Although I was a transplant, growing up in an area where "TexMex" food is serious business left its mark on me. I still remember my first night in the south, having made the long drive with my family from the northeast shores at the tender age of 7, to a chain restaurant called "Pancho's Mexican Buffet". We were convinced this place was an exemplary source of real Mexican food, served cafeteria style, complete with a soft serve ice cream machine and little Mexican flags on the table that you can raise whenever you wanted a waiter to show up.