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Bill Crist ’73 says: I was a fish in Sqdn 4 the year we built the tallest Bonfire on record. I remember the bruises, the muscle pains, the cuts, the blisters, the pushups. It is all pale compared to the sacrifice our 12 brothers and sisters gave to our beloved school. Every Aggie Muster since that day I have said a "Here" for them. Their sacrifice is forever etched in our minds. Whether or not we ever see another official Bonfire does not matter; our traditions will survive. We are great. We are mighty. We are Texas Aggies. (November 5th, 2009 at 10:23am)

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Patricia Sharpe

Patricia Sharpe grew up in Austin, Texas, and holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin. After a stint as a schoolteacher (teaching English and Spanish) and at the Texas Historical Commission (writing historical markers), she joined the staff of Texas Monthly, in 1974, when the magazine was two years old. She edited the magazine’s cultural and restaurant listings, and over the years, she also wrote a consumer column called “Touts.” Eventually she focused exclusively on food, and her humorous story “War Fare,” an account of living for 48 hours on military-style MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat), was included in the anthology Best Food Writing 2002 (Marlowe & Company). Many of her stories appear in the collection, Texas Monthly on Food (University of Texas Press, 2008). Pat Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column for Texas Monthly and is in demand to judge food contests (she declines those involving large quantities of chile peppers or hot sauce). In March 2005, she wrote a memoir of her thirty years as a restaurant critic entitled “Confessions of a Skinny Bitch.” It won a James Beard Foundation award for magazine food writing. She stands five feet, seven inches tall and weighs 118 pounds fully fed and fully clothed. (1974)

Features

Pecan Artists

The best way to go completely nuts this Thanksgiving is with this five-part meal featuring the bounty of our beloved state tree. (November 2009)

How We Did It

(August 2009)

The 50 Greatest Hamburgers In Texas

On our first-ever quest for the state’s best burgers, we covered more than 12,000 miles, ate at more than 250 restaurants, and gained, collectively, more than 40 pounds. Our dauntless determination (and fearless fat intake) was rewarded with a list of 50 transcendent burgers—and you’ll never guess which one ended up on top. Check out our Best Burger section. (August 2009)

Vineyard Hopping

(June 2009)

How to Eat Well in Hard Times

It’s easy, really. Just go get yourself some shrimp tacos, a beef-and-cheese cachapa, grilled pork with green papaya, fried chicken, gourmet Frito pie, or any of the 25 finds on this list of my favorite dishes in Texas under ten bucks. (April 2009)

Where to Eat Now 2009

How perfect is this: The best new restaurant to open during the Year of Financial Meltdown is located in the lobby of an old Houston bank. What better place to invest your money than in the soul-nourishing flavor combos of chef Michael Kramer’s beautifully composed plates? (February 2009)

The 40 Best Small-Town Cafes

Our exhaustive, exhausting, strictly scientific (and lamentably fattening) survey of the finest home cooking around, from Maxine’s on Main, in Bastrop, to El Paraiso, in Zapata. (December 2008)

Your Bird Here

Turkey, shmurkey! This Thanksgiving, when your mother-in-law gets ready to serve up boring old tradition as a main course, you should cry fowl and turn her attention to these other fine, feathered, delectable friends. (November 2008)

Keeper of the Flame

Need someone to create a menu for the ultimate backyard feast? Paul Petersen, the executive chef at Marathon’s Gage Hotel, is ready, grilling, and able. (July 2008)

PITS: The Encyclopedia Entry

(June 2008)

BBQ08

Eighteen hungry reviewers. 14,773 miles driven/flown. 341 joints visited. Countless bites of brisket, sausage, chicken, pork, white bread, potato salad, and slaw—and vats of sauce—ingested. There are only fifty slots on our quinquennial list of the best places to eat barbecue in Texas. Only five of those got high honors. And only one (you’ll never guess which one in a million years) is the best of the best. (June 2008)

Where To Eat Now 2008

Yes, the setting is ritzy and the food remarkable. But what really makes the state’s best new restaurant sizzle is something less tangible: the (Dean) Fearing factor. (March 2008)

Eat Their Words

What will dining, both out and in, be like in decades to come? We asked the state’s top chefs and food folk, from Dean Fearing and Hugo Ortega to David Bull and Charles Butt. (February 2008)

Meat Your Maker

From city to country, fancy to down-home, the state’s 38 best steakhouses. Plus: the Japanese beef that everyone should be eating, our favorite butcher shops, and how to grill a ribeye that even your father-in-law will love. (December 2007)

The Art of the Meal

Five of the best museums in the state have cafes designed to tempt the most refined tastes and sophisticated palates. A few have masterpieces on the menu; others are works in progress. (July 2007)

From Husks Till Dawn

Even cowgirls get the munchies, which is why Paula Disbrowe came up with these great recipes for migas, blackberry blue-corn muffins, and other breakfast staples. (March 2007)

Where to Eat Now 2007

Well, first and foremost, Dallas, since four of the year’s ten best new restaurants—including the top three—are there. But if you’re hip and hungry in Houston, Austin, or San Antonio, my list won’t disappoint. (February 2007)

The Greatest Tacos Ever Sold

Sixty-three of them, to be exact: from picadillo in Dallas and brisket tinga in Houston to carne asada gringa in San Antonio and chorizo-and-jalapeño in McAllen. Be sure you don’t leave this earth without trying each and every one. (December 2006)

The Chop Is in the Mail

You want to send your granny a grapefruit this Christmas? Your bro a brisket? Your pop a pie? We’ve taste-tested more than four hundred foodstuffs that Texas companies will happily ship to your door, and more than forty are first-class. (November 2006)

Peas Be With You

This farm-to-table feast will make you thankful for the Texas growers who still work the land and for at least one hip chef who gives new life to the fruits and vegetables of their labor. (July 2006)

Wings

At the Houston Museum of Natural Science, butterflies are free (sort of). (May 2006)

A Desert Feast

How to make black bean soup, cactus cornbread, and other mouthwatering dishes from Melissa Guerra’s South Texas kitchen. (May 2006)

Runners-up

(February 2006)

Where to Eat Now 2006

Our favorite new restaurants of the year—and a few more that almost make the cut. (February 2006)

Pie + Cobbler

(November 2005)

Pork Chops

(November 2005)

Meat Loaf

(November 2005)

Okra + Greens

(November 2005)

Chicken-Fried Steak

(November 2005)

House Specialties

(November 2005)

Cornbread + Biscuits

(November 2005)

Fried Chicken

(November 2005)

Mashed Potatoes

(November 2005)

Southern Comfort

Fabulous fried chicken, marvelous meat loaf, great greens, outstanding okra, perfect pie, and more: where to find our favorite staples of home cooking. (November 2005)

How To Open A Restaurant

You have to be either crazy or masochistic to do it—maybe both. But for Lisa and Emmett Fox, owners of the new Austin eatery Fino, the benefits of taking the heat far outweigh those of staying out of the kitchen. (September 2005)

Got Game

At Hudson’s on the Bend, in Austin, venison isn’t the only dish that’s smokin’. (July 2005)

If you’re hungry . . .

(April 2005)

“Confessions of a Skinny Bitch”

Over the past thirty years, I’ve edited or written more than 28,000 restaurant reviews for this magazine. That’s a lot of crème brûlée under the bridge, folks. So what’s my life been like, exactly? And how have I stayed this thin? Good questions. (March 2005)

Where to Eat Now 2005

What’s on the menu this year? Not the best new restaurants of all time, perhaps—but you’ll still love the veal shank at 17, the Texas quail at T’afia, the Guinness stout cake at George, and the fusion of French and Mexican cooking at Lanny’s Alta Cocina Mexicana. And don’t forget to order the fish . . . everywhere. (February 2005)

The Best of the Rest

(February 2005)

Some Like It Picante

Actually, most of us do, which is why we’ve visited Mexican restaurants and taquerías all over the state in search of the best enchiladas, guacamole, cabrito, and other classic dishes; pilfered three great restaurant recipes for you to make in your own cocina; answered every frequently asked question we could think of; collected expert tips and techniques; and compiled a glossary of terms you’re likely to find on a menu. Sound like the last Mexican food story you’ll ever need to read? (December 2004)

Life Is Sweet

Rebecca Rather’s recipes for five tempting treats are our holiday gift to you. (November 2004)

Stop and Smell the Lavender

Staples of Provençal cuisine, such as olive oil, goat cheese, and honey, are being produced in Texas? Mais oui. (July 2004)

Triumph of the Grill

A pomegranate daiquiri, a spicy poblano quail, and thou: Three hot Texas chefs have whipped up a patio picnic that's sure to put a little spring (and summer) in your step. (May 2004)

Where to Eat Now 2004

Now serving: the best new restaurants in Texas, including a glamorous international kitchen in Dallas, a hot sushi spot in Austin, and—the best of them all—a drop-dead room with a globe-trotting menu in Houston. (February 2004)

Eyes on the Pies

Five modern twists on traditional recipes make mincemeat out of store-bought desserts. (November 2003)

New Orleans, Louisiana

(August 2003)

Top Fifty

(May 2003)

Pit Stops

Where are the best places to eat barbecue in Texas? Six years ago we published a highly subjective—and hotly debated— list of our fifty favorite joints, and now we’ve gone back for seconds. Ten intrepid souls drove more than 21,000 miles in search of 2003’s worthiest ‘cue. Here’s what they came back with: the top 5 and the next 45, plus honorable mentions, great chains, and meat by mail. (May 2003)

Where to Eat Now

In our annual roundup of the restaurants everyone's talking about, you'll find a bare-bones taquería, a bastion of cowboy chic, a snazzy deconsecrated church—and dishes that range from soup (squash blossom) to nuts (toasted cashews with chocolate-swirled bread pudding). Not to mention a little French place in San Antonio that's the best of the best. (March 2003)

Who's Next?

San Antonio's Marshevet Hooker is not just any old high school sprinter; she's an Olympic gold medalist in the making. Meet her and nine other women we're betting will lead the new Texas—and the world. (February 2003)

Make Way for Duck

Tired of talking turkey? ‘Tis the season to feast on a bird that’s all it’s quacked up to be—and other dishes created by five of the state’s hottest chefs. (December 2002)

Puebla

(October 2002)

Ladies, First

Three former Texas first ladies dish about life in the Governor’s Mansion and share recipes that have served them well. (August 2002)

San Antonio to Loving on Texas Highway 16

Huge apple pies, a Japanese submarine, handmade soaps—and a dressed flea. (May 2002)

Where To Eat Now

Want to know where to find remarkable roast chicken? Terrific shrimp tacos? Cloudlike chèvre cheesecake? Having munched my way across the state, I have the answers. Chow, Baby. (February 2002)

The Shuck Stops Here

Whether you plan to buy tamales or make them from scratch this holiday season, here's everything you need to know about these simple (and simply delicious) gift-wrapped treats. (November 2001)

Old-Fashioned Texas

Texas is changing before our eyes, but fried pies, drive-in movie theaters, and other vestiges of earlier days are all around. To find these treasures, we risked life, limb, and cholesterol count-and had a blast from the past. (August 2001)

A Star-Spangled Spread

This Fourth of July, forget the fried chicken and potato salad. Our potluck picnic, cooked up by six top Austin chefs, is full of culinary fireworks. Plus... extra web-only recipes! (July 2001)

Round and Round

Tortillas have been with us since the heyday of the Maya and the Aztecs. Now these simple small cakes are big business-but some are still made the old fashioned way. Includes extra tortilleria listings. (April 2001)

Season’s Eatings

When we asked chef Bruce Auden of San Antonio's Biga on the Banks to create a festive holiday feast, he served up a menu with some delicious twists on tradition. (December 2000)

Food • Phil Romano

Restaurant raja. (September 2000)

Franco File

The best French restaurant in Texas is in San Antonio? Mais oui. And around the state, there are others that are très bon as well. (July 2000)

Great Escapes

From a boutique hotel in hip South Austin to a bed-and-breakfast across the Mexican border, from fly fishing on the Llano River to bathing in the Chinati Hot Springs, 33 getaways the guidebooks don’t tell you about, courtesy of our intrepid staff of weekend warriors. (June 2000)

Top of the Morning

Recipes for the state’s best breakfasts, including empanadas from Joe T. Garcia’s Bakery in Fort Worth, smoked-salmon omelets from benjy’s in Houston, and gingerbread pancakes from Austin’s Magnolia Cafe. (February 2000)

The Joy of Mex

From La Valentina in Dallas to Casa del Sol in Juárez, 75 Mexican restaurants that will leave your taste buds begging for more, plus seven great recipes. (November 1999)

Food • John Campbell

Supermarketer. (September 1999)

Wing Tips

Where to see the painted bunting, the summer tanager, and other feathered friends: A guide to the best birding spots in Texas. (April 1999)

Restaurants

A creamy quiche of spinach, cheese, and mushrooms in Comfort, smashingly good smashed turnips in Granbury: These and other delicious dishes at ten extraordinary eateries. (March 1999)

Wild Turkey

Here’s something to be thankful for: chef Grady Spears’s holiday feast, with a deep-fried bird and all the trimmings. (November 1998)

FOOD • Stephan Pyles

A recipe for success. (September 1998)

DANCE • Carlos Acosta

Feet accompli. (September 1998)

Hot Plates!

Recipe for a great new cookbook: Combine a celebrated chef, a veteran food writer, and an innovative approach to contemporary Tex-Mex; serve. (May 1998)

Out of This World

At the entrance to Las Pozas, the logical, the predictable, and the commonplace evaporate, giving way to one of the most enchanting places on earth. (April 1998)

Tiles and Tiles of Texas

The ceramic designs created by these four Texas studios will look great in your kitchen or bathroom—and except for their shape, there’s nothing square about them. (November 1997)

It’s a Wrap

What happens when the modern world gets its hands on the lowly burrito? A food fad is born. (October 1997)

Art • Peter Marzio

On the money. (September 1997)

Food • Tri La

Culinary assimilation. (September 1997)

Grand Hotel

Why do reviewers from Condé Nast Traveler to the Zagat and Mobil guides swoon over Dallas’ Mansion on Turtle Creek? I wanted to find out, so I checked in. (July 1997)

Road Show

Our guide to finding Texas wildflowers that stand out in their fields. (March 1997)

The Elite Meat to Eat

Chicken? For the birds. Fish? In the tank. From Buffalo Gap to Galveston, the faddish food these days is steak. Here are ten prime places to enjoy it. (February 1997)

Environment • Tony Amos

Gulf pro. (September 1996)

Bread Winners

Upper-crust bakers in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin are turning out heavenly handmade loaves that make store-bought seem stale by comparison. (July 1996)

Holy Cacao!

Introducing El Rey, the Venezuelan chocolate that is wowing chefs everywhere, thanks to the efforts of a Texan with a taste for treats. (May 1996)

Robert Del Grande, Cafe Annie, Houston.

(February 1996)

Dean Fearing, Mansion On Turtle Creek, Dallas

(February 1996)

Southwestern Ho!

(February 1996)

Chef’s On The Rise

(February 1996)

Texas Food Conquers the World!

How to cook up a culinary craze: Mix talented chefs, native ingredients, classical techniques, and good publicity. Name result “Southwestern.” Let spread across globe. (February 1996)

Cook Your Goose!

Turn your holiday dinner into a moth-waatering master-feast with these new recipes from Stay Canyon chef Stephan Pyles. (December 1995)

¡Viva Tequila!

How it’s made, the secret of cooking with it, the truth about the worm, and everything else you ever wanted to know about Mexico’s favorite drink—and ours. (August 1995)

The Cook, the Chief, His Wife, And Their Dinner

Who feeds Zuni stew and scrambled eggs to George W. Bush? Meet Sarah Bishop, the young chef at the Governor’s Mansion—and try out some of her favorite recipes. (July 1995)

Something’s Cooking

Meet the hip young chefs at two Texas restaurants that everyone’s buzzing about. (April 1995)

Go West!

Now is the time to check out newly stylish hotels and restaurants in West Texas. Tourists aren’t far behind. (February 1994)

What a Dish!

We cleaned our plate at restaurants across Texas. Here are the results: 66 irresistible specialties of the house. (October 1991)

Secret Summer Places

Swimming to Oblivion

Marine scientists have struggled for ten years to establish a new colony of ridley sea turtles on South Padre Islands. All their efforts may have been in vain. (June 1988)

Texas Primer: The Chilipiquin

Some like it hot; those who eat the national pepper of Texas like it hotter. (November 1987)

Texas Primer: Cedar Fever

When cedars start to mate, Texans start to suffer. (March 1986)

Columns | Miscellany

Stock Tips

After years of writing about chefs, I wanted to get a taste of what it’s like to be one—which is how I found myself browning veal knuckle bones at the fastest-growing cooking school in Texas. (January 2004)

Stirring the Pot

What Julia Child is to French cooking, Diana Kennedy is to Mexican: a pioneer in her field with creativity to spare and strong opinions about everything. (October 2003)

The Fusion Thing

Don't make the mistake I did in assuming that Dallas dining is a white-bread world. This is the Latin Century, and these days Big D is all about Nuevo Latino. (September 2003)

Tex-Mex 101

Why yellow-cheese enchiladas, chile con carne, and puffy tacos aren't Mexican food: A short course on the cuisine that was fusion before fusion was hip. (August 2003)

Melting Pots

Serving three of Houston's immigrant cuisines—Indian, Japanese, or Vietnamese—these restaurants put culinary adventure on the menu. (September 2002)

Fallen Star

Plenty of buzz and a distinctive menu couldn't keep Austin's Star Canyon from closing after just fourteen months. I didn't see it coming, but now I know one recipe for recipe for failure. (June 2002)

War Fare

When I discovered that a Texas company makes the portable meals our soldiers carry into battle, I got my orders to eat up. I knew I would complete my mission—or get indigestion trying. (January 2002)

Cocina Confidential

What did I do when I wanted to indulge my weakness for cooking classes? I put San Miguel de Allende on the menu. (November 2001)

Georgette Mosbacher

(September 2001)

Joel Gregory

(September 2001)

Tio Kleberg

(September 2001)

Stars and Gripes

Why did we take away our restaurant guide's highest rating for the Mansion on Turtle Creek? Let's dish. (August 2001)

Mercury Rising

What's it like to be the chef at one of the state's top restaurants? The words "pressure cooker" come to mind (June 2001)

Slush Fun

Raise your glass to Dallas' Mariano Martinez, Jr., whose frozen margarita machine changed happy hour forever. (May 2001)

Unnatural Habitat

Noah's Land—an exotic-animal park and petting zoo near Bastrop—is underfinanced, and its staff is overwhelmed. As if that weren't enough, it's also under investigation for possible animal neglect. (February 2001)

Joys in the 'Hood

Think cozy neighborhood restaurants are a thing of the past? Here are four places that will serve you well. (November 2000)

Java Nice Day

After years of not much brewing, Houston’s Duncan Coffee Company is piping hot all over again. (September 1999)

Success by Design

At Texas’ top industrial design firm, the old style-versus-substance debate is a nonstarter: Why choose when you can have both? (September 1998)

Better Than Wurst

Portobello mushrooms and paella alongside the schnitzel and sauerkraut: In the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg, there’s clearly something cooking. (April 1998)

Mexican Revolution

New restaurants in Dallas and Houston are serving up authentic interior-style Mexican dishes that turn the tables on Tex-Mex. (April 1997)

New Deli

It started as a hippie sandwich shop in Austin. Now, more than two decades later, Schlotzsky’s is finally kicking the competition in the buns. (February 1997)

7th Heaven

What do Monty Python, the Lion King, Ace Ventura, and Howie Mandel have in common? They’re all part of 7th Level’s strategy to marry show biz with the computer-game biz. (May 1996)

Virtual Vittles

From chili to chiles, there’s a heaping helping of Texas food on the Internet, including cookoff schedules, mail-order info, recipes, and restaurant reviews. Dig in. (January 1996)

Chuck Wagon Redux

The latest culinary crazy, Cowboy Cuisine has put a new spin on traditional Texas cooking. (July 1993)

Heartless Behavior

Cardiologists Per and Peter Langsjoen sounded a warning. (June 1992)

Mix Masters

Three trend-setting Mexico City restaurants defy tradition by blending native and European cuisines. (June 1991)

King Crab

In tiny Sabine Pass, two restaurants battle to see which will be the barbecued-crab master of the universe. (March 1991)