Texas Monthly has the two undisputed greatest jobs in journalism, Taco Editor and Barbecue Editor

And now for the honorable mentions! www.texasmonthly.com/food/ten-up-...

It's here. The 25 Best New & Improved Taquerias midterm report is live and ready as your new checklist. www.texasmonthly.com/food/25-best...

Imagine complaining that are supposed to be cheap but paying $15 for a ribeye taco without consideration. It's happening. www.texasmonthly.com/food/rise-of...

“Ralat, who is also @texasmonthly.bsky.social’s taco editor, has been known to work El Paso food and history into his reporting.” Because you can’t know Texas without knowing El Paso. www.elpasoinc.com/columns/whis...

True.

The old missions of TX were complex spaces. The Spanish soldiers weren't likely European but probably criollo or mestizo. Some Indigenous families were forcibly relocated. Others voluntarily found shelter there. Some commanders were lascivious. And so much more. www.texasmonthly.com/travel/forgo...

Can a comedy club be a speakeasy? That accurately describes Crabs & Laughs at a family-owned marisqueria. www.texasmonthly.com/food/crabs-a...

It’s common for Mexican dishes to inspire laughter or sometimes traumatic memories. A gordita is a little fat girl; a trompo is a spinning top; a cachetada is a slap, but also a stunner of a taco & the subject of my latest @texasmonthly.bsky.social Tex-Mexplainer www.texasmonthly.com/food/cacheta...

“I believe that a person should always, always, always—no matter what avenue you’re going to go down—pay that homage, that respect to the people that have done it before you, to the abuelitas, to all the tíos.”

It's real & only available as a gift with a $180 purchase. Uff. www.lego.com/en-us/produc...

It's time the jalapeño exit stage left & make room for the serrano. The jalapeño is shallow. The serrano has personality. It's an evening walk with your media naranja followed by quality time away from the kids. The serrano is just better. www.texasmonthly.com/food/case-fo...

“I was literally in my kitchen wearing goggles, a hairnet, a mask, gloves, and a scientist apron...trying to figure out how to make this idea come to life." www.texasmonthly.com/food/birria-...

How can I not grow a plant named chisme? www.npsot.org/posts/native...

If you've been following me for a while you know that I love the Kansas City taco, which, it so happens, is older than the taco al pastor, and its sad decline. Kansas City magazine has a hopeful report. Many thanks to their food editor for mentioning my work. kansascitymag.com/the-kc-taco-...

The link is broken on José's post but this one should be working. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Read this tragic & important story by my colleague @mikehalltexas.bsky.social.

Election coverage continues but hunger is forever. Take a break. Perhaps by reading this @texasmonthly.bsky.social story of a one-of-a-kind taqueria. www.texasmonthly.com/food/ki-mexi...

Thirty minutes ago as I was leaving my hotel in Amarillo and when the automatic doors opened I was greeted by the familiar aroma of my abuelo’s mountain farm: cow dung. The front desk clerk said the smell is from a ranch an hour away. I forgot how flat the Panhandle really is.

[email protected]'s best new restaurants list is out. @paulaforbes.bsky.social nailed the finer details and overarching themes. And Restaurant of the Year! Huzzah. Go forth to read and eat, mi gente. www.texasmonthly.com/food/best-ne...

Anything for Selena, including burgers that have sustained generations & neighborhood HS kids caught skipping school. Read more by clicking on the link below. www.texasmonthly.com/food/dallas-...

A nearly forgotten piece of Tex-Mex history revived. www.texasmonthly.com/food/what-ha...

Give this goodest boy a medal and a place on a podium.

Texas is unknowable w/o visits to El Paso. Perhaps the U.S. isn't fully understood w/o ELP. This review of El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory by @jazmineulloa.bsky.social fills it out. ELP is underestimated. www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

I wouldn’t call taco omakases elevated. That word connotes that the object in question is lowly and requires cleaning up for public consumption. The taco needs no such thing. If done right, an omakase experience expresses the taco’s limber nature. www.texasmonthly.com/food/taco-om...

The closure of El Paso airspace for ten days without a hint of a reason why other than the official statement is wild and crushing for the area. My beloved Far West Texas can't catch a break. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

I’ve watched the growing popularity of taco omakases for years. They can be wonderful. They can also go too far. (I’m looking at you, Pujol.) Strap in for a couple of juicy quotes.

This would be a big deal, and I’d love to see it.

Bravo, @reinhart.bsky.social! Dallas’ lone restaurant critic continues to stick the landing. Just say no to fascists. www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2...

Comida casera isn't what you think. www.texasmonthly.com/food/how-mom...

From the compa @jherrerx.bsky.social for @texasmonthly.bsky.social: "In the year since Trump has taken back the White House, border crossings have not stopped. What’s changed are the types of border crossings the Border Patrol is seeing."

I don't believe in destiny. I don't believe hard work is rewarded. We don't live in a meritocracy. But I believe in inevitability as the result of a series of variables of which one has no control. Being pulled over by ICE is example of chilling inevitability.

A playlist of post-rock and Grateful Dead is getting me through the day.

It's cafecito time. May I propose you a brief part of your midafternoon break reading a @texasmonthly.bsky.social story about Mexican coffee's greatness from a coffee farmer's grandson?

"By the time I realized what had happened, I was on my back. My right leg was angled behind me, and my right foot was floppy. I couldn’t feel it, except for the swelling around my ankle." Trips to Mexico are never boring. Sometimes a hospital is involved.

Was it tough to compile more than ten? Whatcha got?

Many of you have been asking how I shattered my ankled during a walk in Veracruz. Well, you can read the story in this week's @texasmonthly.bsky.social On the Road newsletter: link.texasmonthly.com/public/43174...

It's time for tamales!

Here's how Dragon Casa continues the legacy of centuries-old Chinese-Mexican food. Give it a look-see and share.

Commit this handy-dandy guide to memory.

Get thee to the RGV. You deserve the best.

I think about Russian sound poetry a lot.

"In Mexico and Central America, new mothers are given the drink, which is traditionally believed to help stimulate breast milk production. After a death, it’s often served to mourners during the nine days of praying the rosary."

Perfect weather.

Y'all! @emmabalter.bsky.social helmed a fantastic package for her first project at @texasmonthly.bsky.social. You should read it.

There is one dish by which any Tex-Mex restaurant should be judged: the cheese enchilada.It should taste like honesty and hard work and immediately make you want another. There must also be respect! My latest for @texasmonthly.bsky.social.

FUN FACT: Turns out other people have done the research and the five-second rule for food has connections to both Genghis Khan and Julia Child. www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the...

TIL that San Antonioans don’t eat enchiladas, whether of the Mexican or Tex-Mex variety, according to one of their own. They eat soft tacos. That’s right, folks. Someone who thinks he knows better than you says, food such as the one pictured below, is actually a taco. 🤣

Tune in this weekend for the next Texas Monthly Presents on PBS episode. I’ll be diving into ascendant New Tejano cuisine with chefs, taqueros & Texans.

Headline from @texasmonthly.bsky.social November letters to the editor: "Kolache Editor Wanted: Apply Inside." www.texasmonthly.com/the-stand-up...