Radio IST List: Graham Williams
Book Festival Interview With Jonathan Foer
Fun Fun Fun Fest Previews: Street Dogs and Betaplayer
Wine: Austin Cellar Classic Is Tomorrow
Austinist's Will Mills Gets Dunked For Charity [Video]
*The views expressed in Foodie Friday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist (and quite often our readership) as a whole. Ahh, the subjective nature of tastebuds.* -The Editors
Growing up in Williamson County, culinary choice was abundant. If you wanted homestyle cooking, you could drive west on 620 to Pass the Bis'kits, Please, where you might be presented with a chicken fried steak and a - you guessed it - basket of bis'kits (or however the hell they spelled it). On the other hand, if you were in the mood for homestyle cookin', you could always drive up 35 to K-Bobs where not only could you get an unremarkable t-bone, you could also enjoy a trip through the salad bar which was modeled out of - get this - an old wagon train! Some of the freshest vegetables on the salad bar included ham, bacon, and potato salad. Now if, instead, you were in the mood for country cookin', there was always the Dairy Queen. Steak Fingers. Delicious.
And oh yeah, I'm being sarcastic.
To be fair, landing in Travis County as an adult wasn't the same as being dropped in the middle of gourmet Paris or epicurean New York. Heck, in a lot of ways it wasn't even Dallas or Houston. But years spent working with some of the best culinary destinations and groups in Austin - Central Market, Texas Culinary Academy, the Wine and Food Foundation of Texas - have proven two things:
Number one: While Austin might not be a culinary capital, it is full of people who embrace innovative, creative foods. Think of Uchi, Chow Baby, Pink Avocado Catering (whose identity and starter menu, I should disclose, was a project I worked on) and Sweet Tempered Desserts.
Number Two: The so-called blogosphere, already not the friendliest of forums, has in the last year proven that no one agrees on food. There is no pleasing everyone. It's like abortion, or gay marriage. There is often simply no consensus. In the last year as Austinist's food editor, I found out just how passionate people are about food and their food choices. It's weird how passionate people get about food. And it's very cool.
Armando Rayo Talks Tacos
I hadn't planned for someone else to write such a big chunk of the inaugural Foodie Friday column, but Armando Rayo loves himself some tacos. In a town where everyone loves tacos, he passionately, wicked loves tacos. Over a couple of drinks at 219 with Armando and his girlfriend earlier this week, he told us of his love for tacos and I asked him to share his top five picks, which he was happy to share:
Magic Taco Box on East Manor
(Not sure the real name of the place), next to & part of a laundromat that very seldom has hot water. Also next to the Funk-a-Motive! The gist on this one is that you walk up to the window, stick your hands in and tacos magically appear in your manos! They have the best bean and cheese taco!
Abarrotes Mexicanos y Taqueria
This place is in our neighborhood, Barrio Boggy Creek, half a block west of Boggy Creek Farms in the corner of Tillery and Lyons. They have some awesome espicy fajita tacos and these mean pork and chile tacos. Man, they're the best! Don't get skerd of the ladies that work there. They play good cop, bad cop, it depends on their moods. They'll either serve you tacos con mucho cariño y amor or they'll just slap it on and give you a mean-ass look. You can also buy bus tickets to Mexico, some toilet paper and a father's day raffle ticket for a basket of 5 tequila bottles ... sweet!
Mi Madre's
An old east austin staple. They know what I like and something a lot of places don't serve - the machacado taco - eggs, tomatoes, onions, fresh jalapeños and the kicker...shredded dried beef. Yeah, they good! I grew up on that stuff in northern Chihuahua/El Paso.
La Mexicana Bakery
What a great way to bond with the drunkies of Austin! Sharing lots of greasy, sloppy tacos with the telenovas or Sabado Gigante reruns blaring on their 60" TV at 3 in the morning, while getting full on $3.50! Palabra!
El Mundo de Mando
This is my personal favorite - cuz I make them myself! I do everything from chorizo con huevos to the veggie option (my fiance is vegetarian, so [in robot voice] I must comply!). My personal favorite is a fried egg with cheese (now you have to fry the cheese with the egg, love the sizzling cheese factor!) add some jalapenos or salsita and place it on top of a fried corn tortilla, fold it in half and go to town on that mo-fo! My favorite is letting the yolk gush out and licking it off pretty much anywhere it lands. Please be careful who you share this with...I'm working on a copyright.
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palabra!
I miss Tacos, London just hasn't a selection to choose from.
Keep track of Mando's taco eating over at Taco Journalism
***tacos never die***