Will any Mexican restaurants make it to the next round of the James Beard Awards? Will Las Almas Rotas mezcaleria make it to the short list for the Outstanding Bar Program? Find out Monday, May 4, when the James Beard Foundation announces its 2020 finalists.
Texas Monthly contributor and Texpat Marcelena Campos Mayhorn reminisces about her grandmother’s carnita con papas stew and shares the recipe.
Though Dallas’s Taco Libre festival has been postponed until November 7, producers didn’t let the festival’s original date of April 25 pass unrecognized. They enlisted a small group of longtime core participants who dropped into Taco Libre’s Facebook page for live segments kicked off by local luchador Aski the Mayan Warrior. Other videos included cooking demos for carne asada and trompo, a guest appearance by me and my son, and a musical number from Taco Libre favorite and Selena cover band Bidi Bidi Banda.
SA Flavor’s Garrett Heath hasn’t let the postponement of Fiesta stop him from keeping the spirit of the River City’s festival alive. Heath has continued to design creative Fiesta medals, including one that proclaims, “San Antonio: The Tacos Are Better Here.” $5 of each medal sale goes to the San Antonio Food Bank. Heath also created a matching T-shirt; if you buy one, the food bank will get $10.
Ricky Ortiz and Carter Ray, owners of Holy Smoke BBQ & Taquitos and Wiatrek’s Meat Market, respectively, will give away 10,000 free tacos on Cinco de Mayo. The tacos will be available at Paper Tiger on St. Mary’s Street in San Antonio.
Jose Cuervo tequila might refund you the cost of your tacos. For a chance at free taco takeout, all you need to do is tweet your receipt to @JoseCuervo and include the hashtags #CincotoGo and #CuervoContest. The contest runs through Tuesday, May 5.
San Antonio’s Carnitas Lonja, which shuttered for a time during the COVID-19 pandemic, has reopened on Saturday and Sundays only.
Even though the state of the 2020 Major League Baseball season remains in limbo, you can still eat like you’re at the ballpark. Parade shares the Houston Astros’ recipe for loaded taco fries.
The El Arroyo sign in Austin gets serious about restaurants and the coronavirus:
Legendary Chicago tortilleria El Milagro temporarily closed its factory for deep cleaning after a worker died from COVID-19. This comes on the heels of a tortilla shortage in the Windy City last month. According to the tortilla maker, two workers have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and four others have symptoms. El Milagro’s Austin location remains open.
The first U.S. military service member to contract COVID-19 reportedly said his first post-coronavirus meal would be shrimp tacos.
Though Brisket Country apparel, which our barbecue editor profiled this month, is heavy on barbecue, Mexican food is represented, too.
Socksmith, a funky sock company, wants you to step fashionably into Cinco de Mayo.
Martin House Brewing, known for its creative brews, including Best Maid Sour Pickle beer, has released four-packs of canned Salty Lady Michelada, a 5.2 percent ABV sour ale made with Tajín seasoning, lime, and Clamato juice. It’s nicknamed the “meech” and arrives just in time for Cinco de Mayo.
Four Corners Brewing Company wants you to support your local taco spot. It’s #SocialTacoing program encourages people to patronize taco joints on its online map, post images to Instagram, tag the photos with the aforementioned hashtag, and get the chance to win sweet craft cerveza swag.
Houston Chronicle restaurant critic Alison Cook reflects on her own taco evolution after reading Texas Monthly taco editor’s new book, American Tacos: A History and Guide.
Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Patricia Escárcega interviews our taco editor about his new book, noting Mexican food always wins.
The Culver City Observer reports on how to make Taco Tuesday great again for the sake of health care workers: through a Go Fund Me page.
Despite COVID-19 restrictions, L.A. Taco brings back its Taco Madness bracket. Voting is open for Round Two.
#TacoTwitter sparked a conversation about the Norwegian tradition of Taco Fridays.
Fiesta Restaurant Group, Taco Cabana’s parent company, will return the $15 million it received from the Paycheck Protection Program stimulus package meant to help smaller businesses, reports the Dallas Morning News.
Tacos Mariachi owner Jesús Carmona posted Monday that his Dallas Greenville Avenue location was being deep-cleaned as he awaited the governor’s guideline on reopening restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Slipknot singer Corey Taylor and his wife Alicia Taylor are planning to roll out a food truck serving plant-based tacos as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. “This was a way for us to combine [our love of food] with a healthier [lifestyle],” the frontman of the masked heavy-metal band said in an interview.
Corn and flour tortillas, move over. It’s time to make room for packaged cauliflower tortillas.
Will mole de pollo became a rarity? Poultry producer Tyson Foods chairman says the food supply chain is close to snapping.
And, finally, Texas governor Greg Abbott announced Monday that restaurants can reopen at 25 percent capacity, beginning Friday, May 1. “We would love to open, definitely, right now if it would be possible, but it has to be feasible. If it’s 25 percent (capacity), it’s impossible,” Iliana De la Vega, chef and owner of El Naranjo in South Austin, told the Austin American-Statesman.
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