For anyone living in Washington who grew up in the West, the dearth of authentic Mexican food in this city is likely a constant complaint. D.C. is the home to several sizable ethnic groups, Salvadorans among them, and while we applaud the ready availability of authentic, and delicious, Salvadoran cuisine, the attempts by these same lovely folks to cook Mexican food is almost uniformly terrible. They use the wrong cheeses. They don’t know how to make or deploy good red sauce. They forget to add flavor. Ordering Mexican dishes at a Salvadoran restaurant is an exercise this writer, who grew up in Tucson, AZ and lived in Los Angeles for five years before moving here, engages in on probably a bi-annual basis, just out of sheer desperation, but it always ends up making me angry. It’s just not the same. And then I start fantasizing about importing a cook from Arizona and making millions by starting my own Mexican restaurant.

All that said, I agreed to be interviewed by Washingtonian magazine this month for their regular “Favorites” feature — basically they ask some local person the same list of questions about what their favorite things are (btw, my favorite color is green and I also like long walks on the beach). And of course, I had to bring up the Mexican Food Issue. I asked Washingtonian readers to email me any suggestions they might have about where I could get some real Sonoran enchiladas and maybe a chile relleno, and a number of people responded. So for those of you out there who pine for Oaxacan-style mole sauce and homemade tortillas, here’s what I’ve been told so far. Add your own suggestions in the comments, and as you can see from this list, far-flung locales are not only acceptable, they’re probably necessary. And remember, I haven’t tried any of these place out yet, so they could well be red herrings.

>> “While it is a drive from D.C. (about 90 very scenic minutes), I think you would like to try el Costeno in Gettysburg, PA. It first opened its doors when I was in college at Gettysburg about 12 years ago as a restaurant called Lupita’s. It was owned and operated by a family who came to G-Burg as migrant workers. They have since sold to whoever owns them now, but the food is exactly the same. I believe it is what you are looking for.”

>> “It’s a bit of a drive out to Columbia, Md., but I guarantee you that this place has authentic Mexican food: Zapata’s True Mexican Food Restaurant – It’s THE BEST! A real hidden gem … I live in Columbia and eat there once a week.”