El Paso

Stories about El Paso

The Other Ellis Island

A visual snapshot of Segundo Barrio.

An Ode to Album Park

A Night at Chico's

Savoring an institution from 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

The Best Laid Plan

El Paso’s latest urban redevelopment scheme is one of the nation’s most far-reaching and innovative. It is also, as any resident will tell you, one of its most contentious.

Pride and Prejudice

It’s time for Texas to get smart about its westernmost—and most ignored—city, where an old pass tracks the route of our future.

The Walking Deadline

For decades, the state’s big urban newspapers helped bind together the inhabitants of our major cities. Now those papers are threatened by a rapidly evolving (some might say collapsing) business model. Is there hope for daily journalism in Texas?

Horsemen, Goodbye

Thoughts on the gradual march of civility and urban sprawl across the lost frontier.

Where to Eat Now

And the year's best new restaurants are . . .

Embracing the Pass

Was I giddy from the altitude or just happy to be strolling the sidewalks of El Paso?

Industrial Evolution

As much as anything, the Texas economic miracle depends on water. Lots of water. So what are all those power plants, refineries, and factories going to do as the state gets drier and drier and drier?

Five New Albums You Shouldn’t Miss

Including new sets from Alejandro Escovedo, Rhett Miller, and more.

Offering Fine Advice Since 2007

How to respond to those weird bumper testicles, pledge allegiance to the flag, ask to see the top of someone’s boots, and decide between sweet and dill.

The Mars Volta

Omar Rodríguez-López on the meaning of Noctourniquet, doing a reunion with At the Drive-In, and getting bored.

Six Must-See Museums and Collections

Six members from Women for the Arts share which museums, collections, and venues travelers should not miss.

Father Knows West

Is it time to revisit Larry McMurtry’s Berrybender Narratives?

The Art Lover’s Companion

More than sixty art insiders gave us their list of favorite works of art to see in Texas. So grab your notepad, sketchbook, or iPad and take the ultimate tour of must-see art in Texas.

Texas Treasures

My journey in early Texas art began while I was a student at Southern Methodist University, where I studied Frank Reaugh pastels and met Jerry Bywaters. After 24 years at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, curating exhibitions and traveling the state, I’ve come up with a list of greatest hits.

101–125

From John Warne Gates peddling barbed wire in San Antonio to a group of cowboys and ranchers holding the first rodeo in Pecos

101–125

From John Warne Gates peddling barbed wire in San Antonio to a group of cowboys and ranchers holding the first rodeo in Pecos

Hueco Tanks State Park

A visit to Hueco Tanks, where the aboriginal peoples of West Texas created cave paintings thousands of years ago.

Let’s Have Mex-Tex

Where’s the best place to get a perfect plate of enchiladas? A chile relleno to die for? A salsa you’ll never forget? Come along on our tour of the fifty greatest Mexican restaurants in Texas, from Hugo’s, in Houston, to Tacos Santa Cecilia, in El Paso. This is not your father’s Tex-Mex.

My Tío, the Saint

Meet Toribio Romo, the patron saint of immigrants.

A Q&A With David Dorado Romo

Not everyone can claim to be related to a certified saint, but David Dorado Romo can. The author and El Paso native traveled to a tiny town in the Mexican state of Jalisco to learn more about his father’s second cousin, Santo Toribio Romo, and discovered some interesting things about his family—and himself—along the way.

Spill Way

When people ask me if cartel violence will find its way into Texas, I tell them it already has—and it’s going to get worse.

Near/Far

Despite rampant fears to the contrary, the bloody drug violence in Mexico hasn’t spilled over into Texas—but that doesn’t mean it’s not transforming life all along the border.

Bordertown

Watch El Pasoans talk about their city and the continuing violence along the border.

Long Division

Nate Blakeslee talks about immigration and the media coverage of border spillover violence.

The Old Man and the Secret

Thirty years ago, people couldnt believe it: The old man’s elixir boosted crops, ate up sewage, and made the desert bloom. Today half a dozen Texas companies claim the elixir does all that and a whole lot more.

Where They're From

A memorable hour-long radio special based on the June issue of TEXAS MONTHLY, a co-production with KUT 90.5 FM.

A River Runs Through It

At the port of entry in El Paso, I always tell the agents, “American,” but what I really want to say is “fronterizo”—I’m from both sides.

Tony Rancich’s Recording Studio

Tony Rancich’s recording studio.

Dream of a Common Language. Sueño de un Idioma Común.

The future of Texas depends on how well we are able to educate kids who can’t speak English. Has an elementary school in El Paso figured out the best way to do it?

Cool Cocktails

A few of the state’s best mixologists share their secrets to making delicious drinks.

That’s the Spirit

Not that you’re looking for an excuse, but these five original cocktails concocted by Texas bartenders using local liquors are a thoroughly acceptable reason to pour yourself a drink. Or three.

Downtown El Paso

And Kern Place too! Visit chic salons, an indie press, and a cool old theater in this city on the Rio Grande.

Crossing the Line

The facts of this case are quite simple. Two Border Patrol agents shot at an unarmed man as he was running away from them. And then, they covered it up.

Chamber Made

El Paso’s Chamber Music Festival, Hallettsville’s domino championship.

Behind the Lines: Podcast

Paul Burka reads “Fed Up.”

Fed Up

An FBI investigation is only the latest of El Paso’s problems.

Third Grade Social Studies

They may only be kids in third grade, but you’re looking at the future of Texas.

Diana Natalicio

Diana Natalicio on the future of higher ed in El Paso.

New and Noteworthy

Café Central, El Paso and Sagra, Austin

The Class of 2017

The future according to third-graders.

Tomorrow Never Dies

The perils of prediction.

Badges of Dishonor

Two Border Patrol agents are sent to prison while the dope smuggler they pursued and wounded is granted immunity by federal prosecutors and goes free. A miscarriage of justice? Not so fast.

Custom Boots

How to design custom cowboy boots.

Carrillo’s Crossing

In the bloddy billion-dollor business of drug trafficking, Amado Carrillo Fuentes is king. He is the elusive ringleader of a smuggling operation that police on both sides of the border are powerless to stop.

The Good Old Boy

After four decades of writing classic Texas novels, there’s no denying that San Angelo’s Elmer Kelton has earned his Spurs.

Texas Twenty: Dagoberto Gilb

Macho fiction.

Games of Chance

Bummers

Around the State

Pasó por Aquí

José Cisneros, the legendary illustrator of the Spanish Southwest, is 96, almost blind, and nearly deaf. And, of course, he has no plans to put down his pen.

He Walks The Line

Silvestre Reyes has a plan for the border.

F. Murray Abraham

CD and Book Reviews

The Doctor Is In

For El Paso physician Abraham Verghese, writing about life and death in the age of AIDS is a prescription for literary success.

Debbie Reynolds

Who gave Debbie Reynolds her name, and what did she have to learn to do before starring in Singin’ in the Rain?

Dumped On

It’s almost certain that Hudspeth County will soon be the site of a nuclear-waste dump—but officials in neighboring Presidio County think they’re the ones getting dumped on.

Victor Alfaro

CD and Book Reviews

West Seller

An El Paso novelist makes history.

Shooting on the Border

Why John Sayles’s Lone Star takes its improbable place in the pantheon of great Texas movies.

Mesilla Real Soon

The time is ripe, and so are the chiles: This tiny, homey town in New Mexico is the ideal spot for a fall weekend getaway.

Theater • Lou Diamond Phillips

It’s good to be King.

Art • Harriet and Harmon Kelley

Collecting their culture.

Ring Class

A knockout boxing program in West Texas.

Social Climbers

This month, a ragtag group of wanderers will descend on Hueco Tanks state park in West Texas, where they’ll spend their nights hanging out and their days hanging on to the most challenging boulders around.

Sam Donaldson

Dual in the Sun

What do the sculptures of Jim Magee and the paintings of Annabel Livermore have in common? Nothing—except that they were created by the same person.

Statues of Limitations

Which version of history should be promoted by El Paso’s new statue series: the Wild West or the mild West?

We Are the World

Want to see Kuwait, Iowa, and Washington, D.C.? Go to El Paso, Austin, and Houston.

Desperately Seeking Cormac

Cormac McCarthy’s birth date and birthplace are just two of the facts about him that have eluded his rabid fans—until now. A dossier on the most fiercely private writer in Texas.

Lee Trevino

Which soft drink’s quart-size bottle did Lee trevino use as a golf club?

EDUCATION • Diana Natalicio

Diversity U.

Sandra Day O’Connor

Why did Sandra Day O’Connor once say, “I come to you tonight wearing my bra”?

The Blood of the Tigua

Factions of the West Texas tribe are feuding, and while the problem is supposedly one of genealogy–who is and is not a member– you can bet that casino gambling has something to do with it too.

Blues Brothers

Long John Hunter and his guitar-slinging friends sharpened their axes in and around Port Arthur, so their recent return was truly a homecoming.

School Spirit

Even in death, the former principal of El Paso’s Cathedral High is larger than life.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Next Cormac McCarthy

Meet El Paso novelist James Carlos Blake, who writes critically acclaimed literary westerns with lots of violence but few female characters. Sound familiar?

Score!

One of college basketball’s great coaches finally gets his due.

Elisa Jimenez

The Ex Files

Dogfight

Texas at war with the United States Air Force.

And Justice for Some

How the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals mistakes toughness for fairness—and gives the state a black eye.

Numbers Game

Inside the election's numbers.