News
 
Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Taco Palenque Dared to Bring Tex-Mex Tacos South of the Border. Does It Stand a Chance?When Andrea Lozano, a 31-year-old Mexican food blogger, found out Taco Palenque had arrived in Monterrey, Mexico, she knew she wanted to review it. Taco Palenque tasted of her childhood. It was her family’s go-to restaurant during annual shopping pilgrimages to Laredo. The Monterrey location was almost empty that Friday night in late August 2023, likely due to the many street repairs in the area, but that didn’t deter Lozano. She got two fajita tacos, one chicken and one beef, and a flour quesadilla with chorizo. Something was missing that had nothing to do with the fact that one of the tortillas was cold and the beef was slightly charred. “I didn’t feel the magic,” she said.  Taco Palenque opened its first Monterrey location in April…

The post Taco Palenque Dared to Bring Tex-Mex Tacos South of the Border. Does It Stand a Chance? appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Was Matthew McConaughey Really Bleeding at Zach Bryan’s Austin Gig?The perfect American bar needs pool tables, sticky counters, moody lighting, and loud locals. Country artist Zach Bryan knows this well, often posting images of scenes from such joints on his Instagram stories—and earlier this week, he came to Austin in search of more of the same.Bryan is from Oklahoma, but it’s no secret he has a thing for Austin. He even wrote a song for the city, “From Austin,” on his third studio album. Tuesday, after Bryan posted a quick tweet-and-delete announcement about an impromptu show at local dive bar Sagebrush that night and offering free entry to the first hundred people to show up, Austin fans did not disappoint. The line, which one attendee told me was about 1,500 people long, began at…

The post Was Matthew McConaughey Really Bleeding at Zach Bryan’s Austin Gig? appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Last-Minute Freeze Tips for Protecting Plants, Pets, and PipesWhile Texans might have previously enjoyed the novelty of a dip in temperatures, the past few winters have understandably left folks feeling a little skittish. In February 2021, we struggled through an extended deadly freeze and grid failure that left 11 million Texans without power for days. Two years later, another ice storm (albeit milder and more localized to Central Texas) again plunged tens of thousands into the cold and dark for days on end, with many feeling that they were on their own.Looking ahead to the arctic blast forecast for early next week, familiar harbingers of extreme Texas weather have surfaced: ERCOT began to trend on X (formerly Twitter), Texans shared photos of their stockpiles and garden-coverage setups, and national news outlets turned their…

The post You Can Prep Your Plants, Pets, and Pipes for a Texas Freeze. But What About Your Peace of Mind? appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

San Antonio Should Stop Worrying and Learn to Accept Austin’s TacosMy Dear San Antonio,I have loved you from the moment I had my first tacos on your historic West Side. I regularly half-joke that Austin, in taco terms, is best thought of as a San Antonio suburb. So, as 2024 begins, I humbly suggest a New Year’s resolution for the Alamo City.It’s time you overcome your obsession with Austin’s tacos—or, more precisely, with the inordinate attention Austin’s tacos receive, especially from East Coast food writers and influencers who think of the capital city as the only hip place in the state, and know little about Dallas or Houston, much less San Antonio. It’s time to stop asking celebrities whether Austin’s tacos or San Antonio’s tacos are better. That’s an outdated framing of a tired topic,…

The post San Antonio Should Stop Worrying and Learn to Accept Austin’s Tacos appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Where to See the Hissing Texas Star Mushroom and Other Funky FungiYou have to look hard to find Chorioactis geaster, the official state mushroom of Texas. Also known as the devil’s cigar or the Texas star, the fungus hides under layers of leaves and plants. Its dark brown hue may blend in with the decaying cedar elm stumps on which it grows. You need “mushroom eyes” to spot it, says Angel Schatz, a leader with the Central Texas Mycological Society. That’s the phrase she uses to describe the keen attention and skill of fellow mycophiles, or mushroom enthusiasts, when they’re out on the hunt.However, you can quickly see this leathery, brown, star-shaped fungus all over the internet at the moment. That’s because cool, wet weather encourages the Texas star to fruit. Its strange appearance—plus the fact…

The post We Salute the Spore-Spewing, Star-Shaped Mushroom Hissing Across Texas appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Raphael Brion.The new restaurant editor for Food & Wine magazine is a Texan: Raphael Brion.The Austin-based food writer posted this notice on his Instagram account on January 5: “I got a new gig! Restaurant Editor at @foodandwine, where I’ll get to work on the annual and iconic Best New Chefs list. . . . I still get to live in Austin, but I’ll be hitting the road a ton in search of the best new chefs and restaurants in America.”Inclusion on the list of Best New Chefs that Brion will supervise is regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades in the restaurant community nationwide. Texans have frequently been part of it. The most recent roundup, representing ten restaurants and published last September, included Edgar Rico…

The post A Texan Has Been Named Restaurant Editor for Food & Wine Magazine appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Why Are Contestants Suing 'Love Is Blind'?When the fifth season of Love is Blind aired on Netflix last year, bloggers and Reddit commenters alike agreed that it was the worst of the show so far. Only two couples from the Houston-set season—in which Space City singles date “blindly” and get engaged before ever seeing each other in person—made it to the altar, and fans bemoaned the lack of chemistry between them. It was obvious that other couples had been completely cut out of the season (you could see them in the background of the footage from the Mexico trip, which is just for engaged couples). Vulture even declared that “The Love Is Blind Experiment Finally Broke.” What we didn’t realize is that the show may have been even worse behind the…

The post Why Are So Many ‘Love Is Blind’ Contestants Suing the Show? appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Texans You Should Know: Felix LongoriaA yellowed, faded, and crinkled telegram hangs behind glass on a wall at the National WWII Museum, in New Orleans. It is lasting evidence of a social and political revolution that raged in Texas in the years after World War II. Lyndon B. Johnson, then a U.S. senator, sent this message on January 11, 1949—75 years ago today—to Dr. Héctor P. García, a Mexican American civil rights activist in Corpus Christi. “I deeply regret to learn that the prejudice of some individuals extends even beyond this life,” Johnson wrote. He explained that he had arranged for the remains of Felix Zepeda Longoria, an Army private from the South Texas town of Three Rivers who had been killed in action three and a half years earlier,…

The post Felix Longoria Died a Hero in World War II. Then His Texas Hometown Refused to Host His Memorial. appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Pitmaster Zain ShafiIn the last six months, I’ve written glowing reviews of two barbecue joints whose pitmasters trained at Goldee’s Barbecue in Fort Worth. Chuck Charnichart of Barbs-B-Q in Lockhart and Amir Jalali of Redbird BBQ in Port Neches both worked the pits at the number one barbecue joint in Texas. Alongside them was Zain Shafi, who now completes a trio of promising new joints with the Sabar BBQ trailer in Fort Worth. It opened last November. Sabar means “patience” in Urdu. Shafi’s parents immigrated to Texas from Lahore, in the Punjab region of Pakistan, 42 years ago, 6 years before he was born. He honors that heritage with his blend of Pakistani cuisine and Texas barbecue. Shafi not only demonstrates patience in his smoked briskets, but…

The post This Pakistani-Texan BBQ Joint Impresses With Its Halal-ish Menu appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!

Gravatar

Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Houston Landing newsIn its mission statement, the nonprofit Houston Landing describes itself as an “independent, nonpartisan news organization devoted to public service journalism,” one that “offer[s] solutions to pressing problems” and “holds the powerful accountable.” Its stories are free to read, and its website runs no ads or clickbait. Its vision of an independent, well-funded outlet built on rigorous investigative reporting attracted some of the city’s brightest journalism stars after its soft launch two years ago with financial backing from the philanthropic American Journalism Project and Houston billionaires John Arnold and Richard Kinder.Among its first hires were Houston Chronicle investigations editor Mizanur Rahman, who became the Landing’s editor in chief (and helped write the mission statement), and the Chronicle’s Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Alex Stuckey, who became the…

The post A Hard Landing for a Houston News Nonprofit appeared first on Texas Monthly.

Thank you for reading!