Mexican Food and Cooking

Avila's and Mextopia: Good Tex-Mex Must be in the DNA

Rusty Taco vs. Fuzzy's Taco: The Fish Taco Foofaraw

​Baja is filled with great valleys, big sand and surf, rich volcanic soil, and even richer cuisine. It's also the home of Tecate beer and the ever popular fish taco. Although you can find what might be defined loosely as a fish taco throughout the pescado-loving world, and certainly in our fair ... More >>

Dude Food Walks Across The Street And Finds Comfort in Mediocrity

​Herrera's4001 Maple Ave.214-528-9644Dude Factor: 7, or the Mavs Maniaacs, on a scale of 1 (Mike Bacsik) to 10 (Eduardo Najera).You might find this hard to believe, but before yesterday I hadn't darkened Herrera's door in five or so years, despite the fact that it's situated directly in the shadow ... More >>

Happiness is a Warm Sol's Taco, Delivered Right to Your Door

​Sol's Taco Lounge 2626 Commerce St. 214-651-7657 Promised delivery time: 30-45 minutes Actual delivery time: 35 minutesScoring SummaryFood that makes you go to your happy place: 30 On-time delivery when beef fajita nachos are involved: 35 Wanting to become BFFs with the delivery driver: 20 Not ... More >>

How Dallas Gained After the Swiss Immigrated to Mexico and Began Cooking

Grupo Sanborns is a large department store, pharmacy, retail and restaurant chain. Headquartered in Mexico City and employing some 18,000 workers, Sanborns was founded in 1903 by California immigrants Walter and Frank Sanborn, who also established the country's first soda fountain. Think Wal-Mart ... More >>

The Beef Enchilada Rumble: The Tale of Two Tortillas

​Since time immortal or, at least during my stint on this good planet, Wednesdays have been Enchilada Day. As a child in a Dallas public elementary school, we were offered a Wednesday lunch plate made up of corn tortillas, cheese and a simple sauce of chile con carne. Even as a young man I though ... More >>

On the Range: Chalupas

Wikimedia photo​Chalupas or tostadas? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. Of course you know what constitutes a tostada. That's a flat, crispy disc made from corn, then loaded with all sorts of freight including lettuce, tomatoes, beans or meat, cheese, possibly pico or crema, and topped ... More >>

Jorge's Tex-Mex reaches for the ordinary and beyond in its upscale digs.

Wikimedia photo​Chalupas or tostadas? Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. Of course you know what constitutes a tostada. That's a flat, crispy disc made from corn, then loaded with all sorts of freight including lettuce, tomatoes, beans or meat, cheese, possibly pico or crema, and topped ... More >>

On The Range: Sopapillas

​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Many of us got our first taste of sopapillas by raising the flag. Doesn't make sense? Well, back when dining out options were fewer and farther between, Panchos Mexican Buffet was one of the few places where you co ... More >>

Veggie Guy: Mexican Comfort Food

​The On The Range piece about Machacado con Huevo last week brought back some old memories from my childhood. I was born and raised in South Texas by immigrant Mexican parents. My mother was from Guanajuato, and my father migrated from San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Mom's home cooking mostly entailed e ... More >>

Refried Beans With Extra Virgin Olive Oil? The Mexican Says For the Love of Lard, "No!"

​The On The Range piece about Machacado con Huevo last week brought back some old memories from my childhood. I was born and raised in South Texas by immigrant Mexican parents. My mother was from Guanajuato, and my father migrated from San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Mom's home cooking mostly entailed e ... More >>

On The Range: Huaraches

Ooops...wrong image.​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items."If everybody had an ocean/Across the U.S.A/Then everybody'd be surfin'/Like Californ-I-a/You'd see 'em wearing their baggies/Huarache sandals too..." Despite the popularity brought to them by ... More >>

On The Range: Tortas

​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.No matter that you haven't read the strip in many years, or even if you've never perused the comic that has been a staple of the funny papers across the country for over 70 years, you still probably know that Dagwoo ... More >>

On The Range: Migas

PedroserafinA Spanish version of migas.​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Eggs, tortilla strips, onions, chiles, and cheese. Or bread, oil & vinegar, spinach, alfalfa, and....licorice flavoring?? Believe it or not, these are some of the raw ingre ... More >>

On The Range: Tostadas

​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.How do you describe a tostada? As with many Latin dishes, it often depends on what side of the border you come from. In Texas, or most of the other Estados Unidos, the tostada ("toasted") is most familiar in its cla ... More >>

Veggie Guy: Vegan-Friendly Tex Mex Chains

Latin stir fry at Mi Cocina.​A lot of people ask me where they can get some good vegan Tex-Mex around town. I usually guide them to Monica's, where vegans can get the best enchiladas in Dallas, but I understand that driving down to Deep Ellum isn't always practical...especially if you're on the w ... More >>

Veggie Guy: Monica's Aca Y Alla

​The City of Ate's, um, kind and generous editor...yeah...once asked me what I thought this city needed in terms of vegan food. My answer: "I wish the Mexican restaurants would catch on." Because it's true--Mexican restaurants are slim pickings for vegans in Dallas due to the fact that most of t ... More >>

Hot Comic Action

​The City of Ate's, um, kind and generous editor...yeah...once asked me what I thought this city needed in terms of vegan food. My answer: "I wish the Mexican restaurants would catch on." Because it's true--Mexican restaurants are slim pickings for vegans in Dallas due to the fact that most of t ... More >>

Surviving Another Encounter With Convenience-Store Tacos

​The City of Ate's, um, kind and generous editor...yeah...once asked me what I thought this city needed in terms of vegan food. My answer: "I wish the Mexican restaurants would catch on." Because it's true--Mexican restaurants are slim pickings for vegans in Dallas due to the fact that most of t ... More >>

On The Range: Quesadillas

On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Say cheese.Quesadilla translates as "little cheesy thing"--so no true recipe can exist without it. Even vegan variations tend to use soy cheese prominently. Writing in his book Mexico: One Plate at a Time, Rick Bayles ... More >>

Dude Food: Ojeda's

Ojeda's chili rellenoEach week the Dude Food guys assess the 'masculinity' of Dallas area dives. The more fried meat and junk on the walls, the better the rating...Ojeda's4617 Maple Ave. 214-528-8383Dude Factor: 8, or Lucky Day, on a scale of 1 (The Singing Bush) to 10 (El Guapo)Thanks to its quick ... More >>

On The Range: Flautas & Taquitos

From street vendor snack to the frozen food aisle.On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Sometime toward 3 a.m., when the drinking is (usually) winding down and serious munchies coming on, almost anything will make for a snack, providing it releases th ... More >>

On The Range: Burritos

Kvanhorn, via FlickrOn The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.San Francisco in the mid-1960's. Peace, love, and cable cars. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. If you were into music, you could go to the Avalon Ballroom or Bill Graham's Fillmore Wes ... More >>

How Can They Call It Mexican Food If It Doesn’t Bring the Heat?

Kvanhorn, via FlickrOn The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.San Francisco in the mid-1960's. Peace, love, and cable cars. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. If you were into music, you could go to the Avalon Ballroom or Bill Graham's Fillmore Wes ... More >>

Agave Tex-Mex: Good, Bad and Ugly

Kvanhorn, via FlickrOn The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.San Francisco in the mid-1960's. Peace, love, and cable cars. Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. If you were into music, you could go to the Avalon Ballroom or Bill Graham's Fillmore Wes ... More >>

On The Range: Chiles Rellenos

Chiles rellenos, Emeril-stylePoblano peppers or Anaheim? When making chiles rellenos, the chef must first consider which pepper might better serve his or her vision of the completed dish. Indeed, they are similar and both are widely used, but tasting reveals subtle but noticeable differences. ... More >>

On The Range: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Mexican cooks reuse leftovers like nobody's business. Consider the plight of the frugal family in days of yore, north or south of the border. The basics of life--shelter and food--are not certainties. Since the beginning of farming, rural families learned not to toss any part of a plant or a ... More >>

On The Range: Chimichangas

Toasted monkey or [expletive deleted]? These are the two prevailing definitions for the origin of the term chimichanga, that ever-popular fried burrito that has become a staple at Tex-Mex establishments.Chimichangas may have originated as early as the 1940's, when cooks at a bar in Nog ... More >>

On The Range: Tortillas

Corn or flour?Depends on the filling. This comes from Alison Cook, author of "Taco Capitol, USA," a groundbreaking Texas Monthly cover story on the subject of Tex-Mex cuisine, who notes that while flour tortillas are better suited to Northern Mexico-style grilled meats and to breakfast tacos, "certa ... More >>

On The Range: Enchiladas

Let's face it: A true Tex-Mex establishment succeeds or fails on the strength of its enchiladas. I realize I'm speaking only for myself, at least as far as popular dishes go. Many patrons of an El-or-La-something-or-other (as Rosemary Kent dubbed Tex-Mex restaurants in her Genuine Texas Hand ... More >>

On The Range: Tamales

Pig's head tamales?Well, yes. Robb Walsh notes in his Tex-Mex cookbook that traditional emporiums use pig's heads as their base meat when making their husky creations. The head is boiled until the meat and lard cook away, then the broth is used to moisten the masa harina (corn meal infused with lime ... More >>

At Agave Azul, Tequila and Ornery Old Men Bring a New Look to Old Town Carrollton

Pig's head tamales?Well, yes. Robb Walsh notes in his Tex-Mex cookbook that traditional emporiums use pig's heads as their base meat when making their husky creations. The head is boiled until the meat and lard cook away, then the broth is used to moisten the masa harina (corn meal infused with lime ... More >>

On The Range: Mexican Breakfasts

Beans for breakfast? Are you kidding?Ah, but according to the indispensable tome The Tex-Mex Cookbook, here in the Lone Star State a pot of beans was often used to break a cowboy's fast on the long trail, whether plain (as preferred by eminent Texas writer J Frank Dobie) or with a little bacon and ... More >>

On The Range: Combination Plates

Dwight Eisenhower (right) took Mamie for a Tex-Mex combo plate at The Original Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio before WWILet's get one thing straight: Tex-Mex has never pretended to represent Mexican cuisine in its entirety. In fact, according to Robb Walsh, author of The Tex-Mex Cookbook, the ge ... More >>

On The Range: Fajitas

I made a rather startling discovery while continuing my quest into the origins of Tex-Mex. For some reason I had assumed fajitas were a California addition, perhaps because of their ready adoption in to the presumably healthier Cal-Mex lineup. But no--legend credits Ninfa's in Houston, although a ... More >>

On The Range: West Texas Enchiladas

The first of a series documenting Chris Meesey's personal quest for authentic Tex-Mex. But we'll let him tell you more... I'm a genu-wine Texan, born and bred. In fact, I began life at Nix Hospital, San Antonio--less than one mile from The Alamo, the acknowledged epicenter of the Texas Universe. ... More >>

Short Orders: Cyclone Anaya's (Oak Lawn)

Cyclone Anaya's3211 Oak Lawn Ave.214-420-0030Recent visits to this popular outpost of the Houston-based chain inspire two observations.First, bars and restaurants in Dallas consider the Margarita a child's drink. Order the famous Tex-Mex cocktail and, with a few exceptions, they bring out something ... More >>

Nueva Casita

Cyclone Anaya's3211 Oak Lawn Ave.214-420-0030Recent visits to this popular outpost of the Houston-based chain inspire two observations.First, bars and restaurants in Dallas consider the Margarita a child's drink. Order the famous Tex-Mex cocktail and, with a few exceptions, they bring out something ... More >>

Kids Eat The Darndest Things: Los Lupes, Duncanville

Cyclone Anaya's3211 Oak Lawn Ave.214-420-0030Recent visits to this popular outpost of the Houston-based chain inspire two observations.First, bars and restaurants in Dallas consider the Margarita a child's drink. Order the famous Tex-Mex cocktail and, with a few exceptions, they bring out something ... More >>

Ask a Mexican

In corn vs. flour, wheat gets a smackdown

Vintage Tex-Mex

In corn vs. flour, wheat gets a smackdown

Bless Us, Oh Lard

Damn fajitas and health-conscious eaters. They're killing traditional Tex-Mex.

Review: Herrera's Cafe No. 1

Herrera's sensational tortillas and fiery salsa will keep us coming back.

Pepe & Mito's

Pepe & Mito's solid food is nice, the liquid diet even nicer

Review: Urban Taco

Try a little Mexican food without the gloop and refrieds

Ask A Mexican

All good things come from Texas—in food, anyway

Review: Luna de Noche

In excess

The Haunting

Tradicion can't shake the ghost of restaurants past

Bejeweled and Bedeviled

La Joya makes boilerplate Mexican transcendent

¡Ask a Mexican!

La Joya makes boilerplate Mexican transcendent