Texas is taco country . The Lone Star State is the birthplace of greaser way and Stephen Foster a distinct wetback cultivation ( San Antonio Missions mascot Henry the Puffy Taco can attest to that ) . Texans lust a impudently fried crispy taco and ca n’t fathom a Clarence Day without a breakfast taco .
Thanks to an inflow of forward - think immigrant from across Mexico and classically train chefs , the province ’s tacos are moving beyond Tex - Mex – although that family - grow culinary art stay vibrant – creating novel styles while honoring custom and history . It ’s a new golden old age of tacos in Texas , and if there is ever a time to give up off a statewide tour of 50 must - seek tacos that span every panache imaginable , that time is now . Buen provecho , amigos .
Taco al pastor
El Tejavan
While it ’s commonly thought that only porc can be cooked al pastor ( that is , the iconic Mexico City greaser filling roast on the perpendicular rotisserie called a trompo ) , any solid food can get the treatment – be it rabbit , Pisces the Fishes , or eggplant bush . In parts of Mexico , some taquerias will go so far as to take turns disc of beef and pork . In the ranchlands of the Texas Panhandle it should be no surprise then that al minister comes packed with juicy , marinated bitch the color of the high - champaign desert sky at dusk , cilantro , and onions . Also in true Texas fashion , lettuce and tomato plant are served on the side . At least the guacamole is n’t extra .
Bacon, egg, and cheese
Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop
At East Side Austin origination Joe ’s Bakery , a piquant meshwork of cheeseflower is n’t enough to obscure the epiphany that is the centrepiece of this taco : bacon dredged in flour and fry .
Cactus and egg
Taco-Mex
Too often nopales ( cactus pad ) are poorly prepared resulting in a slimy dish that will drive off even the most fiery fan of the food . That ’s never the case at Taco - Mex , a literal hole - in - the - paries , where the mess of nopales strips and eggs are spot - on every time .
Chile relleno taco de arroz
Mi Tradición
Listed on the menu as a taco de arroz ( rice taco ) , this beaut of a blue corn tortilla under a bed of yellowed rice topped with a quesadilla Malva sylvestris - fill , breaded , and fry fleeceable chile is call a wetback placero in Oaxaca and New York City . It ’s a rare find in Texas . And at this North Austin bakehouse and restaurant , it ’s a downright treasure . Give the taco a minute to repose . The cheeseflower will firm up and the bundle will be well handled . A treasure , indeed .
The Marlo Cheeseburger Taco
The Vegan Nom
The best cheeseburger taco in Texas is find at this North Loop trailer . comical thing is , the cheeseburger taco ( with special sauce , to boot ) is n’t an actual cheeseburger taco . It ’s a vegan autotype so great , you ’ll threaten to shave the beard off the guy who pack your order , “ because that justcan’tbe a vegan cheeseburger taco , man ! ” It is .
Migas
Veracruz All Natural
When it comes toAustin ’s theme song taco , Veracruz All - Natural ’s migas – cloud - like scramble eggs , merge with fresh tortilla chips , pico de gallo , and cheese topped with an avocado wedge in a fresh tortilla – has no adequate . Do n’t sleep on the salsa ginmill , with choice that lay out from hot to it - will - hurt - later .
The Real Deal Holyfield
Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ
The Capital City is home to many notable mobile food vendors . But none is deserving standing in line for in the rain like Valentina ’s Tex Mex BBQ , an expert flux of Texas ’ two great culinary tradition — barbecue and Tex - Mex . The pinnacle of which is this smoky uniting of mesquit - smoked brisket , bacon , and refried noggin with a put - an - egg - on - it double - take culture , all on a downy , slenderly dusty handmade flour tortilla .
Sausage patty and egg
Tamale House East
The original Tamale House is gone , but the storied joint ’s traditions continue at the family unit ’s new taqueria , Tamale House East , where a chop breakfast sausage balloon patty attend over scrambled egg in a flour tortilla sack is ne plus ultra , especially when help in the ivy - trimmed away garden .
Barbacoa de cabeza
Vera’s Backyard Bar-B-Que
When it follow to traditional barbacoa de res de cabeza en pozo ( perdition - cooked moo-cow oral sex ) , there is only one master . That master is Armando “ Mando ” Vera , serving what is likely the only de jure in - ground cooked beef barbacoa , which has earned Vera a pursuit that assembly line up for his specialty – whether it be cheek , tongue , roof of the mouth , or even eye – beginning at 4:30am on weekend . As a greaser lover , visiting Vera ’s is the ultimate bucket list item . There you ’ll tell a 1/2 pound of the mixta ( all the bit , admit eyes ) with fresh Zea mays tortillas and sit a magic spell for customized tacos .
Bistek
El Ultimo Taco Taqueria
The borderland is cows country through and through . Sweetbreads . Barbacoa . Tripe . They ’re all common wetback weft in the region , but at El Ultimo Taco Taqueria , no - pettifoggery bistek transcend with piquant , crumbled queso blanco , a giveaway you ’re eating in the Rio Grande Valley , outdo them all .
Chacho’s Taco
Chacho’s Tacos
South Texas is the land of ace tacos – flour tortilla - envelop mishmash straining to contain a farmer ’s stall worth of ingredients – and Chacho ’s in Corpus Christi is a sanctuary dedicate to the taco style , where Baron Verulam , nut , tall mallow , potatoes , refried beans , and carne guisada weigh in at nigh 4lbs will send you into a tortilla tizzy . skilful luck . Godspeed . You ’ll never have a better nap than after attempting to smooth off your guild .
Suicide
Hi-Ho Restaurant
Mexican restaurants in South Texas are the equivalent of classical diners or soda ash natural spring in most other places in America , but the previous suicide soda pop pop legerdemain gets fold on its side for the breakfast wetback take . piano potatoes , crispy bacon , scrambled eggs , chorizo , refried beans , and cheese in a tense house - made flour tortilla make for a fantastic concoction .
Barbacoa de chivo
Barbacoa Agave
Any doubt that barbacoa is barbecue flits aside with the first insect bite of this make - your - own butt barbacoa taco . Sold by the pound ( half - a - pound is OK too ) , the smoked , gentle meat lets off a gamey insect bite and do to the tabular array in a chafing dish with uncompromising , fresh tortilla , and composition plates on the side .
Cabeza a la Casa
El Come Taco
Scarce is the taqueria that slings tortillas from the sweet spot between hole - in - the - wall and modern roast . El Come Taco in East Dallas is the exclusion . Its blueprint is one of bring out brick , brilliant Calaveras , and foxiness beer . Its menu ispurotaqueria , with offerings from al pastor from a trompo , and the episodic vegetable option to several Mexico City - dash beef pick . principal among them is the cabeza ( beef cheek ) , glistening and easily slurp in a second of joyfulness . Mitigate that by request fluffy cubes of potatoes and grill cactus strips as garnishes .
Campechana
Tacos Mariachi
It film gut to open a seafood - centric wetback joint in landlocked , beef - make love Dallas , and then flip-flop on $ 4 to $ 5 damage tags , but when the staff ’s stemma includes some of the country ’s finest restaurants , including Knife , Spoon , and Fearing ’s , you could be sure of a unique experience . And that ’s Tacos Mariachi , where you must go all in with this surf - and - sward campechana ( Spanish slang for “ mixed taco ” ) , a griddle - wassail flour tortilla made the right way up the road bearing a tangle of devilfish and chopped steak book firm by melted asadero cheeseflower .
Trompo
At Dallas ’ newfangled Monterrey - style trompo taco joint , the plainly named Trompo , the campechana is convey , Capsicum annuum grossum - bathed pork shaved from a vertical expectoration that ’s fall in by bistec and mozzarella ( an affordable bandstand - in for Oaxaca cheeseflower ) on a handmade Sonoran - dash flour tortilla from nearby La Norteña Tortilleria . There is no safe compeer of penitentiary and corral .
Cauliflower
Resident Taqueria
Resident Taqueria is what other chef - driven taquerias want to be when they grow up . And it ’s all there in the cauliflower taco – florets of the caramelized namesake vegetable , ribbons of laconic nori - color kale , pale green pepitas , and a drizzle of lemon - epazote aioli sauce – a diminutive nosh on an airy , fragile flour tortilla made in - house .
Costilla
Mi Lindo Oaxaca
This underdog of a restaurant , the only Oaxacan joint in Dallas , does nearly everything by hand – even the mole , which begin by staff paw - shell cacao bean . Also hand-crafted are the slightly crisped blue corn tortillas . They bear grilled cactus stamp pad and one beef costa slice across the bone with another rib - Charles Frederick Worth of chop beef , pretend for a salty , one - of - variety taco , desirable of the pilgrimage to West Dallas , cash in script . Mi Lindo Oaxaca does n’t accept requital by charge plate .
Crispy taco
Gonzalez Restaurant
aromatize with the scent of the oil in which the raw corn masa disc was fry ( look into out the ridged edges ! ) but not greasy , this hard - eggshell ideal comes serve up with mild , fine - dry land beef cattle and the Tex - Mex trinity of lettuce , tomato , and cheese , making for Texas ’ crunchy taco supreme . Do n’t forget to ask for the off - carte du jour house salsa fresca .
The Otto
Tacodeli
Tacodeli was behave in Austin path back in 1999 , where it became an icon of the city ’s breakfast taco prospect . But it take expanding to Dallas to make it the proficient . In Big D tacos fare on a base of La Norteña flour tortilla and the near of the best is The Otto , a breakfast taco of smooth refried black beans , an Persea Americana wedge , and a crispy , well - cooked man of Sir Francis Bacon . Remember simplicity does n’t mean pedestrian .
Picadillo
Taco Stop
Forget about wetback inwardness , that excessively harden ground - squawk imposter to the Mexican master copy : picadillo , which is never right than suffice on bantam corn tortilla from Araiza Tortilla Factory , makers of Dallas ’ A-1 Zea mays tortilla . The protein is falsify with cubed carrots and onions and served saucy , wind in enhancer with accompanying salsa options .
Paneer
Velvet Taco
The low Texas - ground chain serves as an EPCOT of tacos with international saucer nestled distill down onto in - house tortillas . The tops is the deep-fried paneer , a bungalow cheeseflower from the Indian subcontinent pair with sweet tomato chutney , Thai basil leave , and a tikka - raita sauce twosome that kicks while it cool . The nonremittal tortilla here is flour , but sub in the purplish , common hibiscus tortilla for next - level grain and a tactile sensation of jaundice that add surprising balance wheel .
Taco al pastor a la Tuma
Urban Taco Uptown
There is nothing like the Taco al minister of religion a la Tuma . Inspired by the Mexico City after - hour street taco cousin , thecostra , which replaces a corn tortilla with a fried cheese shell , the a la Tuma bulge out with the griddle - fry manchego cheese , laying a refreshed corn tortilla on top of the cheeseflower until – but not before sneak a slice or two of jalapeño between the two layers . The filling : partially charred pork barrel shaved from the upright spit that earns the taco al pastor its name , the trompo , is given a splash of habanero salsa before realise its respite on the tortilla . Finally , the wetback is dress with an avocado wedge and a sliver of ananas .
Tortilleria La Sabrocita
Tortilla factories and heart markets are among the best situation to bump a first - pace taco . The chopped porc ribs in a shawl of salsa roja is sure enough that .
Colitas de pavo
Flores Meat Market & Restaurant
Everything you could ever want in a Mexican business is at Flores : a botcher , tortilleria , grocer , and restaurant packed into a tunnel of a freestanding construction . Just as wondrous as the anatomical structure is the colitas de pavo taco , a uncommon style of tawny - colored fried Meleagris gallopavo tails as crunchy as the cilantro , onion plant , and lime are lustrous .
Deshebrada
Taqueria Pila #1
At this close spot on the southerly end of El Paso ’s taco row , Alameda Ave , a trio of edible corn tortillas are fill with pulled beef , elusive and voluptuous , and then griddle - crisped and shining from the hot - crude blanket , border - style .
Flautas ahogadas
Tacoholics
Chico ’s Tacos might hog the limelight with its namesake rolled wetback , but it ’s important to call up flautas are a forte of the border metropolis . There are others . At the top of the roll tacos tilt are these flautas ahogadas , light seasoned beef cocoon in a fried shield of 50 - 50 flour - corn masa resting in a sharp salsa verde bath dot with queso fresco .
Avila’s Mexican Food
Avila ’s , which has been serve multiplication of families with generations of transmissible employee , is a taste of old El Paso ( pun not intend ) . Your server ’s father , in pressed white shirt and accede tie , likely took parliamentary law , refilled chips and salsa , when the restaurant first opened , and your waiter ’s Logos is likely doing the same at a nearby mesa . Both gentlemen are present plate of fried - to - order wetback shell in which piquant priming beef stewed with potatoes and Chile and finish off with warm bloodless American cheese and tomatoes , and laconic lettuce . The kicker here is that the shield is structurally sodding : it wo n’t disintegrate like some cold supermarket uracil - boat .
Potato and egg
H&H Car Wash & Coffee Shop
The farthest grasp of West Texas are breakfast - burrito rural area , but that does n’t get rid of the existence of the occasional breakfast taco spot . In El Paso , there is none better than the potato and egg selection at H&H Car Wash & Cafe . The cooks at the legendary luncheonette serve the flour tortilla tacos with slit wheels of potato , crisp on the outside with a cottony interior , and masterfully salt scrambled eggs . If you ’re lucky , surly - with - a - grinning possessor Maynard Haddad , whose father opened H&H more than 50 year ago , will impart you the order with a side of sass .
Tacos Antonia
Lucy’s Café
A taco like no other for a metropolis like no other , the Tacos Antonia , named for the owner ’s baby , tucks tender brisket , moolah , avocado , and Muenster cheese into a fry - to - order shell scatter with seasoning salt the people of color of El Paso ’s dusty surroundings .
Cabrito
Restaurant Nuevo Leon
Northern Mexico is n’t just cattle country . It ’s also saliva - roasted milk - fed kid goat ( cabrito ) country . At Nuevo Leon , named for the Mexican - border state where this Capricorn preparation , cooked over mesquit , is a manner of animation . Order a platter of your preferable slice – the adventuresome should go for kidneys ; the initiate should bespeak the shoulder – and spread on the gamey stunner with the accompanying corn tortillas .
Chorizo and egg
Aguilera’s Café
Arguably the second bucket list - iest of bucketful list taco articulation is nearly unimaginable to find , offer as it is inside a restaurant that bears no denotation of being a restaurant . That ’s because the eating place is inside a house , but once inside you ’ll be welcomed by 90 - year - older owner - cook Santos Aguilera or his girl . They ’ll rundown the shortsighted menu ( three to four items long ) , but you ’ll go for the chorizo and egg wetback first thing . Married in the cooking pan , the pick is salty but not oily and quick to cool . Eat it quickly . And run to Aguilera ’s Café too . Once the old man passes , his namesake eating house will shutter for good .
El Capitan
Salsa Limón
This is a one - of - a - kind Fort Worth favorite . The crisped flour tortilla bearing your choice of filling ( go with the al pastor off the trompo ) and Oaxaca - Jack cheese is shot with pickled sugar , onion , and cilantro . It ’s the demonstration of the owners ’ roots in Oaxaca , Mexico City and the Rio Grande Valley .
Pulpo
Revolver Taco Lounge
If ever there was a frontrunner for estimable taqueria in Texas , it ’s Revolver Taco Lounge . The Rojas Family restaurant give Fort Worth a modern taqueria rooted in custom . Graeco-Roman chorizo and egg gets a makeover with a broad popping of senior chorizo and a dead manipulate quail ballock . But it ’s the pulpo , tender devilfish cooked in carnitas lard topped with deep-fried leek and a balanced jalapeño salsa , that go under the eternal sleep .
Barbacoa and refried beans
Laredo Taqueria #4
Whenever you witness an elderly womanhood folding wampum and flattening it for tortilla – whether for corn or flour tortillas – edict wetback onthosetortillas . At this Houston standout , flour is the tortilla of the choice . The thin , virtually transparent discs are to be smeared with refried beans and backpack with glistening barbacoa .
Cachete
Gerardo’s Drive-In
Cooked in a pressure cooker taller than a couple of jockey out back , Gerardo ’s cachete ( soft kick buttock ) string with rivulets of fat is a lackadaisical greaser .
Chicharron and egg
Villa Arcos
Fried and stewed chicharrones are a staple of Mexican culinary art on either side of the molding . At longtime Bayou City stock bearer Villa Arcos , it come crunchier than softer with a salty edge and a generous scoop of scrambled egg in a homemade flour tortilla .
Cabrito al pastor
El Pastor Grill
Select a cutting of cabrito that has been split receptive on a skewer and roasted vertically set above the mesquite - sting grillroom . Then get quick to make greaser of meat that occasionally reaches over the game moulding but is every morsel a shining example of a Rio Grande Valley specialty , including the northern Mexican side .
Chilorio taco
Picos
Scads of restaurants take they proffer dish from across Mexico ’s culinary landscape , but Pico ’s delivers on the hope with chilorio , a simmered porc specialism of the Northern nation of Sinaloa , that is plethoric with notes both sweet and spicy from its chile - found marinade .
Mollejas
Taqueria Tacambaro
Texas ’ largest city is n’t apprize for the taco urban center that it is . Its greaser motortruck scene is sensational . At the top is Canino Produce Co. farmers market place ’s Taqueria Tacambaro , a trailer serving primo chopped mollejas ( sweetbreads ) sans the funkiness that wrench people off to innards .
Carne guisada
Ms. G’s Tacos N' More
Roll - up in your machine or step up to the narrow-minded inner return for the finest example of carne guisada , a heavy - handed ladling of kick in a silky , pungent pan gravy stew , this side of the Rio Grande
Rajas con queso
Brothers Taco House
This hash of poblano strips with high mallow is a classical Mexican breakfast taco , but is a rarity stateside . The version at Brothers is rarer than that , being that it is a punchy stew of chile ribbon bulge out with cube of white cheese .
Barbacoa
Martinez Bakery
Let ’s be fair : West Texas is a taco desert . So give thanks heaven for an oasis such as Martinez and its rich beef barbacoa , serve in clumped filament that tear apart when you need them to .
Taqueria Guadalajara
In the land of crispy taco , one wetback stand unbroken above the rest period . And it ’s found at this quondam - schoolhouse drive - in taco joint where corn tortillas are fill with zesty vermillion - hue pork shaved from a spit and chop to bits before delivery via carhop .
Tommy’s Restaurant
Barbacoa andBig Red sodais a segment of the food pyramid in San Antonio . Tommy ’s is so proud of theirs , the eating house paint a “ Big Red and Barbacoa Everyday ” wall painting on an exterior yellowish wall of the Wurzbach outpost . Heed the call for the dynamite beef impudence , shred and shimmering – but not greasy – nestled in a padded flour tortilla .
The Bicycle Heaven
Guero’s Taco Diner
Enjoying this mare’s nest of fajita , murphy , tall mallow , and Persea Americana is gentle than remember how to ride a cycle . Only The Bicycle Heaven , gentle and consolatory , is more like ardent laundry than gear and saddle .
Egg with bacon
The Original Donut Shop
The first sign you ’re about to experience immenseness at The Original Donut Shop is the blood of machine that begins in the gas station parking lot down the street and direct to the beloved breakfast billet ’s parkway - thru . The second and third signs are the line inside and that whatever else customers club , an egg taco with bacon is always quest . It ’s nothing complex either : just a magnificent union of handmade flour tortilla , bouncy scramble eggs , and two airstrip of brick - crimson bacon . It ’s often in simmpleness where taco enormousness repose .
Machacado con huevo
Taqueria Datapoint
The blue ribbon for quixotic taqueria name go to … Datapoint , where , before the machacado con huevo ( dried salt beef pulverise to a fluffy eubstance and rehydrated in scrambled eggs ) is the breakfast greaser before all other breakfast taco . gentle and comforting , the machacado con huevo tacos eases you into the humid San Antonio Clarence Day .
Puffy taco
Ray’s Drive Inn
Ray ’s Drive Inn is as close as we have to a Texas greaser temple . Its Eucharist is the Lone Star State ’s best gusty taco , peeled corn masa that is late fried until it inflate and is formed into a shell . Then it ’s make full with lightly veteran ground beef that ’s topped with the Tex - Mex triad of wampum , tomato , and cheese . The result is a wetback that is light , alert , and not long for this world . Go easy on the Instagramming . Thirty seconds is plausibly all you got before the whole package turns to mush .
Taco Loco No. 2
Maria’s Cafe
Fill up early for a day in Texas ’ cultural and culinary Das Kapital at the one and only tchotchke - packed Maria ’s Cafe . And do it with Taco Loco No . 2 , a super wetback of shredded weenies , potato , refried bean , pico de gallo , and cheese to bind the resplendent clangour in a handmade flour tortilla . Sign up herefor our daily Dallas e-mail and be the first to get all the nutrient / boozing / fun DFW has to volunteer .
Veracruz All Natural|Flickr/edwin_x_ochoa
Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Taco-Mex|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
The Vegan Nom|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Tamale House East|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
El Ultimo Taco Taqueria
Chacho’s Tacos|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Barbacoa Agave #1|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Tacos Mariachi|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Mi Lindo Oaxaca|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Tacodeli|Matt Lankes/Courtesy of Tacodeli
Taco Stop|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Velvet Taco
Tortilleria La Sabrocita|José R Ralat/Thrillist
Flores Meat Market & Restaurant|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Tacoholics
Avila’s Mexican Food|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
H&H Car Wash & Cafe|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Restaurant Nuevo Leon|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Aguilera’s Café|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Laredo Taqueria #4|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
El Pastor Grill|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Ms. G’s Tacos N More|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Martinez Bakery|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Taqueria Guadalajara|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
The Original Donut Shop|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
Taqueria Datapoint|José R. Ralat/Thrillist
