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Houston only earns 5 entries on Texas Monthly's top 50 tacos list

Azteca Taco House ranked No. 3 on the list.

Azteca Taco House/Facebook

Football may be the state's obsession, but arguing about food is a close second. When an authoritative list like Texas Monthly's 50 Best Tacos in Texas is released, plenty of armchair quarterbacks argue over what taco editor José Ralat got right — and wrong.

Although Ralat has served in his post since 2019, the October 21 rankings were his first definitive overview of Texas' best tacos. By his own account, the editor traveled 14,000 miles, tasting tacos at more than 400 restaurants from Amarillo to Brownsville.

Houstonians might be disappointed to see only five entries in the top 50, but the city did merit two in the top 10. Ralat also named three Houston restaurants to his list of honorable mentions.

Carlos Gallegos of Azteca Taco House secured the No. 3 slot with his costillas en salsa verde, described by Ralat as "chopped, bone-in pork ribs stewed in a tart green salsa." He recommends chewing carefully to avoid biting into the bones. Chefs Stephanie Velasquez and Nicolas Vera of downtown's Papalo Taqueria ranked No. 7 for their zanahoria, which features confit carrots topped with salsa and pepitas that's served on a nixtamalized corn tortilla.

Papalo Taqueria zanahoria The zanahoria taco is made with confit carrots. Papalo Taqueria/Facebook

In all, Houston secured five of the slots on the introductory survey. Though tradition factored into Ralat's reasoning, he also considered unconventional tacos, assessing the overall taste and the tortilla. Besides Azteca and Papalo, the local winners range from one of Houston's most iconic restaurants to newer upstarts.

Cochinta & Co.: Vegan Tinga
The Original Ninfa's on Navigation: Tacos al Carbon
Tres Chiles: Barbacoa de Borrego

Three more Houston restaurants earned honorable mentions:

Henderson & Kane General Store: Green chorizo
Tacos Frontera: Tijuana-style carne asada
Villa Arcos: Super Bacon

Elsewhere in Texas, San Antonio topped the list with an impressive 10 entries, topped by No. 8 — the Big Red and barbacoa taco flight at Stixs & Stone. Austin boasted eight, led by No. 10 contender Nixta Taqueria. Dallas tied Houston with five entries, led by Revolver Taco Lounge at No. 4. The top spot, however, went to Ana Liz Taqueria in Mission. Led by Ana Liz Pulido, the winner of the James Beard Awards' Best Chef: Texas nod for 2024, the taqueria scored high marks for its deconstructed chile relleno taco.

The full list is available at texasmonthly.com.

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What's Eric Eating Episodes 516 and 517

Food experts draft the best dishes at Vietnamese restaurants in Houston

Moon Rabbit/Facebook

Two panelists selected dishes from Moon Rabbit in the Heights.

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” CultureMap editor Eric Sandler recruited five of his friends and colleagues to select their favorite dishes at Vietnamese restaurants in Houston via a fantasy football-style draft.

The panelists — Stevie Vu of the Chowdown in Chinatown Facebook group and Asia Society, Texas; Chelsea Thomas of Local Foods Group; Heights Grocer and Montrose Grocer owner Mary Clarkson; Have A Nice Day AAPI pop-up market co-founder Isabel Protomartir; Houston BBQ Festival co-founder Michael Fulmer — joined Sandler to draft Vietnamese dishes and restaurants in six categories. They are:

Appetizer/Salad
Entree
Sandwich
Soup
Viet-Cajun
Wildcard

In the first round, Vu kicked things off by selecting the sandwiches from Chinatown institution Nguyen Ngo. Thomas followed with the duck salad at Thien An. Clarkson took the mango-papaya salad from Old Saigon Cafe, and Sandler scored the Beef 7 Ways at Chinatown favorite Saigon Pagolac. Protomartir took the Duck House’s crispy egg rolls, and Fulmer closed round one with the beef rolls at Nam Giao, which holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide.

Sandler shared the full results on Instagram.

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A post shared by Eric Sandler (@ericsandler)

As he noted, the draft results include some of Houston’s most prominent Vietnamese restaurant as well as a few under-the-radar choices that will give listeners some new options to try. Listen to the full episode on any podcast platform to hear the panelists explain the choices and recommend a few places that they could have drafted instead.

In this week’s second episode, chef Christine Ha and her husband John Suh join Sandler to review the results and pick a winner. Since no one selected their restaurant The Blind Goat, each drafter is on an equal footing.

Listen to the full episode to hear who won. Ha and Suh also share thoughts on their favorite selections by each panelist. They also catch us up on the latest happenings at both The Blind Goat and Stuffed Belly, their sandwich shop, including the recent addition of a gumbo pot pie to The Blind Goat’s menu.

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