That's definitely true. Plenty of really good mexican joints with actual messicans back in the kitchen. I'm amazed there are so many Taco Bells here, honestly.
A lot of Pho places, too. You can tell the legit chinese restaurants by who's in the kitchen - if it's mexicans, it'll be okay, if it's chinese ppl, it'll be legit. I found one chinese joint that was too legit for me. I prefer an americanized chinese cuisine, I guess.
I'm the opposite. I can't really stand most American Chinese food. Too much sauce, usually too much sweetness. I've been to China and I can tell you the food there is SO much better than what you get here as "American" Chinese food.
If I'm going to get Chinese, I almost won't do it unless I drive up to Irvine. It's pretty much Irvine for Orange County, or the towns of the San Gabriel Valley up in LA County. There's a huge Chinese population there and you can get legit Chinese. Even so, I'm really partial to the Sichuan and Hunan regional cuisine. Sichuan is easier to find, but Hunan is a lot harder. Still, *good* Sichuan isn't easy to find--it's a lot different than what most people get when they order "Szechuan Chicken" on an American Chinese food menu. Most Chinese that you get in the US is derived more from Cantonese. I don't mind it, it's more bland. I like the pop of good Sichuan/Hunan dishes. I've also had Shanghainese, which isn't a big draw for me, except for all their good dumplings.
The thing to remember with Chinese food, just as with American food, is that both are really big countries. There's a big difference between the regional cuisine of Maryland, vs South Carolina, vs New Orleans, vs Texas, vs AZ, vs California, vs Wisconsin, etc. If you think you don't like "legit" Chinese, it's entirely possible you haven't been exposed to *good* legit Chinese. Especially if you've lived most of your life in places like FL or AZ.
If you're interested in the history, check out
The Search for General Tso on Netflix.