"More Refined than Taco Bell yet More Accessible than a Drive to Tijuana"

"Chile rellenos, tostadas, hard-shelled tacos, margaritas, enchiladas, chile colorado—platters once considered alien—seamlessly enmeshed themselves into our eating habits over the decades, brought forth by successive streams of Mexican migrants. And the atmosphere, of course, was Olvera Street writ large—murals depicting bucolic ranchos, waitresses in billowy, flowery blouses, strolling musicians or strummed guitars broadcast over speakers, and more saguaro cacti sprouting in the corners than you'd ever see driving between Tucson and Phoenix."

In the Los Angeles Times, Gustavo Arrellano says that Cal-Mex restuarants are in decline.