From El Paso’s ingenious taco trays to Austin’s uplifting breakfast tacos, each Texas city celebrates this noble creation in its own way.
Alison Cook
Articles by Alison Cook
Jan 20, 2013 — By Alison Cook
Even your mother can’t top Rex Hale’s light-as-a-cloud shortcake.

Feb 1, 1989 — By Alison Cook
Looking forward to Jerry Jeff Walker’s second Luckenbach, looking into a new way to settle feuds, and looking back over the career of Texas’ most prolific unknown author.
Jan 1, 1989 — By Alison Cook
An East Texas librarian learns the perils of shushing the wrong guy; Houston and Dallas put on the ritz for couture; and Citizen Butt picks the Texas Supreme Court.
Dec 1, 1988 — By Alison Cook
San Antonio media indulge in self-flagellation over Henry; Dallas goes gaga over Tom Cruise; Hoston thrills to a Pearl of a blues singer.
Nov 1, 1988 — By Alison Cook
Hieromania, the burning curiosity of glyphies; Post time in the race for Houston’s new gossip columnist; an unlikely car and an unlikelier trailer; the parking garage from hell.
Sep 30, 1988 — By Alison Cook
Corpus Christi learns to grow through adversity; Houston gives Percy Foreman a rousing send-off; Austin ponders the mystery of the misappearing shoes.
Sep 30, 1988 — By Alison Cook
Thanks to adventurous chef Michel Bernard Platz, the flowers at Dallas’ L’Entrecôte are as likely to be on the menu as in a vase.
Jul 31, 1988 — By Alison Cook
The case of the purloined painting; how to tell the Surf Club from the Yacht Club; cream of the ice-cream crop; people who live in pink houses.
May 31, 1988 — By Alison Cook
The bash of the century in Austin; new heights for an Alamo author; slouching toward Jerusalem, Texas; plus designer tomatoes, East Texas ingenuity, and Amazing Car #8.

Apr 30, 1988 — By Alison Cook
The prairie chickens in Texas’ vanishing grasslands are booming and boyish.
Apr 1, 1988 — By Alison Cook
Downtown San Antonio get a makeover; two for T-shirts; a spine-tingling story of a racehorse; the real winners at the Miss U.S.A. pageant; the Brownies go to marketing.
Mar 1, 1988 — By Alison Cook
Grazing cheap and chic in Houston, Austin, and Dallas; tire-kicking at the Fizzlick liquidation boutique; returning a piece of Janis’ heart to Port Arthur.
Feb 1, 1988 — By Alison Cook
The Mansion chef’s most redolent recipe came from Sunday suppers at his grandmother’s house.
Feb 1, 1988 — By Jim Atkinson, Al Reinert, Liz Carpenter and Alison Cook
Time-honored Texas rituals by Paul Burka,
Jan 1, 1988 — By Alison Cook
Down but not out in Bent Tree; dishes only the devil could love; hello, Wal-Mart; stupid napkin tricks; gossip boys and Gorilla girls.
Dec 1, 1987 — By Alison Cook
A black and gamy Monday; Wick Allison as low-profile Buckley; heartthrobs Quaid and Swayze; fine food for feedlots; Augie’s Gringo Lingo.
Sep 30, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Cities in search of salvation; the new White House (as in Mark); the art of double-Daryled potshots; chile time in El Paso; chile relleno time in Houston.
Sep 30, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Where there’s smoke, there’s chef Robert McGrath’s smokebox that works wonders on Southwestern dishes.
Aug 31, 1987 — By Alison Cook
On the cutting edge with Ollie North; Donna Rice on the cutting room floor; cutting corners to find good Vietnamese restaurants; and the gig ‘em gourmet cookbook, the Aggies’ unkindest cut of all.
Jul 31, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Meet Bruce Auden of San Antonio, the fairest of the Fairmount.
Jul 31, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Maybe as much as $20,000, if Lee Ballard of Dallas has anything to do with it.
Jul 31, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Let’s play pretend by swapping out Houstonians for Dallasites. Plus: Battling books, good Mex-Mex where you’d least expect it, and our guide to the latest legislative phrases (use ‘em three times and they’re yours!)
Jun 30, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Not much happened at the Legislature, but that doesn’t mean they left no traces. Plus: Houston’s I’m OK, We’re OK Wortham bash, unlikely Texas TV stars, and Frank Lorenzo’s flight to cushier climes.
May 31, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Texas oil patchers bounce back; Houston artist Staley paints the art crowd; goat-gland genius Brinkley’s mansion casts its quirky spell. Plus: Caroline Schoellkopf’s marital woes, Tammy Faye Bakker’s impersonators, and Nancy Negley Wellin’s prodigal daughter.
Apr 30, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Houston ignores its AIDS crisis, Dallas restaurant gossips chew over hard times, San Antonio headline writers get their due. Plus: Chuck Robb’s blooper, Larry McMurtry’s sniffles, and Shearn Moody’s new taste in nightlife.
Apr 1, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Marty Wender can’t do anything wrong—and San Antonio loves him for it. Joe Russo can’t do anything right—and Houston loves him for it. Plus: pop paraphernalia, naming Henry’s baby, Poppin’ Pigskins, and Who Killed Mark White?
Mar 1, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Sneak a glance at our inaugural notebook to find out why Clements’ speech didn’t fly, which city had the most imperial ball, and who triumphed in the guv’s snub. Plus: Mad Maxian Car #3, space tombs in the sky, and ZZ Top’s song scuffle.
Feb 1, 1987 — By Alison Cook
The City That Works isn’t working like it used to. Plus Amazing Cars of Texas #2, revolutionary folk art, and Topic A—what everybody can’t stop talking about.
Jan 1, 1987 — By Alison Cook
Admit it. The first courses always seem more interesting than the entrées. Why not make a meal of them?
Aug 31, 1986 — By Alison Cook
Mix election time, South Texas, and barbeque, and you get the pachanga circuit, where politics and barbeque are served with equal reverence.
Jun 30, 1986 — By Alison Cook
Proprietors of some of Texas’ priciest restaurants are spinning off more-economical eateries that are giving the originals a run for their money.
Apr 1, 1986 — By Alison Cook
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.
Feb 1, 1986 — By Alison Cook
A splendid state park; snacks you shouldn’t feed to a dog; a wild and crazy Republican.
Dec 1, 1985 — By Alison Cook
Robert Sakowitz set out to be a retail Renaissance man. Like his hero Leonardo da Vinci, he was going to do everything. And he did—including something he never imagined: fail.
Aug 31, 1985 — By Alison Cook
Hot, hot, hot! Here’s why grills have become the trendiest of the trendy restaurants in Texas.

Jun 30, 1985 — By Paul Burka and Alison Cook
We just rate them. You voted for them.
May 31, 1985 — By Alison Cook
By her dedication, her rigor, her almost overwhelming enthusiasm, Diana Kennedy forced a generation of cooks to take Mexican food seriously and jolted Texans into realizing that there is life beyond the combination dinner.
Apr 30, 1985 — By Alison Cook
Like the killer bees, Montezuma's revenge is moving north.
Apr 1, 1985 — By Alison Cook
Can there be too much of a good thing? Five of Texas’ favorite restaurants have duplicated themselves in other cities, and now they’re finding out.
Jan 1, 1985 — By Alison Cook
Law and order in Colorado City; winning and losing with the Dallas Diamonds; bargains and hassles on People Express; broiling and sweating in pursuit of mesquite chic.
Dec 1, 1984 — By Peter Elkind and Alison Cook
Tales of Houston as it faces life after the boom.

Nov 1, 1984 — By Alison Cook
When Houston’s rich and powerful join forces with environmentalists to battle big corporations, they can be fighting over only one thing. Garbarge.

May 31, 1984 — By Alison Cook
Up for sale in Dallas, the Shanbaum house boasts a whopping 28,000 square feet and what may be Texas’ most comprehensive collection of sixties and seventies kitsch—along with a $2.75 million price tag.
Apr 30, 1984 — By Alison Cook
A nuclear quandary in West Texas; the fine art of political feuding in San Antonio; the redfish ranching business in Monahans; the education of a power broker in training in Houston.
Apr 30, 1984 — By Alison Cook
Bearing Gallic sophistication and outrageously delicious desserts, the Lenotre family has taken Dallas and Houston by storm.
Mar 1, 1984 — By Alison Cook
In which a group of society ladies samples the thrills and chills of an essentially masculine pastime.

Dec 1, 1983 — By Alison Cook
Fie on the cilantro fad, greaseless barbecue, and indiscriminate mesquite-grilling. Let’s hear it for Frito pie, catfish plates, and other gems of Texas’ true cuisine

Jun 30, 1983 — By Paul Burka, Kaye Northcott and Alison Cook
We just rate them. You voted for them.
Food & Drink Newsletter
Trending
- Matthew McConaughey and Beyoncé Did More for Texas Than Ted Cruz
- The Texas Blackout Is the Story of a Disaster Foretold
- They Accused a Man of Sexual Assault in a Small West Texas Town. That Was Only the Beginning.
- 13 Curses to Mutter Against Ted Cruz While You Boil Snow to Drink
- He Rioted at the Capitol. Then for Weeks He Lived in Luxury While Hiding From the FBI.