Taco Capital, U.S.A.

You want tacos with carnitas or cactus pads? Beef barbecue or bacon and eggs Come to San Antonio, where tacos aren’t just an afterthought on a Tex-Mex munue—they’re a way of life.

by Alison Cook

The Great Texas Taco Tour

From El Paso’s ingenious taco trays to Austin’s uplifting breakfast tacos, each Texas city celebrates this noble creation in its own way.

by Alison Cook

Swamp Gas

When Jimmy Lee, an unrepentant troublemaker, felt he had taken one insult too many from the powerful Fredeman family, he called in the law. The results of that action have exposed decades of larceny and corruption in Port Arthur and threaten a Gulf Coast empire.

by Gary Cartwright

Texas Primer: The Rig Count

At first, Hughes Tool used the count to plan its own future. Now an entire industry uses it to plan theirs.

by Peter Elkind

Solace in the Desert

With dogged independence, amazing endurance, and a rugged romantic vision, photographer Laura Gilpin helped create the way we see the West today.

by Michael Ennis

Eighteen Minutes

Unlike the Alamo, which can seem as remote and mysterious as Stonehenge, the San Jacinto battlefield has few secrets. Its history lies close at hand.

by Stephen Harrigan

Western Art: Rodeo Madness

An interpretation of a classic genre.

by Karen Barbour

Travel

Hot Springs Eternal

Going to Hot Springs was once a Texas rite of passage steeped in the ways of old sin. Today this Arkansas resort is still worth the trip.

by Joe Nick Patoski

Behind the Lines

by Gregory Curtis

Books

Of Things Miraculous and Marvelous

Three unknown Texas writers tackle three different genres and prove the novel is alive and well.

by Peter Applebone

Movies

Upper West Side Story

Hannah and Her Sisters is Woody gone schmaltzy; F/X is implausible but entertaining; 9 1/2 Weeks is an eternity; Power is oppressively didactic.

by James Wolcott

Jazz

Calling His Own Tune

On San Antonio’s Riverwalk the Jim Cullum Jazz Band plays jazz the way it was meant to be played.

by Jan Jarboe Russell

Popular Music

Manchild in Musicland

Charlie Sexton. Austin’s guitar-playing boy wonder, is now dream fodder for the masses; Eric Johnson is our latest contender for guitar hero.

by

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

Will Shelby Coffey lead the Dallas Times-Herald to victory? Will Muse aficionados ever find happiness aloft again? Will Tommy Pierce keep real-estating and a-rocking?

by Joseph Nocera

Shopping

A Houston boutique enjoys the high cost of growing up.

by Mimi Swartz

Post-Modern Times

Want to unload your business? With Stan Hazelwood, it’s not much harder than getting a date.

by Michael Ennis

Downtown

The DA in El Paso may do a lot of things, but there’s one thing he doesn’t do—plea-bargain.

by Jim Atkinson

Touts

On the road again—accoutrements for savvy traveling.

by Patricia Sharpe

Roar of the Crowd

Puzzle

State Secrets

Southwest and Continental make war, knot Love; make way for natural gas on the commodities market; a taxing situation for Speaker Gib.

Edited by Paul Burka