Tourist Etiquette in Mexican Restaurants

I live in an area of Mexico where, with the exception of one city, massive exposure to Gringos has been limited in the tourist industry. Unlike their coastal resort and San Miguel de Allende counterparts, Guanajuato, for one example, has had far less exposure to all the benefits (lots of money) Gringo tourism can bring to a city. It has had less exposure as well to the shock-to-the-Mexican-soul surprises Gringos also bring to the table. There are places I've been in Mexico, even right here in central Mexico (SMA), where you can witness behavior that, so far, you will rarely (or never) see here in Guanajuato. In a charming town called Zacatecas, the locals' exposure to Gringos has been even less. I am, of course, talking about an influx of Gringo tourism in massive amounts, not the occasional tour group or gang of backpacking students.

Tourism strains the existing infrastructure. It probably can't be helped, really. As more and more tourists flood into Mexicans towns, through they bring their money, the sewers, water supplies, garbage maintenance, the roads themselves sway from the strain. When you have tourist to local ratios of 14:1, how can the locals ever hope to have a normal life in their city? But, the influx brings a higher degree of prosperity for the locals in the end-food on the table, clothes on their backs.

Tourist Etiquette Lesson # 1

One thing I notice when I am on the west coast of Mexico is that in restaurants, many of the owners will take dollars if the patron hasn't bothered to change his money into pesos. This, I think, helps to alleviate tension when it comes time to pay the bill. Though changing your dollars into pesos is a cinch (you can go to an ATM and withdraw money from your account in pesos), I still see in some restaurants on the coast, those who pay with dollars.

Also, it would seem that more Mexican west coast restaurants take Visa or Master Card than those in central Mexico. This is another way to avoid tension that seems to work. Also, the restaurant staff seem to have far more experience in dealing with Gringos who have had "one too many." There doesn't seem to be the shock factor I see on the faces of those in central Mexico when this happens.

I've seen a Gringo at a lovely little clip joint called, Bar Ocho, here in Guanajuato get so plastered that he stood on the street and tried hailing cabs with a mixture of shooting the cab drivers the bird and a string of obscenities. I thought for sure the police would have to be called. This sort of thing, though it happens, is rarely in the places in Mexico that are not high on the Gringo tourist radar. (I could see Mexicans in Guadalupe, Zacatecas fainting to see this sort of Ugly American Syndrome.)

So, if you come to places not prominent on the Prime Gringo Tourist Locations List in Mexico, at least get some dollars changed into pesos. Last time I was in an international airport you could do it there. Or, bring your ATM card and do it at the ATM. When we travel, we prefer to do this rather than carry large sums of money with us. This will alleviate a lot of problems if you are in an area of Mexico where they so rarely see a Gringo face that you could send the little Abuela into shock if you handed her a twenty-dollar bill. Change your money!

Tourist Etiquette Lesson #2

We have an establishment here called Casa Valadez. We love eating there and are friendly with the staff. They've told us they can hack through an English conversation, using lots of gestures and grunts, when a monolingual Gringo decides to eat there, but the ordering can quickly devolve. Here is an important tip: In areas of Mexico that have not had generations of dealing with tourists from America, you will not find a great deal of bilinguals. I really have come to believe that this is a shock to most tourists. At least from my observing them, these tourists talk to the service industry people like the staff are native English speakers and can become a bit testy when they discover an order has been messed up.

As unfair as you might think this is (and I know I am going to get hate mail for this), if you do not have at least an intermediate level of Spanish proficiency, and want to give a complex order to a waiter who only speaks a few words of English, then do not be surprised if instead of lamb chops you get served up a pig's knee for dinner. If what you are accustomed to is having your meal just "so-so" and having wait staff jump at your every beck and call, then bring a bilingual Mexican to dinner with you. Or else, expect possible problems with your meal. If you want a hoity-toity meal and want to be able to crucify someone if it isn't done to your hoity-toity specs, and you can't speak Spanish? There will be problems.

A hard and fast tip: In a town where the locals' incomes have not traditionally been dependent upon the Gringo tourist, expect something all together different in how you get treated. Guanajuato is not Puerto Vallarta. Zacatecas is not Acapulco.

Tourist Etiquette Lesson #3

I am so sure of what I am about to tell you that I could bet the farm on this. If you resort to a placating tone of voice, whine a little, sway back and forth a while as if you might expire, this will start a chain reaction. The owner will send Jorge el lavaplato to get his hermano whose cuñado has a primo who knows a compañero de trabajo whose mamá speaks English. They will all show up to take your order or fix your improperly cooked meal. Now, I just made that up. However, while in Guanajuato I do not think you would have this problem, in small villages you would. Be prepared to tip lavishly for extra service. (I was in the state of Jalisco when I ordered a diet coke. Someone was sent running to a store, a fair distance away, for an ice-cold one. They do this sort of thing often and I love it.)

Another hard and fast tip: Mexicans I know have all these horror stories of Gringos in the Prime Tourist Locations who have treated someone they know and love badly. It happens. I suppose if you have lots of cash and are forking it over on a vacation, some think it is ok to abuse those in the tourist industry a bit for screwing something up. Make an effort to say "Gracias" to ALL the waiters and the owner when you leave. Try, even, to shake a hand or two. This goes such a long way toward correcting those Mexicans who would hold us all in that Ugly American stereotype.