Central Texas has always been barbecue country. But, as much as we love some burnt ends and the snap of a good “hot guts” sausage, it’s not an everyday indulgence. The slow-moving lines, the heavy sides, and slabs of brisket are reserved for special occasions—preferably one where you can suffer the meat sweats in a state of repose. Tacos, on the other hand, are an Austinite’s bread-and-butter, their go-to bite, their manna from heaven. They’re our favorite way to do breakfast, as well as our ideal late-night snack. On the following pages, we celebrate Mexico’s grand culinary gift with our list of the food trailers, mom-and-pop shops, cutting-edge taquerias, and fusion innovators doling out the best in these tortilla-shrouded revelations. All hail the taco!

Must-Try Taco: Mushroom en mole amarillo

While chef Joe Becerra’s fine-dining background (La Condesa, Brae in Australia) brings sophistication to Asador’s rotating cast of meaty street taco standards, his vegetarian options excel thanks to the accentuating addition of heirloom Oaxacan black beans that are pounded into a velvety mash with habanero purée, aji amarillo, roasted garlic, and a splash of Negra Modelo.

405 E. Seventh Street

Must-Try Taco: Nofaya (poblanos, onions, bacon, mozzarella, and avocado)

At his red Airstream on a busy stretch of Ben White Boulevard, Jesus Vasquez translates a decade of experience at Hut’s Hamburgers (RIP) into a number of crowd-pleasing options. Alongside his daughter, Sujey, Vasquez dabbles in local flavors like melt-in-your mouth brisket mingling with jalapeño and avocado, and chef specials such as The Longhorn, featuring grilled salmon crowned with tangy mango pico and a squiggle of chipotle mayo.

2125 W. Ben White Blvd.

Must-Try Taco: Lengua

Seeking to replicate Mexico City’s street taco “golden standard,” Luis Robledo’s addictive beef cheek and carnitas tacos are confited in lard and cooked alongside one another in a convex comal or “choricera” that the chef acquired during a trip across the border. With tacos modestly portioned and priced ($2 each), you won’t feel guilty about bingeing on Cuantos’ unforgettable charro beans that are stewed to perfection with the day’s leftover carne.

2967 Manor Road

Must-Try Taco: Wild boar al pastor

Before Dai Due opened its doors in 2014, wild game was something reserved for the deep freezer. But chef Jesse Griffiths made venison sausage and fried quail sandwiches an everyday part of the Austin culinary vernacular. His taqueria inside Fareground applies the same love of exotic Texas proteins to the taco genre, with items like house-made boar chorizo and an antelope picadillo that puts ground beef to shame.

111 Congress Ave.

Must-Try Taco: Discada

Step up to the window at Discada, and your decision is reduced to a number: one, five, or eight. Because at this tiny trailer on East Austin’s Rosewood Avenue, they serve only one type of taco: discada, made by “cowboy-wok cooking” slow-simmered beef, pork, and vegetables. The caramelized amalgam—topped with cilantro, onion, and chunks of pineapple—is one part Northern Mexico, one part Mexico City, and, now, blessedly, one part Austin. Go ahead, order eight.

1319 Rosewood Ave., Ste. 2024

Must-Try Taco: Crispy taco

One taste of co-owner Joel Fried’s “Salsa X”—a lush emulsification of chile de arbol and chipotle peppers that’s presented in place of the rote red variety—and you know you’re in store for new, unexplored regions of planet Tex-Mex. Mashed potatoes (a nod to his long tenure in the Tacodeli chain) surface in enchiladas, and robust beef picadillo is stretched across all three meals: tossed with migas in the morning, and stuffed into fried taco shells at lunch and dinner.

3300 W. Anderson Lane, Ste. 303

Must-Try Taco: Chorizo, egg, and cheese

Business was slow when Jose Luis Perez (aka “El Primo”) opened his taco trailer 14 years ago, but everything changed when he listened to a suggestion from his wife: Ditch dinner and focus on breakfast. Since then, the family-run spot has become an essential part of South First Street. A butcher’s son from Michoacan, Mexico, Perez proves he knows his way around meat, griddling chorizo, bacon, sausage, and ham breakfast tacos that are perennially regarded as some of the city’s finest.

2011 S. First Street

Must-Try Taco: Gringas with bistek

For a town that thrives on live music, Austin has a troubling dearth of late-night taco options. But that’s where El Taquito shines brightest. Literally. Just look for the glowing green sign at its original Riverside location, which has been a beacon for hungry revelers since 1995. Dig into its signature Gringas layered with a bed of oozing cheese, a taco technique owner Eloy Saenz brought with him from his hometown of Matamoros.

1713 E. Riverside Drive

Must-Try Taco: Chilaquiles con mole

Like his two daughters’ popular taqueria, Veracruz All Natural, Armando Vasquez’s humble East Side truck proves taco mastery runs in the family. Crafted alongside his wife, Maria, the purveyor’s homemade flour tortillas, nutty moles, and dynamite salsa roja (rich with garlic and arbol chiles) titillate all five senses—right down to the audible “crunch!” of the fried chicharrones on top of the Ranchero breakfast taco brimming with egg, avocado, and tortilla chips.

1401 E. Seventh Street

Must-Try Taco: American Punjabi (paneer tikka masala, coconut rice, cilantro, and crema)

Chef Ravi Chandra’s zeal for fusing the flavors of his native Bangalore with Tex-Mex is most infectious when sampling his chili crema, an Indo-Mexican blend of arbor chiles, red chili powder, and Thai curry sauce, which bolsters dishes like the Garlic Gobi (fried cauliflower). Instead of traditional flatbread, opt to have it wrapped in the akki roti-corn tortilla combo, made from Indian rice flour knead-ed with masa, toasted cumin, onion, and jalapeño.

2730 E. Cesar Chavez St.

Must-Try Taco: Carnitas

Even if you skip what taco journalist, Mando Rayo, calls “the best carnitas in town” (but seriously, why would you?), it’s impossible to order an unsatisfying combination of Las Trancas’ 10 carne-centric tacos, which feature such traditional cuts as crispy tripas (beef tripe) and buttery cabeza (beef cheek). Pro tip: Ask for their creamy, jalapeño-heavy “VIP” green salsa to balance sweeter meats like lengua with a touch of heat.

1210 E. Cesar Chavez St.

Must-Try Taco: The Bowman (roasted chicken, sautéed pico, fresh spinach, salsa fresca)

Perhaps the most fitting name for a restaurant concept, Mellizoz (Spanish for fraternal twin) was originally opened by chef John Galindo, then later turned over to his sister, Jessica. After a decade, the latter sibling has turned it into food truck royalty with indulgent, interior-Mexican eats like the tempura-fried avocado taco, and the La Pachuca with braised beef, egg, and queso.

1311 S. First Street

Must-Try Taco: Al pastor

The Mexican bakery formerly known as Chuy’s Panaderia (before legal action from that Chuy’s in 2016) has been one of Austin’s premier purveyors of pan dulces since 2009. You can bet on regulars leaving with bags of fluffy house-made tortillas and custard-filled cones called cuernos, but they really come for the tacos. How it remains one of Austin’s best-kept secrets is a mystery, with crackly, trompo-style al pastor served with long strips of pineapple.

8716 Research Blvd., Ste. 290

Must-Try Taco: Duck carnitas

If the name doesn’t tip you off to chef/co-owner Edgar Rico’s corn infatuation, the menu and murals at Nixta Taqueria certainly will. The latter includes dining room walls painted with sprouting ears in a Warhol-like spectrum of colors. While the former consists of artfully prepared tacos that showcase Rico’s raison d’etre: freshly nixtamalized tortillas that heighten ingredients like sweet potato and duck confit.

2512 E. 12th Street

Must-Try Taco: Aguacate con queso (fried avocado, black beans, cabbage, queso fresco)

Owner Sergio Varela designed his menu as an ode to his mother’s Southern Mexico recipes, and you can tell that he treasured each and every one. Easily the city’s most extensive selection, boasting a diverse array of ingredients (think plantains, epazote, and several types of mole), Papalote is one of Austin’s few taco joints where ordering proves time-consuming—what with all those tasty decisions to consider.

2803 S. Lamar Blvd. and 3632 S. Congress Ave.

Must-Try Taco: Monterrey chicken fajita

Feeling indecisive? Morelia, Mexico, native Oscar “Polvo” Linares’ original South First location offers a number of unique à la carte options to mix-and-match with the restaurant’s storied salsa bar. Throw some pickled carrots and peppers onto a Monterrey and mushroom, or pair the tomatillo and guajillo salsa’s piquant kick with the steak fajita’s fragrant grilled onions.

2004 S. First Street



Must-Try Taco: Pueblo Viejo-style

At any of Pueblo Viejo’s three locations, the salsa selection alone (ranging from mild pico to a sweat-inducing orange habanero and ghost pepper sauce) is enough to draw perpetually large crowds. Depending on your Scoville topping tolerance, each has its merits augmenting breakfast combinations like its “Taco Azteca” with ham, eggs, jalapeño, and black beans, or its signature “Pueblo Viejo Style” come dinnertime. With sizzling steak, avocado, and gooey jack cheese, it’s essentially the best fajita you’ve never had.

502 Brushy St.

Must-Try Taco: Aaron Franklin’s daily breakfast (melted cheese, potatoes, brisket, guacamole, and salsa de arbol)

Like any endeavor involving Texas’ most lauded pitmaster, the news of Aaron Franklin’s foray back into the world of teal food trailers roused plenty of headlines. But the hype, as always, feels justified with tacos flaunting juicy breakfast sausage inspired by the Joe’s Bakery version, and a machacado riff that involves tallow-soaked lean brisket that’s crisped up on the plancha.

900 E. 11th Street

Must-Try Taco: Carne asada

Regulars recommend arriving at the Cabrera family’s cash-only eatery after midnight, when carefree bar-hoppers, chili candy vendors, and live Norteño music provide a family cookout–style atmosphere. Order a taco combo plate complete with grilled cebollitas (spring onions) and cold cucumber slices for cleansing your palate between morsels of asada and garlic-absorbed lengua.

8631 N. Lamar Blvd.

Must-Try Taco: Alambre

Not everyone is blessed with an abuela who knows her way around a tortilla press. Thankfully, South Austinites have Paola Morales. Alongside her staff of immediate family members, the former Hula Hut cook pounds out masa which, when tossed with just the right amount of flour, creates tortillas structurally sound enough to shelter heaping portions of cheesy migas and meaty suadero.

3100 US-183

Must-Try Taco: Sweet potato taco

An encyclopedic knowledge of local farmers, a knack for fermentation, and a bullish insistence on making everything from scratch is something chef Nick Belloni carries over from his days at Eden East. Case in point: a mesquite charred–carrot taco that is cooked in a house-made guajillo and ancho salsa, then topped with a soft-boiled farm egg sourced from Kingsbury, Texas.

3307 Oak Springs Dr.

Must-Try Taco: The Real Deal Holyfield (fried egg, refried beans, bacon, potatoes, brisket)

When Miguel Vidal first opened his barbecue trailer outside of Star Bar in 2013, he broke the mold of the classic Central Texas style by combining smoked meats with the Mexican flavors of his San Antonio childhood. That rogue approach extended to breakfast, where he dared ask: “Why not peppery-barked brisket and pulled pork with your eggs?” Now, bacon has never seemed so boring.

11500 Menchaca Road

Must-Try Taco: Birdie Sanders (soy curl “buffalo chicken,” pepper jack, onion, cabbage, crema, chipotle, and avocado)

When it comes to “vegan-izing” the East Side tacos of his youth, chef Christopher Rios pays particular attention to all the plant-based proteins at his disposal. For instance, frying up tofu with Oregon-grown soy curls to achieve the texture of tender al pastor, or griddling up a seitan and quinoa “chorizo” that rivals the paprika-heavy flavor profile of the original.

2324 E. Cesar Chavez St.

Must-Try Taco: Al pastor

It took a great deal of culinary skill to raise Miguel and Daniel Cobos’ taco operation from a retooled paleta pushcart to their central Austin brick-and-mortar. It takes, however, just one bite of the siblings’ al pastor—freshly sliced and prepped on the plancha, à la Mexican hibachi chefs—to see why their version has proven the city’s best.

104 E. 31st Street

Must-Try Taco: Migas Originales

The little taco trailer that could, Veracruz has grown from a neighborhood secret to an Austin institution with five locations. The migas taco might garner most of its gushing press, but the true sleeper favorite fills a niche in Austin’s most underrepresented style: the fish taco, here with mango pico, avocado, and chipotle mayo salsa over a blackened tilapia filet.

1704 E. Cesar Chavez St.