Live everyday like it’s Taco Tuesday

December 16, 2020 3:52 AM

The Ultimate Texas Tacopedia No further description needed.
posted by TedW (22 comments total)

Eating 2021 tacos in 2021
posted by bitslayer at 4:14 AM on December 16, 2020 [4 favorites]

As a Texan living abroad who could not visit home this year, thank you so so so much for this.

(And before I clicked I knew it was Texas Monthly, that magazine is THE BEST but they dont do international subscriptions *sadface* *cryingface* *sadface*)
posted by LizBoBiz at 4:51 AM on December 16, 2020 [6 favorites]

Man, I am really hungry now.

I have to say I really do like the "mini" tacos trend, because it's just very satisfying, you can get a variety, and there's less taco spillover. Nom nom.
posted by emjaybee at 5:39 AM on December 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

If you are in Houston, the Pappas BBQ chain of family restaurants (they have other themed eateries) offer pretty good breakfast tacos, but their breakfast sandwiches (same ingredients but on a bun) are fantastic for the price. In fact, everything on their breakfast menu is budget friendly.
posted by Beholder at 5:56 AM on December 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

Yeah thanks. Thanks for this. I'm just back after an impacted wisdom tooth extraction and facing the prospect of eating yoghurt for 24hrs, and you show me this.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 6:11 AM on December 16, 2020 [4 favorites]

We've adopted Mexican Monday during the pandemic because we can social distance better picking up stuff on Mondays than when everyone else is doing their taco thing on Tuesdays.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:21 AM on December 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

Live every day. Adverbial phrase vs. adjective. "I wear my everyday shoes almost every day."
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 6:47 AM on December 16, 2020 [3 favorites]

Great article and there was even a shout out to a spot in Tyler, TX, where I was born, for Asian-Mex tacos. I look forward to checking them out next time I'm there.
posted by shoesietart at 7:41 AM on December 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

Mmm, that article reminded me of the Jalisco-style quesadillas I used to get from any little taqueria in San Antonio. Any kind of meat and that gooey melty white cheese, all fried up in a corn shell. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
posted by muddgirl at 9:35 AM on December 16, 2020

Or maybe it was a flour shell. I'm starting to forget his face 😭
posted by muddgirl at 9:40 AM on December 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

Live every day. Adverbial phrase vs. adjective. "I wear my everyday shoes almost every day."

I’ll get the mods right on it! Happy Holidays!😁
(I didn’t notice it until after it was posted)
posted by TedW at 11:15 AM on December 16, 2020

5 years after leaving taco mecca Austin for generally crappy Mexican food in Seattle, this specific Texas Monthly issue shows up in our mailbox and gets me real hungry.

The one saving grace however is that we found a truck that makes them Birria style according to this article (the truck definitely called them some other more queso forward name I can't remember). I can confirm that taking a good taco, and then basically stuffing it inside a good quesadilla, then frying the whole package, then dipping it in consomme or salsa fucking rules exactly as much as it sounds like it should.
posted by cirrostratus at 11:22 AM on December 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

something something Los Angeles
posted by albion moonlight at 12:59 PM on December 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

There should be a Taco incentive program to lure people to move to Texas and make it more blue.
posted by mundo at 1:20 PM on December 16, 2020 [6 favorites]

something something Los Angeles

You can just swing by HomeState when you want some inferior Tex-Mex style tacos.

I just mean the genre, HomeState itself is pretty good.
posted by sideshow at 2:41 PM on December 16, 2020

A mere skim of that article has made me hungrier than I've ever been in my life.
posted by Dr. Wu at 5:11 PM on December 16, 2020 [4 favorites]

The Internet has its issues, but democratizing Taco knowledge is one of its crowning achievements. Encyclopedia Britannica, please take notes.
posted by mundo at 5:37 PM on December 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

I thought the design of the article was pretty freaking awesome, allowing deep dives or skimming as warranted by personal interest. And, of course, tacos.
posted by mollweide at 5:52 PM on December 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm a Texan who's been living in Oregon for 20 years. You can get pretty decent tacos here except for two important missing items:
1. No breakfast tacos anywhere. WTF.
2. No restaurant makes its own flour tacos. If you ask, they look at you like you have two heads.

If I were so inclined, I could make a killing with a business that sells breakfast tacos made with fresh flour tortillas.
posted by neuron at 9:28 PM on December 16, 2020 [3 favorites]

I would frequent that business. Frequently.
posted by Lyme Drop at 9:46 PM on December 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

I lived in Georgia for a bit and was devastated by the lack of breakfast tacos, but anyone that has moved in a northern direction in Texas (i.e. from central Texas to Dallas) you notice the difference in breakfast taco selection and quality, so I kind of expected things to be worse in Georgia but how can the rest of the country not have discovered them yet???

What I really liked about this article is that it actually articulated the regional differences within the state. I always noticed that certain tacos were harder to find in certain areas of the state, and it never occurred to me that there could be regional differences even though I noticed them my whole life.
posted by LizBoBiz at 12:27 AM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

Reminds me of this short documentary I saw a while back: A Taco Told in Texas
posted by PenDevil at 11:00 AM on December 17, 2020