PHOTOS BY SHANNON RICHARDSON
A taco has to have a wrapper,” says Paul Leal of Mi Gente near 34th Avenue and Bell Street. That wrapper is typically a warm, soft corn tortilla, but can also be a soft flour tortilla or—in the case of Mi Gente’s Asian-fusion Chino Latino tacos—even a fluffy steamed bao bun.
“It’s like a gift,” Leal adds. “It has to be wrapped. You don’t know [the flavor] until you open it, until you bite into it.”
We spent the late summer biting into a series of hand-held gifts, understanding that a well-crafted taco is one of the true staples of Texas Panhandle cuisine. Amarillo and Canyon literally have hundreds of restaurants where tortillas are being pressed and grill tops are sizzling with the makings of a delicious taco.
Our self-guided taco tour took us through every quadrant of the city, from modest taquerias serving tender birria or carnitas to taco trucks with more adventurous approaches to the classic street food.
We discovered there’s no right way to make a taco. The only right thing to do with a taco is to eat it.
Amarillo Boulevard
Al menudazo y Más
Located in a former Toot’n Totum building across Amarillo Boulevard from Prissy’s Barbecue, the delightful Al Menudazo y Más (which means something like “Menudo Headquarters and More”) is extremely new. It opened in April from the network of family members connected to La Mariscada de Charly and Dayvasos JN, who originally hail from Chihuahua, Mexico.
Traditionally, most authentic Mexican restaurants only serve menudo on Sundays, but owners Esmeralda Monge and Juan Esparza wanted a restaurant where menudo was available every day. But we didn’t come to Al Menudazo for the spicy, nutrient-dense comfort soup highlighted in their name.
We wanted tacos.
Al Menudazo offers local favorites like barbacoa and asada tacos.
But they also have a few things on the menu that aren’t quite as easy to find this far north of the border, like the rich tacos de machito, made from lamb.
“You don’t find that taco anywhere but here,” Esmeralda says in Spanish. (Her daughter, Leimy Perez, translated for her.) “We want you to feel like you are going to your grandma’s house, to have something different from the rest of the town. We don’t have only tacos, but we have a lot of food that [only] comes from Mexico.”
Among those surprises are the couple’s attention-getting tortillas, which are handmade with a slight variation on the standard hue. In another nod to how it’s done in Chihuahua, they add ground chiles to the dough, giving the finished product an orange-red color.
What are Esmeralda’s rules for a good taco? She lists three requirements: “Juicy meat, homemade tortillas, and then a good sauce.” The restaurant makes six different sauces available in a central buffet-style cart, from a milder avocado sauce to more intense habañero-based sauce.
Juan came to the United States around 10 years ago, and Esmeralda joined him a few years later. An Instagram-ready mural on one wall says, in Spanish, “I didn’t choose to be Mexican. I just got lucky.”
We left feeling Amarillo got lucky they chose to come here.
2600 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.877.1644
More Tacos to Love:
Happy Burrito
908 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.703.0477
Taqueria El Comal
1210 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.373.7090
Tacos Garcia Amarillo Blvd.
2200 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.681.1977
Rossy’s Cocina
2418 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.290.2743
Taqueria Los Toritos
2617 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.679.0946
Pollos Sinaloa
2618 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.367.8935
La Mariscada de Charly
3500 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.584.9472
El Manatial
3823 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.383.1852
Tacos La Casita
3011 W. Amarillo Blvd., 806.382.3691
Texas Bar & Grill
2801 W. Amarillo Blvd., 806.368.7951
I-40 Corridor
El Charro
A no-frills family joint with a prime Bolton Street location on East Interstate 40, El Charro caters to a mix of neighborhood regulars and hungry travelers passing through the city. If the location looks familiar, it’s because the building used to be the Western-oriented Stockman’s Restaurant.
“We had to remodel everything,” says owner María Concepción Santo Carillo of the restaurant’s L-shaped footprint. She’s a native of Jalisco, Mexico, who immigrated to the U.S. with her sister in 1990. [María was less comfortable interviewing in English, so our conversation with her was translated by friend-of-the-magazine Jennifer Gallardo.]
If you look closely, you’ll see cowboy silhouettes remaining on the signage, a vestige of that former identity. The new name reflects it as well: El Charro basically refers to a traditional Mexican horseman or cowboy, and Jalisco is the birthplace of charrería, Mexico’s national equestrian sport.
María spent several years working at El Tejavan restaurants in Amarillo before the opportunity arrived to launch her own concept 9 years ago.
Much bigger than most authentic Mexican restaurants on the east side of Amarillo, El Charro has seating capacity for 178 people and, on weekends, has been known to completely fill that space. Most customers are from the surrounding neighborhood, drawn to María’s flavorful cooking.
But a substantial number of them just happened to Google something like “Mexican food near me” on their way through Amarillo. The interstate location means a constant flow of out-of-state and international travelers passing through the Panhandle.
“A lot of people from other states and other countries [come here],” María says. “New York, Canada. Chinese and Indian people, who love spicy like us. Recently some British gentlemen came but we couldn’t communicate very well. They don’t always tell me what they’re looking for but after they eat it, they love it.”
Growing up in Mexico, María says, tacos were a staple of family cooking. “In Mexico, Jalisco, everywhere, always tacos. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Morning, noon and night. Always tacos, tacos, tacos.”
She insists a corn tortilla is required for a good taco, and El Charro only serves handmade tortillas, made in the restaurant. In Jalisco, finding a taco made with a flour tortilla is something you only encounter raramente, she says. “Asada tacos are the most popular here and the most popular in Mexico.”
4207 E. I-40, 806.373.4555
More Tacos to Love:
Señor Braceros
1915 E. I-40, 806.352.4598
El Tejavan
3801 E. I-40, 806.372.5250
3420 W. I-40, 806.354.2444
Ay Caray!!
1508 S. Grand St., 806.699.1057
El Agasajo
3319 W. I-40, 432.901.7907
El Patron Tex-Mex Restaurant
3401 W. I-40, 806.418.6934
Jorge’s Tacos Garcia
1619 S. Kentucky, C-318, 806.371.0411
Yellow City Street Food
2916 Wolflin Ave., 806.353.9273
The North Side
La Pasadita
In Spanish, la pasadita means something like the equivalent of a quick visit, but you’ll want to linger with the barbacoa tacos (and breakfast burritos, and authentic menudo and posole) at this small, casual restaurant just east of the Martin Road Park complex. Carlos Salazar owns and manages it, having inherited the family business from his parents, Ernesto and Maria Salazar.
Ernie and Maria opened the original walk-up restaurant in 2007 while also operating a convenience store, La Esquina Corner Mart, at Northeast 15th Avenue and Mirror Street. The family is originally from Juarez, Mexico—Carlos was born there—but came to the U.S. in 1990.
“We had both of them running at one time,” Carlos says of the two family endeavors. Then Ernie passed away four years ago. Maria was diagnosed with cancer. The family wanted to simplify. They sold the convenience store and focused on La Pasadita.
“It was nothing like it is now,” Carlos says of the former establishment, which was very small and had minimal seating. “It was a little bitty thing.”
But as business began picking up, Carlos decided to make it bigger. He enclosed the ordering window, added tables and chairs, and built a comfortable outdoor patio next to the kitchen.
“We are known for our barbacoa,” Carlos says. He’s quick to point out that it’s real barbacoa (beef cheek meat) rather than brisket. “And our burritos. And we’re known for fast service. We actually sell 800 burritos every Tuesday to Claude, to a [contractor] at the data center. They pick them up at 5 in the morning because their meetings are at 6 in the morning, so they want breakfast.”
La Pasadita also occasionally provides food for the Amazon Fulfillment Center just down the road.
“A taco, to us, is the corn tortilla,” he says. “A burrito is flour tortillas. A taco is corn. That’s the difference.”
2730 NE 16th Ave., 806.381.2309
More Tacos to Love:
Taqueria Y Restaurante El Sol De México
3501 NE 24th Ave., 806.383.2038
Pancho Villa Restaurant
4601 River Road, 806.381.0105
Casa Jalisco
5608 River Road, 806.803.2827
David’s Mexican Restaurant
400 E. Hastings Ave., 806.418.6333
La Fuente
511 S. Grand St., 806.584.4874
La Choza Taqueria Y Tortilleria
1407 N. Grand St., 806.383.8826
Downtown
Los Picuchos
If there’s one restaurant widely regarded by locals as one of the most successful and authentic Mexican restaurants, it’s probably the Murguia family’s multi-location El Tejavan. Los Picuchos is a lesser-known branch of that tree. But unless you work in a specific part of downtown, it may not be on your radar.
You’ll want to change that.
Los Picuchos operator Salvador “Chava” Murguia cut his teeth working for El Tejavan when he arrived in Amarillo three decades ago. El Tejavan founders Jose and Patricia Murguia got their start selling tacos from their convenience store on Grand Street, and Chava paid attention when he joined the family business. As the opportunity arrived to launch a small Mexican restaurant to serve workers in the basement of the multi-story Happy State Bank building at 701 S. Taylor St., Chava took action.
Los Picuchos is a nickname for his two children, given by an older acquaintance who thought the kids had too much energy. “He called them ‘picuchos.’ I said, ‘What’s that?’ He said it’s a small fish from Chihuahua.” Chava isn’t exactly sure, but the name stuck.
Open from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, the restaurant serves breakfast all day, plus a variety of authentic favorites for a customer base that extends well beyond the Happy building. “Most [customers] come from outside. From Xcel Energy, from the police [station]. We have a lot of DoorDash. We all eat in the living room, right?”
Los Picuchos makes its own tortillas, and Chava says the asada tacos are customer favorites. We asked: What ingredients are essential for a good taco? He doesn’t pull punches. “The best thing for a taco, the thing that makes a taco better? It’s the sauce. It’s the hot sauce.”
701 S. Taylor St., Suite 500, 806.443.1349
More Tacos to Love:
Bracero’s Downtown
727 S. Polk St., 806.699.1055,
Hacienda Meche
626 S. Polk St., 806.236.4288
La Campana
2220 Canyon Drive, 806.373.4486
El Barrio
La Fiesta Grande
A Mexican food fixture among Amarillo’s family-owned restaurants, La Fiesta Grande dates back to 1983 when Roy and Betty Bara moved here from Muleshoe. Once, for another publication, one of their daughters, Ashley Bara Paredes, mentioned that she thought a family business staying open for 30 years was a big deal.
That was a decade ago.
La Fiesta has been around long enough to have been one of the first restaurants to introduce local people to Mexican food, and then to watch local tastes evolve as time went on. “Over the years, we have diversified,” explains Ashley, who serves as marketing director for the family business. La Fiesta’s taco options were decidedly Tex-Mex at the beginning. “We started out with regular crispy tacos and they were ground beef or shredded chicken only. Lettuce and tomato and cheese. But as time has gone on, starting in the early 2000s, that’s when we added barbacoa.”
True barbacoa. “At one point, we even had lengua,” she says.
The lengua (cow tongue) wasn’t quite popular enough to remain on the menu, but barbacoa was a hit, and eventually the family began preparing street-style tacos using soft corn tortillas and more authentic flavors (asada, adobada, barbacoa and pastor). Today, La Fiesta’s tacos al pastor—with seasoned pork and pineapple—have become one of the top sellers on the menu.
Customers have begun requesting spicier food as well. “I definitely feel like people’s profile, as far as flavor and taste and heat, has changed tremendously,” Ashley says. “Our menu started out really Tex-Mex, but if you eat here consistently, now it’s half Tex-Mex and half authentic.”
But longevity also means that local diners have developed an established, familiar relationship with restaurants like La Fiesta. “Because we’ve been here so long, 80 percent of our customers always order the same thing,” says Ashley’s sister, Jennifer Bara, vice president of the company. “They’re like, ‘This is what I get at La Fiesta.’ They don’t even need menus anymore. It’s a good thing because we have nostalgia on our side. That’s a blessing.”
Meanwhile, the Bara family has watched as ethnic restaurant options have exploded in Amarillo, including smaller competitors who might offer more experimental dishes. They don’t mind it, actually. Sometimes it causes customers to miss a favorite La Fiesta meal. Or sometimes it leaves a diner more receptive to change.
“It allows us to be more creative,” Jennifer says. “Those customers will try something new at another restaurant offering really different things, and then they come back to La Fiesta. It opens the door for us to add things to the menu that [earlier] wouldn’t have made it.”
The proximity of the Ross location to I-40 also means an ongoing stream of hungry drivers. “We get people from all over the world. You’d have to see it to believe it,” Ashley adds. She says many travelers from Australia, Germany or England will spend a couple of days in Amarillo. On their first day, they go to The Big Texan. But after that, they want Mexican food.
When they end up at La Fiesta, she says, “I usually recommend tacos. It’s just universal. They’re going to like it.”
2200 S. Ross St., 806.374.3689
More Tacos to Love
Maria’s Cocina Mexicana
1316 SE 10th Ave., 806.373.8841
Carniceria La Popular
1505 SE Third Ave., 806.374.6451
Mimi’s Restaurant
1400 Ross St., 806.373.3484
La Frontera
1401 S. Arthur St., 806.372.4593
Southwest Amarillo
Mi Gente
“Phones eat first, then the eyes, then I get to eat,” Chef Paul Leal says while plating gorgeous carnitas tacos (roasted pork shoulder with pickled onion and cilantro) at Mi Gente. Though he’s a French-trained chef who cut his teeth at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in Dallas—one of the swankiest see-and-be-seen restaurants in the Metroplex—he also understands the simple, visual appeal of a well-crafted taco.
His carnitas tacos pop with onions dyed purple by the presence of beets in the citrusy pickling liquid—a technique he learned from indigenous artisans while traveling in Mexico. The rotisserie chicken tacos add radishes to the ingredient list. And Paul’s Asian-fusion Chino Latino tacos are a visual delight, served with a tiny, flamingo-topped sandwich pick to hold together its steamed bao bun shell. (“I describe it as a light, airy, cloud pocket,” says his wife and restaurant partner Amber Leal.)
He says tacos began as humble, filling products from street vendors, intended to provide inexpensive fuel for the working class. “If you break it down, it was what we’d call ‘poverty food,’” he explains. “We take it, add stuff to it and elevate it. It’s beautiful. The colors are beautiful. The flavors are beautiful.”
Mi Gente started as a food truck after Paul and Amber moved to Amarillo during the pandemic. Soon after, they began using the food truck as the kitchen for a brick-and-mortar across from Hodgetown, then expanded to a new location at 34th Avenue and Bell Street in early 2026, transforming the former Butterlove Biscuits into something new. “Downtown, we were at capacity,” Amber says. “We needed something bigger to grow.”
Vintage photos of Paul’s and Amber’s grandmothers line the back wall of the new restaurant. “That’s how it all got started—their flavors, in the kitchen,” says Paul, who is of Mexican heritage. “It’s about honoring them. These are the flavors of our grandmothers, of our ancestors.”
3440 Bell St., Suite 130, 806.576.5467
More Tacos to Love:
Caudillos Mexican Food
4602 SW 34th Ave., 806.437.1514
El Giro
1800 Bell St., 806.318.3859
Good Day Burritos
3609 SW 45th Ave., 806.358.8226
Los Braceros Mexican Bar & Grill
3303 Bell St., 806.355.0889
Mexico Lindo Restaurant
4515 S. Georgia St., 806.355.1851
San Jose Mexican Restaurant
3723 SW 58th Ave., Suite 100, 806.425.1121
Taqueria El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant
3410 S. Coulter St., 806.331.6248
La Fiesta Grande
7415 SW 45th Ave., 806.352.1330
Joe Taco
5700 S. Georgia St., 806.350.8226
Cada Vez Cocina Mexicana
9200 Town Square Blvd., Suite 1000, 806.418.6976
The West Side
El Maestro Taquero Bar & Grill
Two years in the making, this elevated, authentic Mexican food joint on Historic Sixth is what happens when a home builder (Ivan Carnero) teams up with someone raised in a family-owned grocery (Angel Arreola of Carniceria La Popular) and they decide to enter the high-stakes restaurant business for the first time.
The sizable location, most recently Austin’s Texas Pub, needed a lot of work. So the childhood friends started dreaming.
Almost immediately, the dreams began pushing boundaries. The attention-getting design includes stunning light fixtures imported from Mexico, along with tables and chairs custom-made in Jalisco. Colorful Spanish tiles surround an internally lit bartop. The open kitchen set-up adds culinary theater to the mix, and feels more aligned with big-city restaurants than what Amarillo diners are accustomed to. And in that kitchen, restaurant-goers can watch a slowly turning trompo—the inverted cone-shaped vertical rotisserie that Arreola and Carnero fought to include, working through the city’s health codes, so they could offer the most authentic al pastor preparation. (It may represent the only commercial trompo in the city.)
With those pieces in place, they turned to chef Giovanny Zacarias—who got his start as a 17 year old in the kitchen of Amarillo’s late, great Ruby Tequila’s before cutting his teeth in Mexico City’s culinary scene—to help them develop the menu.
The taco-centered result definitely stands out. “We call them gourmet tacos because these are not your average tacos, right?” Arreola says. The tortillas are made in-house. The tacos are served with tuétano asado, roasted marrow bones, which have deep roots in Mexican cooking and add a rich, savory flavor when scraped over grilled meat. “It’s like beef butter,” Arreola explains.
This isn’t your average street taco, nor your average atmosphere for authentic Mexican food. Arreola brings the dishes out from the kitchen, serving them on thick wooden trays rather than the usual oval plates.
They didn’t intend to go this hard at the beginning, Carnero admits. “It was gonna be more laid-back, but throughout the process, everything just kind of slowly started coming into play,” he explains. “Something a little more elevated.”
Arreola grew up around food, in the grocery business, but that’s a far cry from what they’ve created with El Maestro Taquero. “We’re new to this,” he says.
“It’s not like any other traditional Mexican restaurant,” Carnero adds.
3121 SW Sixth Ave., 806.803.0101
More Tacos to Love:
Mariscos El Victor
2813 SW Sixth Ave., 806.803.2107
Braceros Mexican Grill & Bar
2822 SW Sixth Ave., 806.220.2395
Aldaco’s Tacos
3623 SW Sixth Ave., 806.374.4945
Taqueria El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant
5630 W. Amarillo Blvd., 806.803.3220
Joe Taco
7312 Wallace Blvd., 806.331.8226
El Tejavan III
801 SW Sixth Ave., 806.437.1323
Canyon
Taqueria El Tapatio No. 3
This multi-location family restaurant enterprise started with the Plascencia family. These three brothers from Jalisco, Mexico, immigrated to the U.S., ran restaurants in San Antonio, and then sought new opportunities in the Texas Panhandle. Taqueria El Tapatio was the result of that expansion, with ventures serving Jalisco-style flavors in Dumas, Amarillo and Canyon. All are operated by a network of family members.
Diego Conchas, a former WT student, has managed the Canyon location since 2017, and says the generous portions, authentic flavors and huge menu—which includes breakfast—have been critical to their local success.
Importantly, the family’s commitment to authenticity doesn’t come at the expense of local preferences. “Half of the menu’s Tex-Mex, and the other half is more authentic food,” Diego says. “I mean, we still have crispy tacos. That’s Tex-Mex.”
But you can also order those tacos with tripas (tripe), a beloved Mexican street-food staple made from the rigorously cleaned and cooked preparation of the lining of small intestines. Diego says Canyon diners are more experimental than outsiders might expect. About tripas, he says, “There’s people who are, like, ‘what is this?’ But after they try it, they like it.”
Serving up a plate of the ribeye-based Tacos Patron, Diego says he thinks the taco, a simple corn tortilla wrapped around a protein source, is the undisputed heart and soul of Mexican street food.
“Anyone can make a taco, but not everyone can make a good taco,” he adds.
2301 12th Ave., 806.510.7703
More Tacos to Love:
Casa De Edna
210 Fourth St., Canyon, 806.672.8373
Joe Taco
502 15th St., 806.452.8226
Los Abuelitos De Veracruz
1300 23rd St., 806.203.0255
Taco Villa Forever
by Michele McAffrey
As a high schooler at Amarillo High, the Taco Villa location on Bell Street (now The Bagel Place) was nearly an everyday stop for me. I’d say it’s my very first fast-food love, behind Dunkin Donuts, where I used to gorge myself on the Bavarian creams. But back to Taco Villa.
I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food. (Cue the hissing. I know, I know. It’s because of the spice.) But Taco Villa has a piece of my heart. Before there was a nacho cheese cup on the menu, I “invented” my very own special, which was an order of small fries and a cup of nacho cheese for dipping. I don’t want to admit how many times a week I ate that snack as a quick meal during our very short lunch break.
Then, disaster struck. Taco Villa left Amarillo. All the locations shuttered, and I was bereft. I don’t remember what year it was. I blocked it out. I also don’t remember how long the franchise was gone. But eventually—oh, happy day—it returned. And once again, I could enjoy my very favorite fast food.
Over the years, I’ve introduced outsiders to the finest burritos in town, and they’ve often responded with uncalled-for negativity and scepticism. “That’s not beef. What is it?” has been common, to which I’ve responded: Who cares. We love it! There’s never been a single person who hasn’t come around to the correct point of view. It’s delicious! Don’t overthink it.
My go-to has always been a bean burrito with extra cheese and sour cream (red sauce only), with a cup of nacho cheese to dip my fries in. I can’t eat anything on the menu without copious amounts of the perfectly black-peppered hot sauce. I would kill to get that recipe.
About the hot sauce: Any Taco Villa veteran knows that you have to hold it pointed away from you when you’re prying off the seal on the little container. Otherwise, the ensuing hot sauce explosion will end up on your shirt. It’s a great way to get back at an annoying out-of-town cousin, though.
These days, I usually order a kid’s meal because a full-sized burrito fills me up too quickly. But I’ll go for an avocado burrito, nacho cheese fries with extra cheese sauce and sour cream, or deluxe nachos with refried beans. After our move to west Amarillo last fall, we’re privileged to have a Taco Villa location minutes away from our house. It’s paradise!
Taco Villa, you stole my heart in the ’80s, and you’ll have it forever. Long live the very best Tex-Mex around.
The Way She Says “Hot Sauce”
The Way She Says “Hot Sauce”by Wes Reeves
I have vast experience with fast food. I know the unintelligible language of the squawk box, the staticky tongue of part-time workers younger than 20 who all started calling me “boss” shortly after I turned 50.
And through the years, I’ve learned from heartbreaking traumas to check the order before I drive off. Somebody might’ve confused beef for bean. Then I encountered Candace Collier at the Taco Villa drive-thru on Georgia Street, and my well of knowledge, seemingly so deep, was found to be wanting.
“Welcome to Taco Villa, how may I help you?” It was so clear, so sweet. No static. It’s like the wires were electronically cleansed by her delightful voice. On that first day when Candace took my order, sometime back in 2019 or so, I may have even heard bluebirds singing, just like in Snow White. It was enchanting. When I finally caught a glimpse of her through the window, she had a motherly look to her, not old or frumpy, but motherly, as in nurturing. I thought to myself, she really does care that I’m hungry.
I continued to return to Taco Villa, maybe a little more often than usual. I was intrigued. Then came that magical day when she said, “Do you want your one hot sauce?” and my head just exploded. First off, just the way she says “hot sauce.” It’s like when Mom would ask if I wanted more butter on my bread. There’s a certain way “sauce” comes out that is just so special. But also, how does she remember these things? In time, I would just say, “I’ll have my usual,” and she never forgot the smallest details. Even so, she would still recite it all back to me in that singsong way. I would occasionally order a bean burrito just to hear her spell out B-E-A-N burrito for perfect clarity.
I also realized that when Candace was there, everything went really fast. I had to start getting my cash and change counted before I pulled up. Often, if no one was in front of me when I ordered, a hand was already holding my bag
of goods outside the window before I pulled up. It’s like Candace read my mind 15 minutes before I left for Taco Villa and commanded the taco elements to assemble themselves in advance.
Then suddenly, she was gone, without notice. I don’t know how long she was gone because time stood still. But I found out other people had noticed as well and were equally as crestfallen. I would have good company wandering in the wilderness. The waits grew longer, people got grumpy in line out in the parking lot, and nobody seemed to remember how it all worked.
But just like in the Lassie movies, a happy ending was in order. One fine day, the word on the street was that Candace had returned to the window. I wasn’t going to believe it until I saw, or heard, for myself. From two cars behind in line I detected that voice over the speaker. I got nervous—would she remember me? Did she know how many hot sauces I need? I made up my mind that there’d be no questions. I’d act like she’d never left. And that’s exactly how it went down. It was like when you lose an important file and ask IT to dial back time to an earlier date, except I had grown a bit older. In short order, Candace ever so delicately began offering me the senior discount just after verifying my Dr Pepper and one hot sauce (you really don’t need more).
Over the years, Candace has achieved celebrity status in Amarillo. There is a “We Love Candace” Facebook page. Young and old come together to mingle in her glow. MAGA and Woke find common ground. And with Candace at the helm, the drive-thru line forms effortlessly with people waving and smiling, even when someone cuts in line. Yes, we love tacos, but we love Candace even more. There’s still hope for this world, and in fact, I’ve often thought that Candace should be president. No more wars, nobody goes hungry, no long lines at the Social Security office. Wouldn’t that be something?
Salsa-faction Guaranteed
Salsa-faction GuaranteedPublishers’ note: To accompany our tacos feature, we sent two of our interns—UNT student Reece Welch and incoming Texas Tech student Gunnar McConlogue—on an Amarillo salsa tour. This is their report.
Best Salsa Overall: El Manantial Mexican Restaurant
Deep and flavorful, it pairs beautifully with thick, corn-forward chips.
The chips at this Boulevard favorite have a more pronounced corn taste and chewier bite. They’re nicely complemented by a velvety salsa with a hot-sauce-like consistency, which delivers a slow burn that lingers in the back of your throat. The pairing highlights the unique textures and corn flavor.
Freshest Salsa: Braceros Mexican Grill & Bar
Fresh cilantro, onion, garlic. Tastes light, not tomato-forward, with a little heat.
The chips at this Route 66 staple have a light char and are thicker. They aren’t overly corn-forward, and the texture balances well with the salsa. The tomato salsa was the freshest we sampled. It has a subtle kick and is chunky in texture compared to others, while maintaining a light, fresh flavor. Cilantro, onion, jalapeño and other notes contribute to the overall taste.
Spiciest Salsa: Dona Jaunita’s
The heat isn’t overwhelming, but there’s definitely a kick. The thin texture allows it to coat the chips well.
Also on the East Boulevard, Dona Juanita’s offers one of the most distinctive chip-and-salsa pairings, with charred chips that deliver a smoky flavor and a moderate texture. The salsa is the thinnest sample we tried. Slightly orange-colored, it stands out for chili and spice lovers. It’s bold!
Best Chip Overall: Cada Vez Cocina Mexicana
A clear winner. Its success is largely due to the seasoning. It’s easy to fill up on these!
Located in Town Square Village, Cada Vez may not be the most aesthetically traditional on our list, but it makes a strong showing. Specifically for the chips, it’s one of the only restaurants that salted, let alone used other seasonings. Our opinion: The thin, well-seasoned chips are dangerously easy to over-eat. The chips were paired with a mellow salsa that was smooth but still dense without notable cilantro flavor, making it perfect for someone who doesn’t want a lot of spice or isn’t a fan of cilantro.
Best Chip Texture: La Frontera
The wonton-like texture means these melt in your mouth as you eat them.
A longtime favorite in the Barrio, La Frontera makes its chips and salsa in-house daily, and you can tell. The chips have a melt-in-your-mouth texture and are the airiest of the bunch, with an almost wonton chip-like appearance. They are great paired with the salsa, which is smooth and has a faint roasted flavor. But we felt these were the chips that could best stand on their own. And if you’re a fan of salsa verde, La Frontera provides a fantastic alternative salsa that contains all the best parts of its red salsa with the signature tomatillo flavor of green salsa.
Classic Crowd-Pleaser: The Plaza Restaurant & Bar
This salsa is hard to resist.
As a staple Mexican restaurant of the Texas Panhandle, it’s no surprise that we couldn’t stop dipping. The chips were probably the thinnest and easiest to break. (We tend to use the chips to hunt through the salsa to find the coveted bits of cilantro.) Combined with a soft kick of garlic and pepper, the thin chips and bright flavors are sure to keep you crunching.
Smoothest Salsa: La Fiesta Grande
This salsa is ideal if you like it blended rather than chunky.
Another longtime leader in the Tex-Mex scene, La Fiesta’s chips are pretty standard but will still leave you wanting more. The salsa has a strong tomato flavor and a thin, smooth quality, making the combo a delicious appetizer or snack. This salsa is perfect for those who prefer no chunks in their dip and mild spice.
Best Salsa Variety: Grandma’s Burritos
Want options beyond traditional, tomato-based salsa? Start here.
Grandma’s is more of a quick-service restaurant, but it doesn’t shy away from great chips and plenty of unique salsas. The chips were well salted and had a light, airy texture that still held up when dipping. We tried five different salsa options: traditional salsa roja, salsa verde, jalapeño salsa, green chile salsa, and a red chili option. All are delightful; notably, the red salsa was fresh and more tomato-forward, pairing great with the tasty chips. The others added unique flavors and textures, but the jalapeño salsa really stood out. With a distinct jalapeño flavor and creamy texture, it’s fresh and packed with flavor—unlike any others we tried.
Food Trucks
2 Hermanos Tacos
1117 SE 10th Ave., 806.443.3489, facebook.com/2HermanosTacos
The 806 Fix
3703 Wolflin Ave., 806.443.4920
Asada Mama
806.420.3135
Big O’s Cocina
facebook.com/p/Big-Os-Cocina
Birria Y Tacos El Rey
707 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.410.5670
Burrito Barn
806.690.2746, facebook.com/BurritoBarn806
Canelo’s Taqueria
605 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.881.4407
Carnitas El Pariente
3009 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.626.3565
Cocina On The Go
806.557.3083
David’s Taqueria
714 N. Fillmore St., 806.517.5098
Don Toño’s Barrio Food
2319 N. Grand St., 806.220.5004, facebook.com/DonTonoBarrio
El Barrio Taqueria
832.987.6819
Gorditas La Tita
806.824.9205
Joel’s Tacos
11835 S. Osage St., 806.584.8050
La Guanaca Food Truck
2110 S. Grand St., 806.910.7613
La Tabasquena Taquera
1522 N. Mirror St., 806.674.5041, facebook.com/La.Tabasquena.Taquera
LuLus Mexican Food
3405 S. Georgia St., 806.680.7028, facebook.com/LulusMexicanFoodRestaurant
Marybel’s Food Truck
2612 E. Amarillo Blvd.
Mi Torreon
3500 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.676.6457
Mimi’s To Go
1400 Ross St., 806.373.3484
Panchos Burguers
2408 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.382.6499, facebook.com/Zuleima2020
Serranos Food Truck
4419 S. Georgia St.
Tacos Guadalajara
818 Martin Road, 806.646.0901, facebook.com/TacosGdl17
Tacos La Hacienda
1107 E. Amarillo Blvd.
Taqueria El Giro
906 SW 10th Ave. / 3601 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.437.9324
Taqueria el Gordo
1100 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.824.9186
Taqueria La Palma
facebook.com/Taqueria.La.Palma
Taqueria MTZ
806.340.8465, facebook.com/TaqueriaMTZ806
Taqueria Olvera
806.584.4447
Taqueria San Agustin
2411 E. Amarillo Blvd., 806.680.8698
