Remember when salsa was new?

Posted by freyas_waffles@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 351 comments

My (M47) wife (F48) ordered some tacos for dinner. They came with extra tortilla chips so she got out some salsa, stopped, and said “remember when salsa was new?” I have never felt so old. I distinctly remember when salsa was a new thing in my state. If you were lucky the parents also got a can of the nacho cheese too.

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cosmic_scott@reddit

grew up in San Diego. salsa was ever present as was avocado and fresh guacamole. i LOVED Mexican restaurants and had several favorites each with different salsas (tio leos salsa came with hot carrots and peppers and Old Town Mexican Cafe had cilantro and was more like Pico de Gallo, but their red sauce was FIRE! and any -'bertos rolled tacos came with some amazing hot sauce.) so... different world in southern California

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pixelgeekgirl@reddit

Yeah, Texan here. Salsa was never new. Salsa is its own food group to me.

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Quake_Guy@reddit

Grew up in Houston which was a hot bed for the creation of new restaurant chains. Also huge Vietnamese population. I was surprised when I traveled as an adult how limited dining was in other parts of the country. When I moved to Phoenix in the early 2000s, it was hard to find a BBQ restaurant of all things.

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FAx32@reddit

Even as far north as Oregon and Washington I don’t remember a “before time”. The west has had a ton of Mexican/hispanic influences since before the states were formed here. I do remember suddenly the rest of the country thinking it was exotic in the 80s, lol.

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Throttlechopper@reddit

Don’t sleep on OTMC’s pozole, I lived in SD for a decade. I grew up in Northern California, and yeah, salsa was always brought out with chips before your meal at a Mexican restaurant. I miss the days when it was free.

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cosmic_scott@reddit

not sure what Mexican places you go to. I went to a Mexican place Thursday - free chips and salsa as always

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Throttlechopper@reddit

I live in OC now and all the fast casual places charge for chips and salsa. It’s been a couple of years since I ate at a table service/classier restaurant, but gratis chips and salsa is more of a rarity for sure.

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cosmic_scott@reddit

fast casual Mexican? yeah, i wouldn't expect it. restaurants is the experience I was discussing

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MW240z@reddit

Yeah, northern (San Jose) and I can’t remember it not being present (53yo). Used to go to a great spot called El Burro that probably introduced me to all things TexMex and Mexican food.

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dddybtv@reddit

Grew up in SJ, Mom is Mexican American so salsa was always present. However, I can distinctly remember when Sriracha arrived

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TheWrongGuy-@reddit

Same! My Korean girlfriend introduced it to me as “rooster sauce” in ‘91.

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notevenapro@reddit

Same. Palo Alto. I live in DC now and god dammit I miss a good fresh large artichoke.

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Nervous_Reaction_197@reddit

Fellow san Jose here. El Burro and Pedro's

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potchie626@reddit

Same here. 50 and grew up over the hill in Watsonville, which has a huge Mexican population so salsa was everywhere. My uncle was the first person I remember putting salsa on scrambled eggs.

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Infinite_stardust@reddit

Yes! Born and raised in SD and I love that salsa and avocados and guacamole were givens. And I love hot carrots! I remember so many great restaurants and all the -berto's. And shout out to the original Lolita's in Chula Vista way back in the day. Do you remember a restaurant called Julio's, I think it was on El Cajon Blvd? One of my favorites and I think it closed in the early 2000's? I moved away and always looked forward to going there when I visited. Still miss it. But I do hit up Tio Leo's!

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ahutapoo@reddit

University and 45th. Soon good.

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Infinite_stardust@reddit

Oh my gosh, yes! That was it! Our family loved that place.

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ahutapoo@reddit

First time I ever had a wine margarita as they had only a beer and wine liquor license.

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seattlemh@reddit

I grew up in Long Beach, CA. While I definitely remember having salsa and guacamole, etc, for as long as I can remember, I also remember when salsa was suddenly the newest thing on a national level. It was at all the chain restaurants, and there were salsa commercials on TV.

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Paperwife2@reddit

Yep, same where I grew up in SoCal. So thankful, I can’t imagine life without all of those!

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Alarming-Distance385@reddit

Same in South Texas/along the border. We always had salsa/hot sauce. When we moved to Central TX, our choice was Pace. I wasn't impressed even as a kid. Thankfully we found some good Mexican restaurants. I'm glad I live in a small town with a variety of Mexican foods. (And we won't discuss East TX putting melted butter in their salsa because that's just *weird.*)

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Trai-All@reddit

Yeah I was going to say this sounds like a regional thing, salsa being new.

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tragicsandwichblogs@reddit

Flip side: It's also a regional thing, salsa not being new. I grew up in Maryland and there weren't even tortillas.

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nutmegtell@reddit

Northern California too. I have recipes from the 1930’s from my grandparents for both.

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JamisonUdrems@reddit

Lived in San Diego for 33 years before I moved away a few years back. I dream about the Mexican food from there ALL. THE. TIME. I miss it so much, can't find it anywhere but SD. I should know, I've tried.

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Blue_Henri@reddit

I’m going back in August for a week just to get SD food. I have my list. Six places. Can’t get the food outta my freaking head.

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

I'm in New England these days but I'm ordering from El Indio as soon as DoorDash and FedEx finally merge...

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cosmic_scott@reddit

I I've in Arizona and there's plenty of good places, some hole in the wall places and a few 'bertos locations so i get the taste of home

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JamisonUdrems@reddit

Nah, even Arizona can't duplicate SD Mexican food. But I'm glad it satisfies you.

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DJErikD@reddit

When I moved from San Diego to Tampa and then to Hawaii, I had to learn how to make San Diego Mexican food because nothing could compare. Even when we got a Rubios in Tampa it sucked and didn’t last long. Thankfully I’m back home for good . My avocado trees save us so much money too.

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JamisonUdrems@reddit

Well, now you're just bragging! I, too, learned how to replicate San Diego Mexican food out of necessity. We do what we must.

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Seasprite66@reddit

I lived in San Diego in the late 80s-early 90s. I miss all the -bertos. Especially the one around the corner from my apartment in El Cajon.

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chewbooks@reddit

God, I remember back then the 5-rolled tacos cost $2.35. We considered ourselves rich when at least had that $2.35.

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Due-Active-1741@reddit

When I was a kid in Lemon Grove in the 80s, we could get rolled tacos 7 for a dollar. That was our special Sunday lunch like once a month.

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Feminist_Hugh_Hefner@reddit

I was rocking a shitty apartment on Mollison Ave back then!

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Nevermind_guys@reddit

I grew up in **New** Mexico so we always had it. It was a sort of competitive sport at the dinner table to see who could handle it when it was really hot. Good times…

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MoparMedusa@reddit

From SW Oklahoma and we always had it too. Little hole-in-the-wall Mexican places had/have the best food.

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burgundycoffeebean@reddit

I came to SD for college and never left. My old college roommate and her family moved to Colorado several years ago. It took her a while to finally found a taco shop that “tasted like home”. The shop owner was from San Diego lol.

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Kizzy33333@reddit

Grew up in Michigan. I never had salsa till I graduated college on the late 80s.

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wmnoe@reddit

Angelino here, but spent 1980 to 1998 in San Diego, graduated HS from Gompers. You're right, you can't get perfect Mexican food outside of San Diego. Even in LA, where there are some great places and food trucks, the local taco store in SD cannot be beat

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Thirsty-Barbarian@reddit

Me too. It's always been here. My mom once told me a story that involved some family friends and salsa in a Mexican restaurant, and the story was from when she was a little girl, so that was likely in the 1940s.

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these-things-happen@reddit

"New York City???" *"Get a rope..."*

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Turk482@reddit

I still say “New York City ???!!” On occasion.

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DerBingle78@reddit

That really chaps my hide.

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citizensforjustice@reddit

Chaffs my hide when I don't wear my chaps. 🤠

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Skatchbro@reddit

I don’t say it out loud but it goes off in my brain. Literally as recently as this morning when I was being introduced to a guy who was originally from NYC.

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RecycleReMuse@reddit

Meanwhile every restaurant kitchen in NYC is staffed be Mexicans no matter what the cuisine. 😆

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Ok-Juggernaut-4698@reddit

That's because Mexicans are great cooks - there's a reason Chicago ranks high with its restaurants, it's because of our vibrant Mexican population!

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ConsciousSituation39@reddit

I’m from Texas. It’s true!

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BabygirlMarisa@reddit

Las Vegas native. Same here.

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RecycleReMuse@reddit

Mexicans rock. Hard working people!

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SHADOWJACK2112@reddit

Asian restaurant? Mexican cooks Italian restaurant? Mexican cooks Bbq joint? Mexican cooks Mexican restaurant? Believe it or not, Mexican cooks Texas has the best restaurants because of Mexican cooks.

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qwibbian@reddit

First thing I thought when I saw this post, and I'm Canadian!

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LPLoRab@reddit

On occasion….yeah…I definitely don’t say that more often than occasionally.

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sanityjanity@reddit

Are you Aaron Burr, sir?

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Lakelover25@reddit

Me too!

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TheRealCabbageJack@reddit

Me too!

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Not-a-Kitten@reddit

Oven mitts!!!

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MoonageDayscream@reddit

Careful, my husband had a reddit account banned for quoting that commercial.

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Pristine_Software_55@reddit

There’s gotta be a story attached to that!

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Designer-Carpenter88@reddit

I remember when it was “New Jersey??”

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fluteloop518@reddit

I worked with some guys who swore they only remembered a version where the punchline was New Jersey, which baffled me because I only remembered (and still do) a New York City version. If anyone has a link to a NJ version, I'd like to see it. New Jersey kind of makes sense, though. Possible dig at Goya products? Are there / were there any salsa brands with NYC on their label?

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Designer-Carpenter88@reddit

It was originally New Jersey. I think the state got mad and made them change it to New York City.

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catastrophicintent@reddit

I thought I was the only person who remembered that!

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SolarPunkWitch2000@reddit

I think of this every stinking time someone says the words "salsa". My spouse had no clue what I was talking about the first time I quoted it, so I had to find the commercial for him. He's a Philly boy, so I forgive him.

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JASCO47@reddit

I think of Seinfeld when I hear Salsa, "because people like to say Salsa!"

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davisyoung@reddit

It must be impossible for a Spanish person to order seltzer and not get salsa.

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themiracy@reddit

Here for this. https://youtu.be/yvIRh-qt9EQ?si=l506e6Boh2ppoRT-

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DTM-shift@reddit

In the beginning, Old El Paso was the ONLY salsa many (most?) of us would encounter on the store shelves. Upper Midwest: "What is this new, exotic food product?!?"

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kellzone@reddit

I imagine the "Mild" was considered very spicy there.

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DTM-shift@reddit

Haha, yes, that was certainly my family at the time. We have since 'evolved' into enjoying actual heat.

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TulsaOUfan@reddit

Pace Medium has been my go-to for 30 years as an adult. This year is the first I've actually bought other salsas for my own normal consumption.

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suffaluffapussycat@reddit

I grew up in San Antonio. There was always salsa. I remember when the Pace/Goldsbury family sold the Pace brand to Campbell’s for $1B.

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krush_groove@reddit

I used to drive past the Pace factory on 35 every morning and get a few lungfulls of the sauce in me.

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Pristine_Main_1224@reddit

It’s late and I’m tired. Instead of $1B, I read it as $18 and was very concerned that someone got ripped off. 😝

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Snoozinsioux@reddit

These commercials live rent free in my head 😩

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missusfictitious@reddit

Like hummus! Hummus was new once, too.

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BuffsBourbon@reddit

Pace picante.

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secret_someones@reddit

i remember when chinese was the fancy food

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doocurly@reddit

La Choy canned chow mein with the crispy noodles had a stranglehold on middle America for a chunk of the late 70s and 80s.

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100percentEV@reddit

This. The fanciest restaurant I ever went to as a kid. My grandmother always ordered chop suey. It looked so nasty.

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silveronetwo@reddit

This reminded me of the History channel show "The Food that Built America" "Tortilla Takeover" episode S6E1. It went into the history and timing of when Mexican food really took off in the US in general. Crazy to think how different our diets were in the '70s.

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aupunter@reddit

Same in Denver CO and Monterey CA.

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LybeausDesconus@reddit

My Mexican upbringing has zero knowledge of this. 😉

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warrior_poet95834@reddit

Growing up in the west, it’s never not been a part of my experience and apparently dates back over 1500 years in the Americas.

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megaboz@reddit

Reminds me of the Tres Hombres gatefold. I remember reading a story about someone who marveled over how exotic the food looked. [An Austin Chef Recreated ZZ Top’s “Tres Hombres” Album](https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/381129/)

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tc_cad@reddit

I told my parents about nachos and salsa in 1986 and they didn’t know what I was talking about. I went with my mom to the grocery store to show her what I was talking about. I got two bags of nachos and a jar of salsa. Everyone at home tried it and didn’t like it except me. So I got nachos and salsa on movie nights and the rest of my family ate popcorn. Now, I’ve got kids of my own and my oldest likes nachos and salsa like me and everyone else likes popcorn.

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Appropriate_Oven_292@reddit

We went from Taco Bell sauce packs to salsa. It seemed like it was over night.

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Livid-Technology-396@reddit

Modern day salsa stinks. I make my own in a Molcajete made from volcanic stone. The kids called it “The Molcatt.” They’d invite their friends over to sample my sweet hot, hand crushed salsa. I used ghost peppers for the spice, but sweetened it with stevia. The kids would literally have mouths on fire, but kept eating it because of the flavor.

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TwoStoopidToFurryass@reddit

I was born and raised in the Southern US. Salsa has always existed for me.

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Optimal-Account8126@reddit

Ouch. I remember being so excited to try ranch too.

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Snacksamillion99@reddit

And it all started in a Hidden Valley

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CowboyLaw@reddit

I remember buying the dry mix and turning it into salad dressing at home. As the ONLY option.

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Optimal-Account8126@reddit

For shits & giggles, I like to tell the kids, "Back in my day, we didn't even HAVE ranch dressing!" For that matter, I really only remember French and Italian at the stores before my teen years.

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babycatcher2001@reddit

Oh god French dressing… does that even exist anymore? They smothered the school salad in that shit😩

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Optimal-Account8126@reddit

I miss a good French dressing. I need to avoid any tomato based foods now in my older age if I hope to avoid heartburn.

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SnowblindAlbino@reddit

There was always Thousand Island, and if you ran out you could make your own by mixing catsup/mayo/relish.

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Wise-Novel-1595@reddit

Catsup? Ok, Mr. Burns.

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Left_Maize816@reddit

Distinctly remember this.

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chefybpoodling@reddit

And seven seas green goddess

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Optimal-Account8126@reddit

Never heard of this one. I just called someone else Fancy Pants over Western dressing. I do believe I spoke too soon!

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smoothallday@reddit

Don’t forget “Western” Dressing!

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Optimal-Account8126@reddit

Look at Fancy Pants over here! j/k I loved to get that at salad bars.

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CowboyLaw@reddit

I remember when Blue Cheese dressing was called Roquefort dressing.

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thegreatgatsB70@reddit

Pepperidge Farms Remembers.

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Beneficial-Crab3347@reddit

Said the Keebler Elves.

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FAx32@reddit

Pretty sure the packets where you made your own predated the salad dressing in a bottle version by a decade or so. Salads were a side dish until the 80s when they became a main dish and the dressing shelves became a lot more populated. Mom made her own Italian and ranch dressing for years before she ever bought it premade. Her mom loved thousand island, but not pickles so mixed catchup and mayo (no relish).

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smoothallday@reddit

I don’t remember salsa being new, but I absolutely remember when Cool Ranch Doritos came out. It was a snack revolution!

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Optimal-Account8126@reddit

Maybe it just took a while for salsa to become mainstream depending on where you lived? The Northern East Coast of the US was late to the party.

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saktii23@reddit

I love that in Europe, the Cool Ranch flavor is called "Cool American" because nobody knows what ranch dressing is there

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Optimal-Account8126@reddit

Haha, that's awesome!

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deformo@reddit

Cool ranch Doritos. When you crave the taste of vomit.

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BE33_Jim@reddit

I remember when a plate of nachos was a single layer of tortilla chips arranged neatly on a plate (no overlap) with a layer of melted cheese. "With jalapeños" was a single slice of pickled jalapeño on each chip.

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BrashPop@reddit

And don’t forget the can of sliced black olives!

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BE33_Jim@reddit

Too fancy for us folks from Ohio 😀

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Francis_Lynch@reddit

My intro to salsa corresponded with my first trip to Chi-Chi's

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BronzedLuna@reddit

Chi-Chi’s 🥰 Their seafood enchiladas and fried ice cream were so so good.

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Francis_Lynch@reddit

Cancun. My Mom always ordered it. Cheese sauce on shrimp yum

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SatBurner@reddit

So where I was born (middle of KS) there were several Mexican food places. My dad spent most of his younger life in California. So when we moved to central PA in 1984 the lack of Mexican options was shocking to both of my parents. I know my dad once drove over an hour (probably more, I was 4) to get her Taco Bell when she was pregnant with my brother. The Mexican options were really limited.

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freshcoastghost@reddit

Crunchy tacos hitting the midwest dinner rotation sometime in the mid/late 70's!

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GaryNOVA@reddit

Even if we didn’t invent salsa. We did invent r/SalsaSnobs !

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Asleep-Sir3484@reddit

What state did you live in where salsa was new?

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freyas_waffles@reddit (OP)

Very north east, where there were very few minorities for a very long time.

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Asleep-Sir3484@reddit

Wow. The cool thing now, that with expanded technology the world is a little bit more connected so people can hopefully experience more cultures (& food 😊).

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BrashPop@reddit

Canada also exists. This topic actually made me ask my husband and friend (both Gen X) if they remembered the first time they had salsa, and the best guess was “sometime in the very early 90s”. I know my parents didn’t buy it when I was a kid!

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fadedtimes@reddit

Growing up in San Diego I find this fascinating because salsa, nachos, queso were very normal for me

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Longjumping-Code7908@reddit

What?!! Salsa was new at some point in our childhood?! I certainly remember the 'get a rope' commercial but salsa was a staple of my California upbringing well before that.

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BrashPop@reddit

I guess it is pretty shocking to learn places outside of California exist

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robchapman7@reddit

We get it that this does not apply to anyone who lived in the SW or Mexico or had family from there. And the OP meant “new” meaning becoming a normal thing. There was even a scene in Seinfeld where Jerry talks about this.

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BrashPop@reddit

This reminds me of every discussion about pop culture/tech, where the people who live in the places something originated act like everyone else is a fucking moron for not encountering it until a later time. “Well *I* live in Texas so…” good, good for you, and my grandmother lived in the middle of nowhere in northern Canada and she got a single orange *once a year*, things are regional and don’t show up everywhere, at all times, immediately, for everyone.

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Wise-Novel-1595@reddit

Hell, yes! Still feels like a new thing to me even though I’ve now been eating it for most of my life.

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Outrageous-Taro7340@reddit

I remember when sushi was only mentioned to call out how Japanese culture seemed alien. Now it's a ho-hum lunch option at Kroger. My parents never ate pizza till college.

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BrashPop@reddit

I remember being absolutely *desperate* to try sushi for my 15th birthday and my stepfather saying he “knew a place”. The “place” was a super dingy “noodle house” that was most likely a mob front and he made us leave before we ordered anything because he knew the chef and had a bad history with him over something. It wasn’t until a few years later that we actually got a *real* sushi restaurant here. I live in a landlocked province *very far from either ocean*, I’m not surprised we didn’t have access to sushi until the 90s.

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upurcanal@reddit

I don’t get it Salsa has always come with chips… I now wonder “where is the salsa!?”

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freyas_waffles@reddit (OP)

Imagine a time and place where chips only meant potato. And button mushrooms in a salad were “weird”

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Tangboy50000@reddit

Ah yes, all the parties suddenly had salsa and chips. People started making their own salsa and everyone had to ask them how they made it. Then there was always the “oops I added too many jalapeños batch” that lit everyone’s mouth on fire.

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NoeTellusom@reddit

As someone who was living in Arizona in the 1980s, salsa was never new. It just WAS.

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MrMackSir@reddit

I definitely do! My father was a chemical engineer who went to TX to help Pace design and build their salsa factory - I think 1981 or so. He brought back the salsa and tortilla chips to rural Ohio for the family to try. I loved it. He and I were the only ones who liked it.

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fmlyjwls@reddit

Similar-I introduced guacamole to a friend that had grown up in rural Oregon Hey, this Avacado dip is pretty good 🤦‍♂️

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Jbuggy_ZZ17@reddit

“NEW YORK CITY?!?!” is a major thing I remember 😂😂

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Freepi@reddit

That was Pace picante sauce, not salsa. /s

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Medical_Slide9245@reddit

I remember ordering something called a fajitas(fa-gee-tahs) at Applebees and so embarrassed that it was sizzling and everyone was starting at me because no one had ever seen anything like it.

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Freepi@reddit

Ha! When Mc Donald’s introduced fajitas to their menu in the early ‘90’s I purposefully mispronounced them Faj’-i-duz, just to see how people responded.

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Ex-zaviera@reddit

And then salsa became the #1 condiment ahead of ketchup. That healthy trend warms my cold heart. I remember trying Thai food for the first time in NYC. It was love at first bite.

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Freepi@reddit

Healthy? It’s not like Americans started eating less ketchup (or french fries). Salsa didn’t replace ketchup. We just added salsa and fried corn chips.

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jacksondreamz@reddit

I remember when tacos were new.

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Outrageous-Power5046@reddit

I remember the "Tex-Mex" craze. I remember when skirt steak, which used to be the cheapest cut, got rebranded as "Fajita Steak" and then charged 60 more cents a pound.

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Careful-Use-4913@reddit

That was around the time of the “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.” commercials, wasn’t it?

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emccm@reddit

Yes I do. There are so many things like this that we take for granted now but were so new and exotic.

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BrashPop@reddit

Yeah, people forget that food availability was radically different even as recently as the 90s. Even in Canada - we just don’t get the same foods that Americans consider staples, for various reasons. When my grandmother was a kid up North, they got oranges *once a year*, and that was the 30s/40s. My parents lived in little farming towns, they sure weren’t buying the same foods as someone in California or Texas. I didn’t have real rice until the mid-90s because my parents thought Minute Rice was “real” rice!

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emccm@reddit

I remember when salmon was considered a luxury fish. Smoked salmon was such a treat.

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Careful-Use-4913@reddit

It’s still a luxury in my book. It is hella expensive.

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BrashPop@reddit

I grew up absolutely hating fish, because the only fish we ever had was stuff my dad caught like pike or pickerel, and it was always cooked in the worst way, just greasy and burned. I don’t remember *when* we first had salsa, but I do know it wasn’t a thing my parents ever really bought. If you had chips and dip, it was plain ruffled chips with homemade onion dip!

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emccm@reddit

It’s funny because I always think I had such a boring life but looking back we really got to experience so many new things and so much change.

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Careful-Use-4913@reddit

No. But I was born in CA, and I distinctly remember that we were all horrified to find no good Mexican restaurants in St. Louis when we moved here in ‘85. It took several years to find one. Now there are several.

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GlobalTapeHead@reddit

Yeah, I grew up in Texas. We always had salsa. But I do remember the McDonald’s ads “you can feed a family of four for only $5.”

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OldBanjoFrog@reddit

Went to Middle School and High School in Texas, so no

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toqer@reddit

California checking in. Wasn't in school but we had tons of Mexican restaurants and it was served with chips.

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some_one_234@reddit

Same. Grew up eating (and loving) Mexican food but it wasn’t really served at school. Although they did serve some really bad burritos

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Onorine1@reddit

I am from Oakland. I don’t remember Mexican food being served in schools but absolutely can’t remember a time that salsa was not easily available in the grocery store.

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LemonSlicesOnSushi@reddit

We had it with school meals in my SoCal schools.

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toqer@reddit

Ya I'm Bay Area, which is surprising we didn't have more considering all the agriculture that used to be in San Jose.

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CHILLAS317@reddit

No. I grew up in Central Ohio and salsa was an ever-present condiment in my experience

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azhockeyfan@reddit

I'm from Arizona and in 1986 my family went on a road trip to New England. We had a gathering at a campground and did a happy hour where people brought snacks. My mom brought chips and salsa and several people had no clue what it was.

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dryadsage@reddit

New Mexican. Can’t imagine a time before salsa…

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floppy_breasteses@reddit

Lol, yeah, vaguely. Some time around Swiss Chalet being a new thing, as I recall.

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Lanky_Comedian_3942@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/sf8w0w8uc91f1.png?width=498&format=png&auto=webp&s=13fb2d05cdc9d69465d03fa2b79b666b86ebe7d5

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DeeSnarl@reddit

Scrolled way too far for this

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DanteQuill@reddit

No, I'm in the Midwest and my grandmother was a nurse. And when she was young, she made friends with a lot of the Latina nurses and so we have Mexican recipes that date back almost a hundred years. Same with her Italian, except her lasagna and rigatoni ragu recipes are closing in on 150 years old. I still make all of it to this day (with the occasional tweak here and there for expediency lol). In fact, we would alternate on the day after Thanksgiving having either Mexican or Italian so people didn't have to fight over the holidays. Not exclusively on those days, but those were the biggest days we made them.

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treelovingaytheist@reddit

Ha. I was 17 working in a restaurant in CT when the chef made salsa for him and the other cooks to eat. I’d never heard of it. This was like 1983 or something.

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Dull-Geologist-8204@reddit

Northeast here and my dad's family is Italian. My best friend in elementary school was Colombian back in the 80's. For me personally salsa has never been new. Grew up right outside DC so probably very different then where you grew up but I honestly don't remember a time where salsa wasn't around.

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Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit

I didn’t know what salsa was until going to chichi’s as a teenager

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rabidstoat@reddit

Yep, Chi-Chi's (along with Olive Garden and Chinese delivery) were my view of international cuisine as a child.

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BrewCrewBall@reddit

Minnesota or Wisconsin?

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Low_Cook_5235@reddit

Wisconsin for me. The Chi Chis by Brookfield Square was where I had my first Margarita. But my first nachos ever were at Dodgers Stadium in the early 1980s.

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treemoustache@reddit

Winnipeg

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Additional_Good4200@reddit

Chi-Chi’s was also my first Mexican food (unless you count burritos at A&W—no one does). In my case it was Louisville, KY. (The dash is mine, and so is the overuse of parenthetical information, in case anyone wondered).

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vetters@reddit

Hello, fellow (rare and beautiful) em-dash user! I see you! And I raise you a properly nested double parentheses: (My first Mexican food was also at Chi-Chi’s (in Cleveland).) :)

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tragicsandwichblogs@reddit

This punctuation tells me that you are my people.

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frazzledglispa@reddit

What about Taco Johns? Tuesday, Taco Tuesday Tuesday, Taco Tuesday Chi Chi's was my first too, Minnesota.

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velociraptoraccident@reddit

Heeeey Bashford Manor! (unless there was another one I don't remember lol)

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BrashPop@reddit

We had Chi-Chi’s up in Canada too!

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rrhunt28@reddit

We would go to Chi Chi's when I was a kid. I loved the cheese dip and the nachos.

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SwimmingBridge9200@reddit

Same here. Never heard of that before.

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elijuicyjones@reddit

Salsa is old. Even so it was new to our parents in the 60s and rose in the 70s because they liked it. We were certainly the first kids to have a steady supply but it was never “new” at any point a GenXer could form a sentence.

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AirlineRegular1827@reddit

I'm 57 and in Minnesota. We never had salsa in the house. I do remember picante sauce though.

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StinkypieTicklebum@reddit

We called it ‘hot sauce!’

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Voodoocat-99@reddit

Guessing OP grew up in the Northeast

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Agitated_Present7020@reddit

I grew up in RI and never had there not been salsa. My grandmother used to make it for my mother and her siblings when my mom was growing up, because she hated the stuff available at the market. This was in the 50s and 60s.

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Agitated_Present7020@reddit

Uhhh when was salsa new? There has never not been salsa.

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SubstantialPressure3@reddit

I guess it just depends on where you grew up, if it was "new".

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OlderAndTired@reddit

I’m from CA and always had salsa but remember when the Pace commercials came out, making it a big thing. For me, the revolution was in the early 90s when I heard a report that salsa replaced ketchup as the #1 condiment.

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MissDisplaced@reddit

I don’t remember having anything but Old El Paso taco kit in a box. We didn’t even have a Taco Bell in my town until perhaps 1987 and a Chi Chi’s opened in 1988.

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StoneLaRock@reddit

I grew up in New Mexico. I’ve never lived in a world without salsa.

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Left_Maize816@reddit

Having lived in the southwest my entire life, no I can’t remember when salsa was new.

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SeparateCzechs@reddit

I remember. And then, a few years later, my sister brought home a man from Arizona of Mexican ancestry, and I tasted cilantro for the first time. I’ve never been the same. I wish she had married him. Family oriented. He’d give honest opinions even when they weren’t what I wanted to hear. He was the big brother I’d always wished for. Me made a stockpot of fresh salsa and I watched my dad fall in love with him.

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AnxiousConsequence18@reddit

This is a regional thing, not a genX thing. Anywhere Hispanics lived had salsa even back in the day. And they lived EVERYWHERE. Maybe not in the highly compacted northeast, but everywhere there are farms, meat plants, or roofing jobs, the Hispanics will be there, kicking ass. And bringing their culture with them. Been loving sausage pizza with salsa on top since I was a kid. Taco pizzas too!

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CCHTweaked@reddit

Thank you OP, now I completely understand why my wife says stuff like "I didn't grow up with spicy food like you did." I grew up in Texas and California as a kid... Spicy is ubiquitous now, but there was a time when the American diet was bland.

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Warring_Angel@reddit

I sorta remember this on two waves. "Taco night" was marketed in the 80's a a fun and easy to prepare dinner for working families and singe mothers. [This Ortega commercial from 1986](https://www.retrojunk.com/c/X_CHSSnyF6/ortega-taco-shells-and-salsa-1986) is an example. By the 90's Tostitos chips and salsa became it's own dietary staple and activity to do while watching tv.

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SPacific@reddit

I'm 48 and I grew up in the southwest, so I always had salsa as long as I can remember, but I remember going on a road trip as a kid and, somewhere in Nebraska, we ate at a cafe. For some reason my parents let me order tacos. They had plain, unseasoned beef, Kraft singles, and ketchup. That's when I learned that good Mexican food did not exist everywhere.

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DamarsLastKanar@reddit

>unseasoned beef, Kraft singles, and ketchup Isn't that a deconstructed burger?

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SPacific@reddit

Well, it was in a store-bought hard taco shell

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DamarsLastKanar@reddit

A crunchy hot dog. : D

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HoldMyDomeFoam@reddit

I’m from Houston, so salsa was common before I was born.

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tallCircle1362@reddit

I am 59 and from PA. Let’s just say that salsa wasn’t a popular condiment until mid to late 80’s. It went from nobody eating it to a very common, popular item to snack on at home and at parties. My favorite was Chi-chi’s salsa in a jar. Seemed like overnight it went from unknown to everyone loving it.

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notevenapro@reddit

Nope. I grew up in california. I am still blown away when I meet people who have never eaten an artichoke.

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atypical_lemur@reddit

It's because people like to say salsa: [https://youtu.be/Uub\_Oqwefwc?si=O6ajjZnN9ZkHdv0i](https://youtu.be/Uub_Oqwefwc?si=O6ajjZnN9ZkHdv0i)

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model563@reddit

Grew up in Northern Virginia. Salsa was standard at all the Mexican joints, and my mom did a Velveeta and RoTel queso pretty often. That said, the folks did live in Texas for a few years before I came along, so thier expectations mightve been different than the average Virginian.

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Lmcaysh2023@reddit

I remember! Growing up in the NE, I never saw an avocado, either. So many new foods in my lifetime. I told my kids that we didn't have strawberries in January, mostly just apples and pears and grapefruit. They were incredulous:)

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2021newusername@reddit

California here, we had salsa and avocados daily well before I was born.

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GenericRedditor1937@reddit

From the Midwest, I'm pretty sure I didn't have avocado, and it was probably Chipotle's guacamole, until my 20s.

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2021newusername@reddit

San Diego county, tree in backyard- I guess I’m lucky as I was eating avocado toast as a toddler and it didn’t cost $16

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chewbooks@reddit

Well before California was born I would think.

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YKINMKBYKIOK@reddit

You were born in the 1400s? Wow.

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Wild_Locksmith_326@reddit

60 years old, don't remember not having salsa, fresh tortillas, guacamole and good carne asada. Grew up in the south west, and these were comfort foods to us.

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BengalFan2001@reddit

Ummm I have eating salsa for years. Maybe it because I got to travel and try different foods from about 1/3 of the states. I remember salsa commercials from the 80's.

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podgida@reddit

I'm older than you (56) and remember eating it at a restaurant when I was ~5 years old.

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SomethingHasGotToGiv@reddit

Well, there are regions where it was not prevalent.

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SeparateFly2361@reddit

I love how California and Texas *need* to chime in they’ve always had it. Like yes we know 🙄

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BrashPop@reddit

Yeah, like in Canada we definitely didn’t “always” have it. Same with guacamole - hell I didn’t even have the opportunity to try avocado until I was 16.

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Quintipluar@reddit

According to Google salsa has been around since the 1500s.

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podgida@reddit

Yeah I was thinking that. But I was also very confused.

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Quintipluar@reddit

Same

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JulesChenier@reddit

My ancestors can't even remember when salsa was new.

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1Pip1Der@reddit

A *CAN* of the nacho cheese. Thanks for unlocking the trauma I thought I buried.

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PublicCraft3114@reddit

I live in a place with a large family Indian population and was confused when people started calling kachumber salsa

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justagalandabarb@reddit

Oh my gosh, I was just having the same exact conversation with my Gen X husband about “when did avocados become a thing?” And that launch just into this whole thing about all these new foods that were just discovered as we were growing up.!

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Longjumping-Code7908@reddit

I wish there was a shock emoji in this case. I am genuinely curious about the newly discovered foods that y'all discussed....?

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thatsnotyourtaco@reddit

Tell me you’re not from Texas without telling me

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ljinbs@reddit

I never realized salsa wasn’t a thing until I went to Wisconsin and the salsa we were served was closer to the consistency of ketchup. I’m from Southern California so good salsa has always been available here.

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Tasunka_Witko@reddit

Yeah, and of you don't put it in the fridge it'll go bad

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DGinLDO@reddit

Salsa has been a thing for me since I was born but then I live in South Texas

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TimHuntsman@reddit

Nope. Lived in Mexico when I was a teenager.

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ZaphodG@reddit

The Frito Bandito commercial hit the air in 1967. Jar salsa was in grocery stores nationally.

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thelimeisgreen@reddit

I’d ask what sort of white-bread, flavorless hellhole do you come from where salsa was “new” at some point in the last 100 years? But then I come to my senses and remind myself that places like Ohio are real.

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Excellent_Place_8890@reddit

Approaching 50 years of age in Texas. Salsa always been apart of my life. El Chico In the town east mall in mesquite tx was the gold standard of high living back in the dsy.

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labbeduddel@reddit

When salsa was new.. Lol

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sowdirect@reddit

I grew up in a Mexican family in California. We didn’t get store bought Salsa. We had Salsa at home. Didn’t try Pace or any big brands until I lived on my own and then learned to make my own Salsa. The salsa my family ate was too weak. Also grow all my own peppers. Store bought peppers are usually lacking in heat too. You did just remind me we are out of red sauce. ![gif](giphy|Zk9mW5OmXTz9e)

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JtownATX01@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/ob4boe9i7a1f1.png?width=1500&format=png&auto=webp&s=4e6276642fccc5a08c2cd913b81ba493b8f8bbd6 Remember eating Pace picante sauce with PLAIN DORITOS?!? Before Tostitos were invented?

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bubbududu@reddit

Ah Dios… este gente.

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tragicsandwichblogs@reddit

We lived in Maryland when I was a kid, and the only times we had tacos was when my dad went to San Antonio on a business trip and brought back tortillas.

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redshirt1701J@reddit

We just called it hot sauce when I was younger.

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Krustylang@reddit

New York City?!?!

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Boogledoolah@reddit

Get the rope!

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annewaldron@reddit

I remember being mad because my dad brought home tortilla chips and salsa from the store and not our beloved potato chips and french onion chip dip. We were like, "What the F is that?!?" I was a hater at first for that reason.

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McFoo43@reddit

Solid genX from the SouthWest and I honestly cannot recall anytime in my life that was pre-salsa. It’s always been there, La Victoria is the brand I remember earliest

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True_Step3929@reddit

Saying salsa is new is incorrect. Saying it was newly added to store shelves would be accurate. My mother, now 80, taught us now to make salsa when we were little. It was her mothers recipe that she made and her mother before her.

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Beegkitty@reddit

What?? New? This has got to be some Yankee thing not a generational thing. Cause I grew up with that and so much more flavorful stuff as a kid.

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fleabus412@reddit

All over my bullets and everything...

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frazzledglispa@reddit

Absolutely. I grew up in Minnesota, and had never heard of it until one day, in the early 80s, we went to Chi-Chis in Minneapolis (a suburb, actually) and they brought out chips and salsa. A while later, salsa came to town in the form of Pace Picante sauce. That was back in the days when generic products came in black and white packages, were frequently gross, and were not the same thing as store brands. I mention this because the Pace would allow you to choke down the generic tortilla chips, which were cheaper than Tostitos - which were round back then, or plain Doritos.

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Chemical_Butterfly40@reddit

The spit take I did when I first heard of the Mexican restaurant named “Chi Chi’s”…

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lushlife_@reddit

Not me expecting a music thread where people discuss Cuba origins, Puerto Rican musicians, and Nyorqueño inventions.

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Chemical_Butterfly40@reddit

¡Azúcar! ![gif](giphy|3o6ZtjK4uoq6p12JRm)

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MyriVerse2@reddit

M59 from New Orleans. My earliest memories were putting salsa on eggs.

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dstarpro@reddit

I...what?

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nutmegtell@reddit

Lol no Northern California. I have recipes from the 1930’s from my grandmothers for both salsa and guacamole lol

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wmnoe@reddit

must be regional, I've lived in So-Cal my entire life, and I cannot remember a time before Salsa. And I'm 54

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freyas_waffles@reddit (OP)

Oh definitely regional. I was a north easterner.

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Idislikethis_@reddit

I'm also from the northeast and it seems a lot of people think you're saying it was invented after we were born, not that regionally we just didn't have it until fairly recently.

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JudgeJuryEx78@reddit

I remember in elementary school in third grade when we got a a wave of Mexican immigrants, and with it Mexican restaurants, and taco night didn't just mean a sad jar of Old El Paso anymore!

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123BuleBule@reddit

Mexican here. Salsa was never new for me.

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bmbmwmfm@reddit

Salsa? I remember when only one place did cheese dip and it was a major thing.

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root_fifth_octave@reddit

‘I don’t understand the question, and I won’t respond to it’

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GenericRedditor1937@reddit

![gif](giphy|ky16TkGK4RTs4)

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YankeeRacers42@reddit

I used to live in Indiana when I was a kid. I still do, but I used to too. I still remember when fresh seafood became a thing normal people could buy in grocery stores here. I used to think I hated salmon. Turned out I just had standards and therefore hated the canned salmon that looked and tasted like dog food.

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TroyCR@reddit

So you know, fresh canned salmon (think mason jar) is freaking amazing. I have a few aunts that make me some every year I ask, and it is fantastic.

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YankeeRacers42@reddit

I actually eat a fair amount of tinned fish these days and have had some amazing salmon, yes (and trout, for that matter). When it’s done well, it’s fantastic. The stuff they sold at local midwestern grocery stores in the ‘80s was . . . not.

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Skatchbro@reddit

Channeling your inner Mitch. Nice.

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DerBingle78@reddit

I like refried beans. That’s why I wanna try fried beans, because maybe they’re just as good and we’re just wasting time. You don’t have to fry them again after all

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YankeeRacers42@reddit

I like rice. Rice is great when you’re hungry and you want 2,000 of something.

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Top-Spinach2060@reddit

A friend of mine asked me if I wanted a frozen banana and I said no but I do want a regular banana later so yes.

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skateboardnaked@reddit

Not salsa, but I remember when ranch salad dressing started selling in stores.

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NWXSXSW@reddit

I grew up in Southern California so … No. I do not.

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AssMonkeyDumb@reddit

I'm from California. Salsa has always been, and always shall be

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Pitiful-Inside-5351@reddit

First time for me was at chi chis. Then it was awhile before discovering you could get salsa at home.

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Apprehensive_Net_829@reddit

I grew up in Texas, so I legitimately do not. 😆

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3ntr0py_@reddit

Salsa has always been around, at least in Texas. Never knew it was “new” to some people.

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Recipe_Limp@reddit

Grew up in Texas…I can’t remember a time when it wasn’t around. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

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Cake_Donut1301@reddit

Yes. And then I remember when it eclipsed ketchup as the #1 condiment. But is salsa really a condiment?

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kunk75@reddit

This actually got me in the feels

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RaspberryVespa@reddit

LOL, Californian here. Salsa has always existed. Where in the world did you live where salsa was “new” in the later half of the 20th Century??

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Additional_Good4200@reddit

I partially grew up in Northern California in the late 70s. We didn’t have a lot of money and maybe that had something to do with it, but we didn’t have salsa available. I was living elsewhere by the time I tried it.

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kittybigs@reddit

I grew up in Virginia and remember when Salsa was new.

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Aggravating-Shark-69@reddit

I grew up in Texas had it my whole life.

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7LeagueBoots@reddit

I grew up in California. Salsa was never a new thing, it was a long established part of food.

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rundabrun@reddit

Being Mexican... I lived in Utah and didn't realize everybody didn't make salsa and guacamole at home, nor did they take an anual trip to TJ to stock up on a years worth of tortillas.

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burgundycoffeebean@reddit

I live in San Diego and we go down to TJ for tortillas and salsa too lol.

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Snoo-46218@reddit

Not really. Born and raised in the SW.

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smkultraa@reddit

I’m Mexican. Thankfully, salsa has always been a thing for me. Anyone else get bean broth in their baby bottle?

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no_car1799@reddit

No, but I got coffee with galletas maria!! Coffee had tons of milk

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gnortsmracr@reddit

Ditto for the coffee. But mine was export soda crackers with butter, dunked in the coffee… 😋

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KitchenNazi@reddit

I had my first burrito when I was 7 or 8 or so. Still go to the same shop with my kid. Still good! I think I’ve only bought jarred salsa a few times in my life - that stuff is nasty. In the 80s it had have been even worse.

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OnPaperImLazy@reddit

I grew up in Texas so I always remember eating it, but we called it hot sauce. As in, getting free chips and hot sauce at Tex Mex restaurants. I don't remember when the term salsa became more common.

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Lightningstruckagain@reddit

Grew up in Central Tx, but we always called it salsa. Pico was different. And Hot Sauce was the bottled stuff like Tabasco or Chalula.

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Able-Candle-2125@reddit

I think we had hot sauce and picante in the Midwest. But salsa is different isn't it? The other two were just a red goop. Salsa had tomato's and stuff in it (and tasted a bit different to my 10 year old taste buds).

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snarf_the_brave@reddit

Ditto this. And, to this day, I call it picante instead of salsa because that's what the hometown place called it when I was growing up. Then Pace got popular, and that's what they called it. So picante it is.

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Dangerous-Sorbet2480@reddit

Salsa has been around forever! I watched an episode of The Foods That Built America and it focused on the creator of Pace salsa which was introduced in 1947 fwiw. I didn’t eat it as a kid so I might have felt it was new when I started eating it in my teen years but it’s been around for long time!

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realsalmineo@reddit

It wasn’t new. You just weren’t paying attention.

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Hagfist@reddit

I had never thought about it until now, but salsa has been a staple food for me for as long as I can remember. I don't remember it not ever being available.

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0hheyitsme@reddit

I'm mexican, we always had salsa. It's been around for centuries.

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qualidar@reddit

I remember the first fried ravioli, and a time before mozzarella sticks. In the Before Times.

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deagh@reddit

I'm from San Antonio (I actually am) where folks know what salsa is supposed to taste like. So no, I don't actually remember when salsa was new.

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Objective_Problem_90@reddit

What a great time to be alive then. When a man's life was threatened over inferior salsa but full and complete trust was put into a rich stranger over his Grey poupon.

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Traditional-Panda-84@reddit

I live in New Mexico. We laugh at “Pace”. Salsa has been a “vegetable” here for centuries.

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BurtRogain@reddit

I live in California. Salsa has always been here.

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discoamie@reddit

I totally understand the sentiment. I relate it to "remember when sushi was new"? I'm from San Antonio, Tx so salsa was practically baby food in my household. I often had heart burn as a child. Also, back when Pace Picanté was based in SA, you could smell wafting in the air. I haven't thought about that in years.

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BreezyBill@reddit

I remember when bagels were exotic and new.

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sanityjanity@reddit

I really don't

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BizRec@reddit

I remember vividly the first time i had hummus. Party in college.

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Sherry0406@reddit

Yes, sometime in the 80s it became real popular in my state. I don't remember hearing about it before then.

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CyndiIsOnReddit@reddit

We had family salsa so it was never new to me. The jarred kind though, definitely. I hated it because it was chunky. Our salsa was crushed, practically pureed.

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MorningBrewNumberTwo@reddit

For me, it was in the early 80’s.

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Reasonable_Bid3311@reddit

I first had a taco around 1980. At school we had a taco party.

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scooterv1868@reddit

I was ten or older before I heard of this thing called pizza. And I was visiting my aunt in Chicago.

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Catfiche1970@reddit

You're welcome!

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Skatchbro@reddit

“It's not pizza, it's a casserole." https://youtu.be/pzXIpp59eoU?si=ASNAYyA5UZ1UJTrm

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AshDenver@reddit

Salsa has always been a thing for me. As a kid, we’d go down to Mexican Village in Detroit. Great fun.

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Frecklefishpants@reddit

It's become popular because people like to say salsa.

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Braincloud@reddit

Seltzah?

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Braincloud@reddit

I remember first discovering salsa verde when I took off to Austin from New England when I was a young adult.I thought I knew Tex Mex - but I had no idea 😂

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LukeSkywalkerDog@reddit

A bit before my time, but in one decade, anything that included green bell peppers, tomatoes, and rice was billed as "Mexican."

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Fragrant_Student7683@reddit

New? It's always been around since well before I was born. 60 year old Texan here

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Lopsided_Tomatillo27@reddit

I remember everyone called it “salsa sauce,” before learning that salsa means sauce.

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Superb-Ag-1114@reddit

When I lived in Indiana in the 70s, they'd serve you ranch dressing with a basket of tortilla chips at Mexican restaurants lol. I date a Latino man now and I'm pretty sure salsa has never been new to him. He puts it on everything.

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ynfive@reddit

That reminds me the last time I went through Missouri and a carne asada burrito at what looked like a nice sit-down Mexican restaurant was just ground beef and what tasted like jarred spaghetti sauce. So gross. That was like ten years ago.

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La-Belle-Gigi@reddit

NGL when I saw the headline I thought of the musical genre.

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ynfive@reddit

This is more about what state you grew up in than generation. I {M45) grew up in Arizona where salsa, tortillas and the chips was something that anyways existed. My wife same age grew up east coast and does say it's a thing.

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no_car1799@reddit

As a Mexican I can’t fathom not knowing salsa…what!

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ithinkiknowstuphph@reddit

Sushi too

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Holiday_Advantage378@reddit

I’m from California. It was new here when California was Mexico

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Jesus-balls@reddit

It's just so fun to say!! Salsa!

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Far_Winner5508@reddit

![gif](giphy|3ohhwlN2fU4oFDgkk8|downsized) Yes, I do. And nachos, chicken wings, and top ramen.

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spacefaceclosetomine@reddit

Oklahoma kid, Mexican restaurants everywhere, we’ve always had salsa.

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LemonSlicesOnSushi@reddit

You guys still had lynchings when I was doing my master’s degree in 2002. I wrote a paper about it.

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green_dragonfly_art@reddit

But they still had salsa!

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DaniiMinoguh@reddit

I had to leave my state before I ever saw salsa. Rural mid-westerners think ketchup is spicy.

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AbruptMango@reddit

Mayonnaise is a little too risque for them.

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wyecoyote2@reddit

Don't get me started on having a Canadian wife.

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AbsolutesDealer@reddit

“Why don’t they have Salsa on the table?” https://youtu.be/Uub_Oqwefwc?si=kshDsCKH_KTFkHlF

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hookerproblems@reddit

I grew up in the west of the US. Salsa has been around my entire life.

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TeacherOfFew@reddit

Texan here. No such time. Can’t imagine the horror. (Until I moved to Kansas. Salsa was still foreign in 2006.)

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URnevaGonnaGuess@reddit

"New York City?!? Get a rope!"

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The_Ninja_Manatee@reddit

I was born in Arizona, so salsa was never a new thing. My grandfather had a famous salsa recipe. He made giant batches of salsa, put it in mason jars, and gave it to friends and family. I still have his recipe.

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PowerfulMind4273@reddit

I grew up in California so luckily always had salsa in all my life.

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jaxbravesfan@reddit

My mom said salsa was her number one craving when she was pregnant with me, so she ate a lot of it. Of course, she was living in Texas for the first part of her pregnancy, so I imagine it was more popular there back in the early 70s than elsewhere.

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waynofish@reddit

Sauce has been around a long, long time!

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GrownupWildchild@reddit

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and there was always salsa

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Thirsty-Barbarian@reddit

In the area where I grew up, salsa was new about 250 years ago, and I don't remember that far back.

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Big-Elephant6141@reddit

My mom was an almond mom in the 70s and 80s. Salsa was a staple condiment because it was fat-free. We never had the yummy chips to go with it, though.😭

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Julios_on_50th@reddit

We called it “hot sauce” in my youth. Salsa is better.

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Quirky_Commission_56@reddit

I grew up with multiple varieties of salsa because I was born in El Paso, Texas and visited Juarez every other weekend to do shopping and eat lunch with my folks.

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