I love taking visitors to Houston restaurants, showing off with a feast at Feast, dazzling guests at RDG + Bar Annie, sipping Evan Turner’s cocktails with some duck fat popcorn at Branch Water Tavern. As a food writer people expect me to know the best places to eat. So when some old high school pals breezed into town last week and asked me to pick the lunch spot you’d think I’d have a hard time deciding on just one place to dine out of so many, many great eateries.

But you’d be wrong.

The thing is, despite all the wonderful dining choices here in Houston, when expat Texans come home for a visit there’s pretty much only one cuisine of choice and that’s Tex-Mex.

“We’re going to La Mexicana,” I declared.

“Great,” said my friend from North Carolina. “I miss Tex-Mex, we can’t get it here.”

So it was margaritas, plates of enchiladas ladled with gravy, crunchy and soft tacos and mole poblano. Most of which I barely tasted because we started off with too many crispy tortilla chips and a big bowl of chili con queso and by the time that was done I was full. What can I say? I love the creamy cheese dip. It is my weakness.

Confronted by a bowl of liquid cheese my will power melts away. Another basket of chips? Why yes, thank you.

What is it about melted cheese that is just so appealing? I really can’t say. It’s comfort food, it’s our national dish of Texas, it’s a perfect snack food, party dip or appetizer. I like to keep a jar of Silverstar’s Chipotle Queso in the fridge and I even like Velveeta and Ro-Tel microwaved in a bowl. Clearly I’m not picky about my cheese fix. But there are some special quesos I crave.

The dip at Berryhill is a good stand by cheese although I find the chips a bit thin for my liking. I think the queso at Ruby Tequila’s Mexican Kitchen is pretty good, but that may just be the Dos Rita’s talking. Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen does it right, simmering big pots of gooey cheese blended with chilies and spices on the kitchen stove all day. Here is a queso that you don’t mess with when it comes to the table but there are others that need a bit of tweaking with a spoonful or two of pico added, or some fresh jalapeños. The waiters at Maria Selma always add the sliced peppers to my dip when they see me coming. And then there’s the whole issue of taco meat.

Some purists dish the meat, but frankly I like it. And no one does it better than Molina’s Cantina, home of the original Jose’s Dip, so called for a long-ago waiter who dumped some spicy taco meat into the queso. Still, picking a favorite would be like picking a favorite child. Sure, you could do it, but why risk it?

Don’t alienate the children or the cheese.

I see a queso crawl in my future, going from Tex-Mex eatery to Tex-Mex eatery comparing chips and cheese dip. And that’s because I have more expats headed to Houston. My dad is coming from Florida and my sister, who lives in the Middle East, are headed my way. Sure, I want to wow them with Houston’s culinary abundance: Steaks, burgers, and ethnic cuisine. But when I ask my sister about her food preferences it’s always the same.

“I can eat Tex-Mex three times a day,” she says. “We can’t get decent Tex-Mex in Pakistan.”