A taco can be so much more than just a taco.
Tacos — and the taquerias you visit to get them — hold emotional and personal connections.
Texas Monthly’s taco editor José Ralat explored those connections while he compiled a list of the 50 best tacos in the state for his newest November cover story.
From El Paso to San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley, Ralat traveled more than 14,000 miles, visited over 400 taquerias, and tasted over 1,200 different tacos.
Ralat, a two-time James Beard Award winner for his Tex-Mexplainer column, said the hands that make the taco are just as important as the taco itself.
“Food is food. We all need it, but the stories make it better,” he said. “They make it more significant and more relatable because these are human beings who are often neglected or vilified.”
Through his travels, Ralat explored “new Tejano,” a regional cuisine from Mexican and Mexican American chefs in Texas who blend childhood, and often international, flavors with formal techniques.
Ralat said he hopes readers take the time to visit the taquerias on the list and learn more about their food.
“What people will experience is Texas as it is now. We should be proud of that,” he said. “There’s plenty of tradition, there’s plenty of nostalgia and looking back, but we should look at the here and now, and the future.”
Read a list of Ralat’s 13 honorable mentions here.
