April 2015

Mar 13, 2015 — By Jordan Breal

Feeling jittery? Stressed out? Let these wellness retreats remind you of the true meaning of R&R.

Mar 18, 2015 — By Erica Grieder

How a few gun rights activists hijacked the political debate over open carry.

Mar 22, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Patricia Sharpe

Texans LOVE their tacos. Versatile, portable, and quick to wolf down, tacos are made with either corn or flour tortillas. In their different styles, you can trace more than half a century of Texas’s Mexican-food history.

Mar 22, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Courtney Bond

The art of cooking it just right.

Mar 22, 2015 — By Shannon Stahl

All hail these golden spheres of goodness.

Mar 22, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and The Texanist

True Texans stock up with more than Topo Chico and Big Red.

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Jordan Breal

Born and bred in Houston, the 33-year-old tour de force is the world’s greatest performer—and arguably its most famous Texan.

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Brian D. Sweany

An ode to the national sport of Texas. 

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Mimi Swartz

The story of Texas can be reduced to one sentence: somebody has something somebody else wants and will put up a fight to get. In the beginning, these fights were over land. The Spanish explorers came here in the 1500’s; ignoring native peoples, they claimed a vast region that…

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Skip Hollandsworth

When I was a teenager growing up in Wichita Falls, which is regularly hailed as one of the hottest cities in the state (and sometimes the country), I spent my summers smelling like roadkill. The moment I stepped outside my house, sweat began sliding like syrup down my back.

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Paul Knight

I promise driving a truck won’t help you create any ties to your new state’s rural roots, but spending one day on a city street, sharing it with trucks like mine, may help you understand that practicality doesn’t have much to do with being a Texan at all. 

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Pamela Colloff

The fastest road in America does not cross the Mojave Desert or the big sky country of Montana. Instead, it cuts through an unexceptional stretch of farmland southeast of Austin, where the posted speed limit on Texas Highway 130 jumps to 85 miles per hour. The so-called Texas Autobahn…

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Michael Hall

Head west on FM 170 through an astounding wilderness of shallow canyons, ancient riverbeds, and craggy limestone hills.

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Nicki Longoria

Having grown up on the South Side of San Antonio, I know that the Spurs aren’t just a team, they’re a way of life. To show my support, I did what any fan would do: make like Bashō and pen five haikus, one for every NBA title. 

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Dave Hickey

It rhymes with “sexist” and “Lexus.”

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Brian D. Sweany

A guide to three great Texas museums. 

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and John Spong

To gain pop culture literacy, you could spend a long weekend taking in works produced for the big screen (Giant, Dazed and Confused) and the small box (Lonesome Dove, Friday Night Lights). But the quicker route would be an afternoon surfing YouTube. Search for the terms below, but don’t blame us if you end up falling down a Van Cliburn rabbit hole.

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Brian D. Sweany

A word about these four destinations: most native Texans visited them on their elementary school field trips. They are essential, so if you haven’t seen them yet, you’d better get cracking. Just remember, this is only the start.

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Patricia Sharpe

One thing is for sure—a Texan knows what’s for dinner and where to get it. But if you’re new to the state, check out these iconic restaurants.   

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Michael Hall

Oh, the endless arguments about Texas music. But don’t feel the need to master it—no one really can. Instead, here are ten songs to help you hold your own at almost any party. 

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Jeff Salamon

If you’re new to the state, there’s a good chance that you snickeringly regard the phrase “Texas literature” as a contradiction in terms. Well, wise up, wise guy: Texans have been writing memorable books about their state for a long time. So if you have some questions about the city you’ve settled in, you’ve got a lot of options.

Mar 23, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Lauren Smith Ford. Photographs by LeAnn Mueller

But they did get to Texas as fast as they could (which is to say, within the past five years). Meet eighteen recent transplants to the state’s three fastest-growing cities.

Mar 25, 2015 — By Texas Monthly

You can spend your whole life trying, but this will do in a pinch.

Mar 25, 2015 — By Texas Monthly and Brian D. Sweany

Few things make Texans happier than a full tank of gas and an open highway. You’ve got a lot of ground to cover, but I propose you start with these four trips, each originating at Brady, the geographic center of Texas. You’ll be saying “y’all” and offering the hi sign in no time.

Mar 25, 2015 — By Texas Monthly

Every day more than a thousand people move to the Lone Star State. Lucky enough to be a new arrival? This crash course will get you thinking, eating, and talking like a native in no time. (Lucky enough to already be a native? You’ll be reminded of all the reasons to gloat.)

Sep 9, 2016 — By Katy Vine

They were some of the toughest narcs on the border, known for busting smugglers, staging raids, seizing cartel cocaine—and being dirty.

Mar 13, 2015 — By Courtney Bond

Out of the mud and into Houston’s melting pot. 

Mar 18, 2015 — By Robyn Ross

Tree houses—they’re not just for kids anymore.

Mar 18, 2015 — By Patricia Sharpe

What happens when veterans of two of Austin’s finest Mexican and Thai restaurants try their hand at Mediterranean cuisine? Very delicious things.

Mar 18, 2015 — By David Alan

From Proof + Pantry, Dallas.

Mar 18, 2015 — By Lauren Smith Ford

A novice Austin jewelry maker catches Anthropologie’s eye.  

Mar 13, 2015 — By David Courtney

Our estimable advice columnist on pathological liars, missing knives, the difference between a Texan and a New Yorker turned Floridian turned Montanan, and why tequila is not—hic!—a vegetable.

Mar 18, 2015 — By Loren Steffy

In an era of drought, tight finances, and a shrinking water park market, how does Schlitterbahn keep getting bigger?

Mar 18, 2015 — By Lonn Taylor

A keepsake taken from a fallen warrior’s body 135 years ago hasn’t lost its power. 

Mar 18, 2015 — By Sergio Troncoso

Returning to El Paso and finding that you can’t go home again. Or maybe you can.

Mar 18, 2015 — By Andy Langer

Roll over, Jake Owen, and tell Brett Eldredge the news: Maddie & Tae are fed up with Nashville’s “bro country” formula.

Mar 23, 2015 — By Paul Burka

Paul Burka bids farewell to Texas Monthly—and wonders what happened to the Texas he once knew. 

Mar 13, 2015 — By annette waller

Readers respond to the March 2015 Issue.

Mar 18, 2015 — By Brian D. Sweany

The unrivaled legacy of Paul Burka.

Mar 13, 2015 — By Kelsey Davis

In Houston, a pair of activists discover that the same environmental battles get fought over and over.

Mar 13, 2015 — By Jason Cohen

iZombie rises from the dead.

Mar 13, 2015 — By Rich Malley

A headline in the February 19 edition of the Waller County Times Tribune announced, “Hitch up your bitches and jingle those spurs, its trail ride season.”  …

Mar 13, 2015 — By Julia Suits

“Pistol carrying is now so prevalent here as to be a first-class nuisance. The young men, white and black, hardly consider themselves in party attire unless they have on a pistol.”—Brenham Weekly Banner, May 27, 1886…

Mar 13, 2015 — By Katie Nodjimbadem

Mail-order tacos.  

Mar 13, 2015 — By Jeff Salamon

What to hear, read, and watch this month to achieve maximum Texas cultural literacy.

Mar 13, 2015 — By Brian D. Sweany

James Baker says politics has changed since his White House days. For the worse.

Mar 13, 2015 — By Jeff Winkler

Some crazy stuff went down last month. Here are a handful of headlines you may have missed.