Okay, so “Guadalajara Madison” – sounds like a weird combo, right? It started with me getting really into researching my family history. I found out some of my ancestors were from Guadalajara, Mexico. I got super excited and started digging into everything I could find about the city.
Then, totally unrelated, I was helping my friend plan a trip to Madison, Wisconsin. She’s a huge foodie, and I was looking up cool restaurants for her.
This is where my brain did its weird thing. I was flipping back and forth between Guadalajara info and Madison restaurant guides, and suddenly, I was like, “What if…?”
What if I tried to find Mexican restaurants in Madison, specifically ones that might have dishes or flavors similar to what you’d find in Guadalajara? It was a totally random, self-imposed challenge.
So, I started my hunt. First, I made a list of classic Guadalajara dishes. I googled things like:
- “tortas ahogadas”
- “birria”
- “carne en su jugo”
I even looked up some specific ingredients, like “birote” (the type of bread used for tortas ahogadas) to see if any Madison places mentioned them.
Next, I dove into Madison restaurant listings. I used online review sites, local blogs, anything I could find. I specifically looked for “Mexican restaurant,” “authentic Mexican food,” and even just “Mexican” in the search.
The Search Process
It was messy. I had like twenty tabs open on my computer. One tab was a map of Guadalajara, another was a list of Madison zip codes. I was cross-referencing everything.
I created a simple text file and added a few categories, including:
- Restaurant Name
- Address
- “Guadalajara-ness” (My own weird rating system)
- Notes (Anything that stood out)
I started plugging in restaurant names and addresses. Then came the hard part: figuring out the “Guadalajara-ness.” I’d look at online menus, photos of the food, and read tons of reviews. I was hunting for any clues – a mention of a specific dish, a family recipe from Jalisco, anything!
Some places were easy to rule out. If it was clearly Tex-Mex, I’d just make a note. Others were trickier. A few places had “birria,” but was it really Guadalajara-style birria? That’s where the reviews came in handy. I looked for people saying things like “just like my abuela used to make” or “reminds me of home.”
Then I made notes to self about any dishes or items that stood out as being related to my research.
It was a slow process, honestly. I spent a few hours on it over a couple of days. But I kinda got obsessed! I felt like a culinary detective.
The (Totally Unofficial) Results
I ended up with a handful of places in Madison that seemed to have at least some connection to Guadalajara-style food. Of course, it’s not a perfect science. It’s just my best guess based on online research.
So, that’s the story of my “Guadalajara Madison” experiment. It was a fun, quirky way to combine my random interests. And hey, maybe next time I’m in Madison, I’ll have a good starting point for a food adventure!
