Best Mexican Restaurants in Texas

Texas Monthly has chosen the Best Mexican Restaurants in Texas. This has nothing to do with beer. Well, kind of, cuz Mexican food just begs for beer swilling (Austin and Brownsville are in bold because that is where I spend the majority of my TX time):

TEXAS MONTHLY NAMES

50 BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANTS IN TEXAS

Editors Declare This the Era of “Mex-Tex”

AUSTIN, TEXAS—November 15, 2010—In its December issue, available on newsstands this week, Texas Monthly names the 50 best Mexican restaurants in Texas. Headlining the list is the magazine’s selection of the top five, in alphabetical order by city. They are:

Fonda San Miguel, Austin

Cuquita’s, Dallas

Salsa Fuego, Fort Worth

Hugo’s, Houston

SoLuna, San Antonio

The other 45 “best” are listed below.

...

TOP 5 (alphabetical by city)

Fonda San Miguel, Austin

Cuquita’s, Dallas

Salsa Fuego, Fort Worth

Hugo’s, Houston

SoLuna, San Antonio

Rest of the “Best”

AUSTIN
Curra’s Grill
El Mesón
El Naranjo
Garrido’s
La Condesa
Manuel’s
Takoba

BROWNSVILLE
Taqueria Rico’s

DALLAS
Avila’s
Café San Miguel
Gloria’s
Javier’s Gourmet Mexicano
Nuevo León MEX-MEX
Tipico’s
Urban Taco
Veracruz Cafe

EL PASO
Forti’s Mexican Elder
H&H Car Wash and Coffee Shop
Tacos Santa Cecilia

FORT WORTH
Benito’s
Esperanza’s
Lanny’s Alta Cocina Mexicana
Paco & John

HOUSTON
Cyclone Anaya’s Mexican Kitchen
Gorditas Aguas-Calientes
Irma’s
Jarro Café
Original Ninfa’s on Navigation
Pico’s Mex-Mex
Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen
Teotihuacán Mexican Cafe

LAREDO
El Meson de San Agustin
Fonda Don Martin
Palenque Grill
Zaragoza Grill, La Posada Hotel

McALLEN
Costa Messa
El Pastor
Palenque Grill

SAN ANTONIO
Cascabel Mexican Patio
Cielito Lindo
El Siete Mares
Guajillo’s
La Fonda on Main
La Gloria Icehouse
Mary Lou’s Café y Cocina Mexicana
Rosario’s

Ok, let me give this a beer tie in....hmmmm. Alright, what Texas beer would I like to drink with a plate full of tacos. I'll give you my top five and then you can chime in:

5. Southern Star Bombshell Blonde
4. Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale from the can
3. Lonestar
2. Real Ale Hans Pils
1. (512) Wit

This list would be different tomorrow. Hell, it would be different if you asked me in five minutes. But right now, that sounds right.

Ok, I'm Back

And should be getting back in the swing of things. Tomorrow I start "daddy leave." That means more blogging or much less. Time will tell.

Mexico was fun. Beerwise, it was what you would expect. I mostly drank Negra Modelo. You can only drink so many margaritas. I had hoped to find my way to a legit supermarket or wine shoppe. But that never happened. I did find one beer I had not heard of:

Photo: http://vallartablog.com

Casta Oscura. This is now an entity of Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, S.A. de C.V, but used to be part of a craftish brewery which has since closed. It was not very good.

Also, the Corona that was being poured at the pool bar was darker than anything I have ever seen in their bottles and it had a truer German Pilsener flavor (hop presence). It was good. Or maybe I was just sunburned and drunk.

See You in a Week

Craft Austin is gonna be a little slow next week. We will be in Puerto Vallarta, but I'll try to throw a few things up when I get a chance. Stay tuned for a beer report from PV, Mex.

I am sure that will be fascinating.

Es un barleywine, güey.

"The best rated Mexican craft beer" claims the website. That shouldn't be too hard. I am gonna move to Honduras to start the "Best Rated Honduran Craft Brewery."

Rumor has it that TX will be getting some of their beers. And they are rated well. But are they given a bump because of the novelty of a Mexican craft beer? I don’t even really count them as a Mexican beer anyway. Come on, the brewery is in Mexicali! That’s like a brewery in Pensacola saying they are a Floridian brewery. Pensacola is not Florida and Mexicali is not Mexico.

(If it is not obvious, I am doggin’ Pensacola. ‘Cause that town blows.)