I've been in Southern California for 4 months now,and have spent a summer in Denver....Besides that I've lived in Texas my entire life.

For former or current non-Texas residents, is it common to not be able to find what we consider queso at Mexican/Tex Mex places? Its shocking how hard it is to come across. Denver was the same way from what I remember.

Its not like the ingredients aren't readily available and incredibly cheap. What gives?

I can't think of a Mexican place in Denver that I've been to recently that doesn't serve it.

Green chile queso in Albuquerque

east coast def didn't know what queso was.

RE Denver, maybe I'm wrong on how hard it was to find, but I do remember a few places in particular where queso = baseball game nacho cheese served with Tostitos chips

To the East Coaster, if you happen to be in DC, I know that a Mi Cocina (exact same as the ones in Dallas) opened in Frienship Heights this month. Travel there for work a few times a year, can't wait to check it out!

[This message has been edited by BiggieSmalls (edited 5/14/2013 9:30p).]

Maybe it's changed since you lived here, Biggie, but the standard at the places I eat would be a melted cheese (probably velveeta or land-o-lakes) some chilies and tomatoes and possibly some beef

No queso here in NYC

Was working on the road in rural Kansas last year and the only non fast food joint in town was a mexican food place so I said WTF.

Ordered queso and got a bowl of some kind of melted white cheese. Nothing in it like meat or chilies etc but just white cheese. Looked and had the consistency of alfredo sauce.

I accidentally 'forgot' my to go box at the table.

when I moved to tn I asked for queso... the mexican waiter tilted his head and gave an inquisitive look. then finally: "oh you mean chizdip?!"

so try that maybe

it actually was a thin white blend of cheese and probably a little milk with some finely chopped chilies cooked in. it was excellent and I miss it dearly.

[This message has been edited by tennag (edited 5/16/2013 9:09a).]

My wife and I at at a nice Mexican restaurant in downtown Sonoma a couple years ago. We tried to order queso and the waiter got the manager to come over.

We told the manager that queso was melted cheese to dip the chips in.

5 minutes later we received a dish of melted shredded cheese that was un-dippable. We got a good laugh out of it.

[This message has been edited by Dre06 (edited 5/16/2013 10:44a).]

queso is most definitely regional/cultural. it's almost non-existant in the valley. tex-mex with emphasis on the tex.

My last minute Velveeta and Rotel 'queso' at a Superbowl party in Nashville was a solid hit. Made me laugh when they asked how long it took to make such an awesome cheese dip..

Some places here in Philly have it. One even has a queso fundido which was mind-blowingly awesome

The queso and salsa at Rio Grande (Denver) is probably better than any place I've had in Texas, other than maybe the queso at El Tiempo in Houston. There are plenty of places here in Denver that have great queso. And we also have some things that are hard to find in Texas, like pork green chili and brisket enchiladas.

Queasy fundido beats regular quest any day of the week.

queso flameado w/ chorizo!

While I don't eat it myself, I pulled up the menus from the Mexican restaurants we go to and all of them had queso fundido on the menu.

Here's a sample description:

mexican cheeses / chile morita salsa / flour tortillas
with chorizo or mushrooms add 1

I haven't figured out how, but Aggie00 seems to have done everything wrong during his stay in NYC. Queso fundito is not hard to find there and I had to sit at a table that ordered it to share at Mercadito (in the east village) and everyone, including a native Texan, said it was outstanding. One big difference is the use of actual cheese, often from Mexico, rather than Velveeta. Texans have some kind of weird thing with Velveeta and it's probably why I won't eat the stuff now.

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I haven't figured out how, but Aggie00 seems to have done everything wrong during his stay in NYC.

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Some places here in Philly have it. One even has a queso fundido which was mind-blowingly awesome

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Have you been to el Azteca on chestnut? Pretty good

Queso fundido is ok and I've definitely seen it on menus here and had it a few times, but I still prefer "bob armstrong" style queso over all else.

I actually found a place in Old Town San Diego called Cafe Coyote with above average "Tex Mex" style queso...so I guess it exists here, its just not as common as I would like!

[This message has been edited by BiggieSmalls (edited 5/17/2013 2:13p).]

Some of y'all may have read my rant before about how Kraft has b--tardized Velveeta, There is no effin cheese in effin Velveeta. Read the label. I won't buy it & encourage others to do the same.

Modernist Cuisine has a recipe for cheese sauce (that makes a kickass queso) that is nothing but beer, cheese, and sodium citrate. If you can get the sodium citrate (order it online) you can make your own cheese sauce/queso that will beat anything you can find in a restaurant. It is shockingly easy to make.

What does sodium citrate do?

(Yes I realize I could google this)

It keeps the cheese from separating and holds the emulsion together when the cheese melts.

We were on a family vacation in Montana and went to a "Mexican" restaurant in a small town. We asked for queso, and they didn't know what we meant. Finally after describing it, they said, oh you mean nacho cheese? With some trepidation, we said yes. They brought out a small bowl of the crap they serve on nachos at ballparks, that **** that comes out of a can.

Go to modernist pantry for your sodium citrate. Only 6 bucks.

I'm kind of confused why anyone would go to a Mexican restaurant that isn't explicitly TexMex and expect 'queso'.

For those that want to try this at home:

http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/melty-queso-dip/

Can't wait to try this.

I'm with the Prof here. I also would never order anything not on the menu.

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Can't wait to try this.

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I'm not kidding here. I went to sleep last night thinking of all the queso/cheese sauce possibilities.

I'm more thinking of different beers to experiment with.

that melty queso dip...over macaroni...

not gonna lie. i ordered some sodium citrate.