs became the basis for traditional Mexican food. Before the Spanish colonists came, the population of modern Mexico kept mostly to a vegetarian diet: corn-based dishes, flavored with chiles and herbs, completed with beans and squash. The conquistadors imported their diet, consisting of rice, pork, beef, chicken, wine, onions and garlic.  Mayan and Aztec cuisine fortunately went on  perfectly well with Spanish cuisine, so that today we could have all these queer, but so delicious quesadillas,enchiladas, tortillas, tamales, tacos, salsas and sopapillas (check on mexican food cooking tips). Caribbean cuisine has also left its traces in the Mexican food, especially in some dishes of the Veracruz and Yucatan region (fish and fruit-based salsas). 

Traditional Mexican food varies with region, because of geographical location, ethnic peculiarities and dergee of Spanish influence. North of Mexico specializes in meat and beef. Southeastern Mexico is known for chicken-based and spicy vegetable dishes. And Veracruz traditionally performs the best seafood.

Mexican cuisine has also inherited from its Aztec and Mayan ancestors some more exotic dishes than  tortillas and tacos, some Mexican recipes constitute from rattlesnakes, spider monkeys, deer, iguanas and even insects. Such dishes though not very popular are known as comida prehispanica (prehispanic food). 

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Mexican food history is probably the most diverse among all. In 1521 the greatest culinary revolution in history took place in Mexico, as Cortez, the famous Spanish explorer, in search of gold came to the new world. But what Cortez and his followers found there was a fantastic wealth of culinary peculiarities: peanuts, beans, vanilla, squash, chocolate, corn, tomatoes, avocados, coconuts. The Spanish in their turn brought lamb, pork, beef, wheat, cheese, milk, vinegar, citrus fruits, garlic and wine. That was the turning point in the Mexican food history as well as in the history of the country. 

That time a great Aztec emperor called Montezuma reigned. He knew that according to the prophecy a big bearded man riding a giant animal that resembled a deer would come to conquer his lands. That is why when he found out that such a man landed at Veracruz he took all his effort to keep him there offering him unbelievable riches. But Cortez could not be fooled, he desired to see the place from where such an abundance of wealth was coming. On August 13th 1521 after many bloody battles Cortez occupied the capitol, Tenochtitlan. The conquerors fiercely demolished the Aztec empire and supplanted it with Spanish institutions and structures, but they never managed to extirpate Aztec culture and traditions, which now are a very important part of Mexico and Mexican food history, that attract great many of tourists.

Mexican cuisine that emerged, was permanently enriched with various ideas and recipes from many other countries. Dishes and ingredients from South America, Caribbean, Africa and France found their way to the Mexican menu. Because of its immense variety and brightness of tastes and flavors traditional Mexican food has gained a great popularity. In Southwestern America even a new blend of  food was created - a Tex-Mex, that is a mingle of American and Mexican food history traditions.

Nowadays every big city is bound to have a welcoming, warm, homely and cheerful Mexican restaurant with the most exciting moments of Mexican food history reflected in its menu.