Gustavo Arellano

Reader: Former youth corrections officer says the system is messed up

Guess who's coming to dinner? Gustavo Arellano

Gustavo Arellano isn't just the man behind Ask a Mexican!, his weekly column in Westword. He's also the author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, and in that book he lavishes praise on the Mexican food of Denver: "I have finally learned to love Den-Mex," he writes. "Your epic Mexican ... More >>

Chubby's makes the New York Times, thanks to Gustavo Arellano

From northwest Denver, with love. Chubby's has made the New York Times -- and not surprisingly, it's thanks to Gustavo Arellano, author of the weekly column Ask a Mexican as well as the new book Taco USA. In that scholarly tome, which traces the rise of Mexican food in the United States, Arellano ca ... More >>

The Cow has the Joe's Buffet name, but not its Mexican hamburger...yet

The best Mexican dish in the United States -- at least according to Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican -- is the Mexican hamburger, which was invented in Denver....and can still be found only in Denver. That's what Arellano determined after researching his new book, Taco USA: How Mexican Food ... More >>

Reader: Chubby's is pure Colorado Chicano cuisine

The best Mexican dish in the United States -- at least according to Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican -- is the Mexican hamburger, which was invented in Denver....and can still be found only in Denver. That's what Arellano determined after researching his new book, Taco USA: How Mexican Food ... More >>

Guess where I'm eating Mexican pizza?

If Gustavo Arellano thinks a Mexican hamburger is the best Mexican dish in the United States, we can't wait to hear what he thinks of a Mexican pizza, particularly this sense-searing pile of green chile, molten cheese and ground beef.

Joe's Buffet Mexican hamburger lives on at Taqueria Mexico

It wasn't until Gustavo Arellano, our Ask a Mexican columnist, started researching the spread of Mexican food in this country -- or what passes as Mexican food in this country -- for his new book, Taco USA, that we realized Denver was not only home to a unique green chile, but was also the place wh ... More >>

Reader: Tom Tancredo doesn't like Mexicans but loves their food? Hilarious!

It wasn't until Gustavo Arellano, our Ask a Mexican columnist, started researching the spread of Mexican food in this country -- or what passes as Mexican food in this country -- for his new book, Taco USA, that we realized Denver was not only home to a unique green chile, but was also the place wh ... More >>

Gustavo Arellano's favorite "Den-Mex" joints (infographic)

This week's feature story, "Mexican Hamburger Helper," by Gustavo Arellano, takes a look at the unique "Den-Mex" cuisine. Proclaims Arellano:

Reader: Panning Paxia -- are you crazy?

Los Carboncitas is a great Mexican restaurant, and one that actually focuses on the foods of Mexico, rather than Tex Mex or Colorado Mex or Den-Mex, as Gustavo Arellano calls the food at this town's standard Mexican joints. So Laura Shunk was eager to try Paxia, the upscale sibling of Los Carboncita ... More >>

Reader: We understand that "illegal" means breaking the laws of the United States

Los Carboncitas is a great Mexican restaurant, and one that actually focuses on the foods of Mexico, rather than Tex Mex or Colorado Mex or Den-Mex, as Gustavo Arellano calls the food at this town's standard Mexican joints. So Laura Shunk was eager to try Paxia, the upscale sibling of Los Carboncita ... More >>

Reader: "I can't believe that so much time was wasted by police over this."

Los Carboncitas is a great Mexican restaurant, and one that actually focuses on the foods of Mexico, rather than Tex Mex or Colorado Mex or Den-Mex, as Gustavo Arellano calls the food at this town's standard Mexican joints. So Laura Shunk was eager to try Paxia, the upscale sibling of Los Carboncita ... More >>

Reader question: Where, oh where, can I find flour tortillas made with lard?

​ A reader shot us an e-mail earlier today, posing a food-related question to "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano: I absolutely love flour tortillas made with lard, but I have not been able to find a place that sells them in Denver. Everyone seems to think that vegetable shortening wi ... More >>

Ask Tom Tancredo: Why does the Mexican government encourage a mass exodus to the U.S.?

​ A reader shot us an e-mail earlier today, posing a food-related question to "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano: I absolutely love flour tortillas made with lard, but I have not been able to find a place that sells them in Denver. Everyone seems to think that vegetable shortening wi ... More >>

Don't call them gourmet food trucks; call them luxe loncheras

​ A reader shot us an e-mail earlier today, posing a food-related question to "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano: I absolutely love flour tortillas made with lard, but I have not been able to find a place that sells them in Denver. Everyone seems to think that vegetable shortening wi ... More >>

Letters: More readers weigh in on the immigration debate

​ A reader shot us an e-mail earlier today, posing a food-related question to "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano: I absolutely love flour tortillas made with lard, but I have not been able to find a place that sells them in Denver. Everyone seems to think that vegetable shortening wi ... More >>

Border lines: Tom Tancredo and Gustavo Arellano, opponents on immigration and allies on legalization

​ A reader shot us an e-mail earlier today, posing a food-related question to "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano: I absolutely love flour tortillas made with lard, but I have not been able to find a place that sells them in Denver. Everyone seems to think that vegetable shortening wi ... More >>

Tom Tancredo will sub for Gustavo Arellano for an upcoming "Ask a Mexican" column -- really

Tom Tancredo.​It was just a week ago that former congressman and presidential/gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo and "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano debated immigration in front of a packed house in Denver. And the fun's not over yet.

Is the Mexican hamburger America's Greatest Mexican Meal?

Gustavo Arellano's first look at a Mexican hamburger​Gustavo Arellano, the author of Ask a Mexican, is an expert on many topics -- including the evolution of Mexican restaurants in this country. And before his recent visit to Denver, he'd never before encountered what we consider a mainstay i ... More >>

Tom Tancredo & "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano keep talking in debate videos

Gustavo Arellano.​Update: The immigration debate continues, two days after the November 16 face-off that pitted Tom Tancrtedo against "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano. "Gustavo seems to speak out of both sides of his mouth," one commenter suggests. "Of course Tancredo is a racist al ... More >>

Joe's Buffet, home of the Mexican hamburger, lives on in legend

Joe's Buffet once occupied this Santa Fe storefront.​The space at 753 Santa Fe Drive -- most recently occupied by Club 753 -- is once again dark. But the address deserves some time in the spotlight for one very good reason: It was here that the Mexican hamburger, a major Colorado contribution ... More >>

Prison frenzy and drug war a huge drag on economy, new report says

​Gustavo Arellano and Tom Tancredo didn't find much common ground in their debate about illegal immigration Tuesday night, but they did agree that the war on drugs has been a very costly failure. A new report seeks to quantify that costby looking at the long-term effects of adding increasing n ... More >>

Knee-jerk reactions to the debate between Tom Tancredo and "Ask a Mexican" Gustavo Arellano

Tancredo and Gustavo.​By our count, about 1,600 people watched the debate on immigration between almost-Colorado governor Tom Tancredo and Gustavo Arellano, who writes the "Ask a Mexican" column that appears in Westword each week, on Tuesday night at Su Teatro on Santa Fe. That of course, incl ... More >>

Ask the Mexican: Did Denver invent the Mexican hamburger?

Gustavo Arellano eating more traditional Mexican fare​Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a former food critic in Orange County, California, is in town this week for a visiting professorship at Metro and his debate tonight with Tom Tancredo. But really, he's here to eat -- a mission ... More >>

Reader: If ICE raids Tom Tancredo-Gustavo Arellano debate, Tancredo might get deported

Tom Tancredo.​We're busy preparing for tomorrow's debate between Tom Tancredo and "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano -- and so are many readers requesting tickets. (Click on the link above for more info.) One, however, worries that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might attend the e ... More >>

Ask This Mexican

Tom Tancredo.​We're busy preparing for tomorrow's debate between Tom Tancredo and "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano -- and so are many readers requesting tickets. (Click on the link above for more info.) One, however, worries that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might attend the e ... More >>

Letters: Gustavo Arellano, go home (or at least to Arizona)

Tom Tancredo.​We're busy preparing for tomorrow's debate between Tom Tancredo and "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano -- and so are many readers requesting tickets. (Click on the link above for more info.) One, however, worries that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might attend the e ... More >>

Letters: Boycott Arizona? Why not boycott Ask a Mexican?

Tom Tancredo.​We're busy preparing for tomorrow's debate between Tom Tancredo and "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano -- and so are many readers requesting tickets. (Click on the link above for more info.) One, however, worries that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might attend the e ... More >>

The Mexican picks the country's favorite Mexican restaurants

The late Stella Cordova at the Original Chubby's​Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican, is working on a book on the history of Mexican food in the United States, and this past summer he invited readers to "tell me your favorite local Mexican restaurant and what makes it so bueno" -- in 25 ... More >>

The Mexican picks his Mexican restaurant in Denver

Chubby's fries, smothered in green​This week, Gustavo Arellano reveals his list of must-visit Mexican restaurants across the country. And n Denver? "Go to the Original Chubbys," he advises. "What makes it so bueno? It's a real paisa with buen diente the one who is making the suggestion and no ... More >>

From the week of July 30, 2009

Chubby's fries, smothered in green​This week, Gustavo Arellano reveals his list of must-visit Mexican restaurants across the country. And n Denver? "Go to the Original Chubbys," he advises. "What makes it so bueno? It's a real paisa with buen diente the one who is making the suggestion and no ... More >>

Book 'em!

Chubby's fries, smothered in green​This week, Gustavo Arellano reveals his list of must-visit Mexican restaurants across the country. And n Denver? "Go to the Original Chubbys," he advises. "What makes it so bueno? It's a real paisa with buen diente the one who is making the suggestion and no ... More >>

Holy mole! The Mexican weighs in

El Maestro, a reader of the SF Weekly, Westword's partner paper, recently asked Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a food editor himself, to explain the difference between a mole and molé, since an "offending column" was placed on the back "of the glorious page that has ¡Ask a Mexican!" ... More >>

From the week of October 16, 2008

El Maestro, a reader of the SF Weekly, Westword's partner paper, recently asked Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a food editor himself, to explain the difference between a mole and molé, since an "offending column" was placed on the back "of the glorious page that has ¡Ask a Mexican!" ... More >>

Las Tortas is muy authentico

El Maestro, a reader of the SF Weekly, Westword's partner paper, recently asked Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a food editor himself, to explain the difference between a mole and molé, since an "offending column" was placed on the back "of the glorious page that has ¡Ask a Mexican!" ... More >>

What the Mexican ate while he was in Denver

El Maestro, a reader of the SF Weekly, Westword's partner paper, recently asked Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a food editor himself, to explain the difference between a mole and molé, since an "offending column" was placed on the back "of the glorious page that has ¡Ask a Mexican!" ... More >>

Where should the Mexican eat Colorado Mexican?

El Maestro, a reader of the SF Weekly, Westword's partner paper, recently asked Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a food editor himself, to explain the difference between a mole and molé, since an "offending column" was placed on the back "of the glorious page that has ¡Ask a Mexican!" ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, September 23 edition

El Maestro, a reader of the SF Weekly, Westword's partner paper, recently asked Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a food editor himself, to explain the difference between a mole and molé, since an "offending column" was placed on the back "of the glorious page that has ¡Ask a Mexican!" ... More >>

One more night at Black Cat

El Maestro, a reader of the SF Weekly, Westword's partner paper, recently asked Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a food editor himself, to explain the difference between a mole and molé, since an "offending column" was placed on the back "of the glorious page that has ¡Ask a Mexican!" ... More >>

Rhymes With Orange

El Maestro, a reader of the SF Weekly, Westword's partner paper, recently asked Gustavo Arellano, author of Ask a Mexican and a food editor himself, to explain the difference between a mole and molé, since an "offending column" was placed on the back "of the glorious page that has ¡Ask a Mexican!" ... More >>

Letters to the Editor

Letters from the week of 4/24/2008

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The Answer Man

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Meet the Mexican

From the week of September 21, 2006