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Texas Monthly - 50 Best Taco Joints in Texas

5,412 Views | 29 Replies | Last: 11 days ago by RGV AG
schmellba99
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8:44a, 10/23/24
AG
Now TM is getting into ranking taco joints. This could get interesting.

50 Best Taco Joints

Quote:
The Top 10
1. Ana Liz Taqueria (Mission)
2. Elemi (El Paso)
3. Azteca Taco House (Houston)
4. Revolver Taco Lounge (Dallas)
5. Taqueria El Tiger (El Paso)
6. Taconeta (El Paso)
7. Papalo Taqueria (Houston)
8. Stixs & Stone (San Antonio)
9. Maskaras Mexican Grill (Dallas)
10. Nixta Taqueria (Austin)
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CyclingAg82
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9:52a, 10/23/24
AG
Thanks for posting this list.
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CDub06
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10:45a, 10/23/24
AG
Barbecue is hard enough. Getting a Top 50 list of taco places in Texas is IMPOSSIBLE.
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TexAgs1992
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11:09a, 10/23/24
Leaving Mary's Tacos off the list is absolutely criminal.
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Bigballin
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1:59p, 10/23/24
AG
Yeah, maybe a categorization system would work better for something like this

- outstanding, just like mi abuela makes
- good taco and the gringos will love it
- worth the stop and hits the spot
- it will make a turd
- no bueno
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Matsui
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2:04p, 10/23/24
AG
Think the list is spot on
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Tailgate88
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In reply to Bigballin • 2:31p, 10/23/24
AG
Bigballin said:
Yeah, maybe a categorization system would work better for something like this

- outstanding, just like mi abuela makes
- good taco and the gringos will love it
- worth the stop and hits the spot
- it will make a turd
- no bueno
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TXAG 05
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9:44p, 10/23/24
AG
A lot of the list are hippie fru fru tacos.
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Mathguy64
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10:44p, 10/23/24
AG
I'm not sure it's humanely possible to have eaten at every gas station taco shack in Texas. Those Abuela's make some mighty tasty tacos.
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HTownAg98
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9:19a, 10/24/24
They visited 400 spots across the whole state. There's probably more than 1,000 spots south of IH 10.
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fav13andac1)c
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9:51a, 10/24/24
AG
Looks like I'll be hitting up Southside Barbacoa for lunch here in Corpus!
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MyNameIsJeff
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In reply to HTownAg98 • 12:36p, 10/24/24
AG
HTownAg98 said:
They visited 400 spots across the whole state. There's probably more than 1,000 spots south of IH 10.
Lol yeah that's my initial thought, too. There's more in just the BCS area than I can ever manage to try.
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RGV AG
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In reply to HTownAg98 • 11:57p, 10/24/24
AG
HTownAg98 said:
They visited 400 spots across the whole state. There's probably more than 1,000 spots south of IH 10.
There is probably 5,000 south of Falfurrias alone. And 75% are damn good.
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fav13andac1)c
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In reply to fav13andac1)c • 7:13a, 10/25/24
AG
fav13andac1)c said:
Looks like I'll be hitting up Southside Barbacoa for lunch here in Corpus!


It was good, but like others have surmised, I've had plenty of good carne guisada. Their tortillas were very good, but that's the expectation in Corpus.
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Tee
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10:03a, 11/9/24
AG
The list looked more like "As usual, we over represented Austin and drove from Travis County to San Antonio, Houston, and the Metroplex."
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country
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4:18p, 11/9/24
AG
This list became a farce the second a place was named outside the border counties. Doesn't mean there's not a lot of good tacos but 50 best? C'mon
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schmellba99
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In reply to country • 2:01p, 11/11/24
AG
country said:
This list became a farce the second a place was named outside the border counties. Doesn't mean there's not a lot of good tacos but 50 best? C'mon
Hate to break this to you - but the idea that the border counties are some mecca of mexican food is silly. Most of the food I've had in the valley and along the border was average. Many below, a handful above.

Much better overall fare in Houston and SA than anything along the border. Austin is probably overrated and over represented because it's TM.
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country
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In reply to schmellba99 • 2:50p, 11/11/24
AG
schmellba99 said:
country said:
This list became a farce the second a place was named outside the border counties. Doesn't mean there's not a lot of good tacos but 50 best? C'mon
Hate to break this to you - but the idea that the border counties are some mecca of mexican food is silly. Most of the food I've had in the valley and along the border was average. Many below, a handful above.

Much better overall fare in Houston and SA than anything along the border. Austin is probably overrated and over represented because it's TM.

Agree to disagree. This is a list about tacos. I didn't make my comments in relation to overall fare nor did I say the border is a Mecca of Mexican food. But if you have eaten all over the Valley and haven't found some of the best tacos you've ever had, you aren't finding the right spots IMO. Then again, maybe our tastes just differ which is fine.
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RGV AG
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In reply to schmellba99 • 8:26p, 11/11/24
AG
schmellba99 said:
country said:
This list became a farce the second a place was named outside the border counties. Doesn't mean there's not a lot of good tacos but 50 best? C'mon
Hate to break this to you - but the idea that the border counties are some mecca of mexican food is silly. Most of the food I've had in the valley and along the border was average. Many below, a handful above.

Much better overall fare in Houston and SA than anything along the border. Austin is probably overrated and over represented because it's TM.

Some of the best Tex-Mex and authentic places I have ever eaten are off the border, Pasadena in particular has some excellent places.

That being said the homogeneous quality of both Tex-Mex and true Mexican food in the RGV and along the border is a cut above the rest of the state. Just in the tortillas alone there is a difference, few places upstate make homemade flour, much less corn, tortillas whereas the better places along the border have to do that to compete. And many use the Mexican method of making masa for the corn. The tort is the start and end of the criterion for Mex food and tacos.

Between the US and Mex side there are 300k more people in the RGV than SA, there is a reason you see no "Taqueria Arandas" or other common Mexican chains.

No place off the border that I have ever eaten has ever offered "salsa macha" with their caldo's and pozole. F And as far as tacos go there are prolly 10 places within .5 miles of my home that are excellent, maybe not the best ever, but excellent.

Next time you are in the Valley see if you can make it to one of the Rocha's Bakery locations, you can still get out of there for about $6 and get 3 to 4 tacos on true hand made tortillas.
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PlanoAg98
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9:31a, 11/12/24
AG
Anything in the north Dallas area on the list?
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standfast
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In reply to PlanoAg98 • 2:32p, 1/11/25
PlanoAg98 said:
Anything in the north Dallas area on the list?
Revolver Taco Lounge in Deep Ellum made top 10
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FIDO*98*
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In reply to RGV AG • 6:03p, 1/11/25
AG
RGV AG said:

That being said the homogeneous quality of both Tex-Mex and true Mexican food in the RGV and along the border is a cut above the rest of the state. Just in the tortillas alone there is a difference, few places upstate make homemade flour, much less corn, tortillas whereas the better places along the border have to do that to compete. And many use the Mexican method of making masa for the corn. The tort is the start and end of the criterion for Mex food and tacos.


I'm in the valley monthly for work and agree about the tortillas. That said, plenty of places in SA use fresh Nixtamal and 2 places I frequent in New Braunfels do too

I make salsa Macha for my fish tacos. I do wish that would catch on
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RGV AG
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In reply to FIDO*98* • 9:40p, 1/11/25
AG
Salsa Macha is oh so very good and easy to make. It is very versitale and goes well with many dishes, typically you don't have to heap it on to get spice, for that reason it is one of my favorites.

SA has some good eats, and a good variety as well. Honestly outta all the big TX cities it is the one I know the least, so not a lot of experience there. Work and such has had me headed much more south than north for a long while, and travels in the US are usually outta TX. Best Tamales I have ever eaten have been in SA (and the price reflected it). But first thing I do when driving through SA is hit Bill Miller's for fried chicken.

The RGV has a pattern for eateries. Places start out small and are excellent and affordable. As they gain popularity they tend to expand and the quality and value drops off. If you can stay ahead of, or maybe better said behind, the curve on this there are really good places down here.

Upper scale eats in the RGV are not too good IMO. Lots of hoopla for mediocrity. But many of the long time places are damn consistent.


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HTownAg98
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In reply to FIDO*98* • 8:37a, 1/12/25
I made Arnie Segovia's salsa macha recipe, and it's really good, but could use a little more heat, and I may have charred some of the peppers a little too much. I'm going to double the amount of Chile de arbol in the next batch.
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polander ag81
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6:47p, 1/13/25
No Fuego, Torchy's or Velvet Taco?
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TXAG 05
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In reply to polander ag81 • 7:20p, 1/13/25
AG
polander ag81 said:
No Fuego, Torchy's or Velvet Taco?


This is for good tacos, not cardboard tortilla tacos
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HtownAg92
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11:54a, 1/14/25
AG
I know it seems sacrilege to credit anything Dallas, especially great tacos, but some of the best tacos I've had in my life were at Taqueria El Si Hay in Oak Cliff. Did that make the list (not getting past the paywall and not subscribing to Sip Monthly).
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schmellba99
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In reply to RGV AG • 10:27p, 1/14/25
AG
Dont go to the valley anymore. And i dont miss it either.

I did have some damn good tortillas out of Acuna the other day though, but hat isnt the valley.

And corn tortillas suck across the board, no exceptions.
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RGV AG
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In reply to HtownAg92 • 3:57p, 1/15/25
AG
Good tacos or Mexican food is/are not ubiquitous to any one area or place, that is for sure. Some of the best Mexican/Tex-Mex food I have had in the recent past was in Pasa-get down-Dena, man they have some good places up there. Specially for Mexican seafood. Portions are huge, and the prices higher than STX.

Dallas hasta have a bunch of great places as well.

Best barbacoa I have ever had, or at least among the best, was in Dalton, Georgia.

In referencing location about quality I meant it more to point out the mean consistency. In deep STX places that aren't pretty damn good don't last because there are so many places that are really good.
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RGV AG
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In reply to schmellba99 • 3:59p, 1/15/25
AG
schmellba99 said:
Dont go to the valley anymore. And i dont miss it either.

I did have some damn good tortillas out of Acuna the other day though, but hat isnt the valley.

And corn tortillas suck across the board, no exceptions.
Heresy, plain and simple!

I spent almost a year working in Acuna, there was a small locals place there that specialized in Chilaquiles, of all things. I will say that they were exceptional. I ate there 2-3 times a week and always got the chilaquiles.
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