Videos by Wide Open Country
One Texas man has created a humorous taco map that shows the "harsh realities" of Tacos in each region of the Lone Star State. It's no secret that hunting down the best tacos around is a Texas past time, but John D. Garcia really took the hunt to the next level with his infographic. Who needs Google when you can just refer to this new map?
"Extensive research was put into this," Garcia, the map's creator, wrote on Facebook in his post with the graphic.
Garcia has marked an "ancho chile boundary" dividing up West Texas with the rest of the state. It seems the panhandle is dubbed the "you're screwed" zone which means they must have pretty sub par Mexican food. The southern part of the panhandle is described as "sorry ass breakfast burritos GTFO." Seems he had a bad experience there? Or maybe their tacos can only be found at fast food restaurants like Taco Bell?
The Big Bend area of West Texas is described as "Way Too Mexican (corn tortillas)." Now this seems to be personal opinion. Traditional Mexican restaurants do tend to gravitate towards corn tortillas versus flour that is seen more at Tex-Mex eatery. But some people prefer corn tortillas with their tacos, especially if it's something savory like carnitas or al pastor. If you're into this version of taco, you'll find plenty in Los Angeles and around California, which don't really don't offer any "Tex-Mex."
The rest of the state enters "Jalapeno Territory." Based on some of the sections made by Garcia, you can put two and two together based on what cities are located there. The "$23.95 Taco Dinner" is in North Texas up by Dallas. Doesn't really come as a surprise there. "Expensive Little Tortillas" looks like it's most likely Austin. Where sure, you might be paying for a pricey tiny taco at a little hole in the wall taqueria or taco truck, but they are known as some of the best in the state for a reason.
Down south to San Antonio Garcia finally gets a little positive by dubbing this area "Legendary Breakfast Tacos and real tortillas" and along the border, "Home of Pastor." Considering how close this is to Mexico, not going to argue with this opinion.
Over by Houston along the coast, Garcia has labeled as "Chile Relleno and nothing else." Now this doesn't seem right. You're right by the ocean! Are you telling me there are no good fish tacos in this area? Or enchiladas? Not sure I buy this one, but hey, Garcia put in the research.
So what do you think about this map? It doesn't really give too much guidance on where to find crispy vs soft tacos or a taco stand vs a sit down restaurant. But you can use the map legend to guide you to some of the best areas in the state for your taco needs.
This post was originally published in 2015.
