Jalisco

Astros Opening Day 2013: Fans Weigh In With Hopes & Opinions On AL Baseball

For as long as I remember, I've been a baseball fan. Which is kinda strange considering I never played Little League, didn't learn how to hold a bat or catch a ball until my best friend taught me in high school, and my father's favorite sports team are fútbol-playing goats (Las Chivas Rayadas de Gu ... More >>

Republicans, Cubans and Idiots

Jonny Chingas and Piteado Technique

Special Navidad Edition: Why Do Mexicans Return to Mexico for Christmas?

And why do Mexicans try to get their sons to marry Mexican villagers?

Why Do Chicanos Love the Aztecs?

And what are some Mexican regional stereotypes of Mexicans?

Macy's, Houston Celebrate Carlos Santana's Style

Twenty years ago, while digging through my father's music collection, I found an album that I still regard as one of my all-time favorites. The crying guitar notes and inspired Latin rhythms I heard that afternoon were a vast departure from the corridos and cumbias I was almost exclusively listening ... More >>

Last Night: Maná At Toyota Center

Maná Toyota Center April 4, 2012 The last time Maná visited Houston, they sold out Toyota Center two nights in a row. The world's premier rock en español band is on the second leg of the Drama Y Luz tour, in support of their latest album of the same name. The group from the land of tequila y ma ... More >>

Southern Discomfort: Kinky On the Road

The one-liners come out of Kinky Friedman's mouth so fast you need a protective shield. "The only thing Rick Perry managed to do with his Presidential campaign was to make George W. look like Thomas 'Fucking' Jefferson." "Real people don't get into politics. The only people who get into politics ... More >>

Chef Jonathan Jones Departs Xuco Xicana, Soon to Be El Patio Once Again

A mock Texas Monthly cover made by Jones's fans several years ago.​Chef Jonathan Jones was let go from Xuco Xicana late last week, and cooked his last meal at the restaurant last night as a pre-planned pajama party on Xuco's upstairs patio became his farewell party. Jones, who was the executi ... More >>

Singing "Souleros" - A Conversation with Santana Band Frontman Andy Vargas

Photos by Marco Torres​Andy Vargas wears many hats. He is one of two lead singers for the The Carlos Santana Band. He is the son who followed in his father's footsteps by choosing music as a career. He is a dedicated dad to his 16-year-old son. He is part of an effort to replace music equipmen ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 5 Wings

Spicy interior Mexican-style wings at our No. 1 pick.Photo by Rachel Bohanan​For the next 20 weeks, we'll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year's winner is no easy task. We'll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which ... More >>

A Chat with Tequila Master Francisco Alcaraz

Photo courtesy Patrón Spirits.Patrón master distiller Francisco Alcaraz has been working with tequila since 1968. He distilled his first tequila for the U.S.-based label Patrón in 1989.​By the time the Eagles released "Tequila Sunrise," the first single from their second album Desperado in ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Octavio Madrigal of Theo's Restaurant

Octavio Madrigal is the chef at Theo's.​One's A Meal, the beloved Greek spot in Montrose, has seen some changes this year. It has a new owner (Ted "Theo" Mousoudakis), a new name (Theo's), and best of all, a beer and wine liquor license that kicks in today. The food never stops at this 24/7 re ... More >>

Special Soccer Edicion

What Happens When a White Dad Disapproves of His Daughter Dating a Mexican?

And are Spaniards White?

Good Tequila Actually Does Come (Relatively) Cheap

​It's 4:32 in the afternoon and I have a box of booze and nowhere to be. A box filled with two giant bottles of Familia Camarena tequila, a brand that I am not familiar with. Lord knows I do love me some tequila, but testing out strange booze can be a risky endeavor. And strange tequila is per ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Mobile Edition

"How could Taqueria Alborado-Taco Lady Express send us up here without any fugging water?"​The first-ever Haute Wheels Houston food truck festival is Saturday and Sunday at the HCC Southwest campus. (If we were in PR, we would've written that the festival is "rolling into H-town!!") There will ... More >>

Can a Gabacho be More Mexican than a Mexican?

And why would a image of the Virgin of Guadalupe cause so much controversy?

Feasting Fun at Menu of Menus

Photos by Apollo Stackwell​As I was leaving Spring Street last night, I noticed a line winding around the ruddy brick building for Menu of Menus. Even at 8:30 p.m., people were still clamoring to get in. And why not? Inside was a treasure trove of treats from more than 30 restaurants and -- fo ... More >>

Sneak Peak at Xuco Xicana

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttThe Peruvian-style ceviche is garnished with radishes, corn and avocado.​Even though we were already full of queso and ceviche when the entrees came out last night at El Patio, my dining companion and I couldn't help but dig in. "Oh, this tastes just like something ... More >>

Mariachi Love

More Than Margaritas at TQLA

No, not champagne flutes, tequila tasting glasses at TQLA. ​As the name would suggest, TQLA is serious about, well, tequila. Bottles of every shape and size glow seductively along red backlit shelving covering much of the rear wall. One-hundred-and-sixty-seven varieties, to be exact, with eigh ... More >>

Health Dept. Roundup

​Tighten the plumbing, put soap by the sink and get out the Scotch-Brite pads -- it's this week's Health Department Roundup: A November 10 inspection at Taqueria Puro Jalisco (1019 Edgebrook) found 10 violations, including a new, fairly awful-sounding one: the ventilation system was spewing s ... More >>

Workplace speech and Aztec ancestors

Health Dept. Roundup

​Maybe it's the weather, but a lot of places had pest problems this week on Health Department Roundup. Let's take a look: At Shahnai Restaurant (5920 Hillcroft), an August 22 inspection found the condition of the restaurant was encouraging insects or rodents to make the place their permanent ... More >>

Mexicans, Mormonism and the "Texans" of Mexico

Health Dept. Roundup

​There's something to be said for shooting straight. Label your restaurant with the name of a country, and it takes the guesswork out of things for twitchy white people unsure whether they're ready to gamble on fare that could range from South Asian to Middle Eastern to African. Of course, mee ... More >>

Sole of Houston: Bicycles Enable Lomax And Beebe To Cover 30-Plus Miles Of Hood

Murder, tacos and Perpetual Help​Man, there has been a lot of water under the bridge since David Beebe and I last undertook a Sole of Houston stroll in December of 2008.For my part, there was a divorce, massive weight loss, and the ditching of pretty much all my vices. As for Beebe, the supe ... More >>

Hate Mail

Health Dept. Roundup: Mobile Eateries

​We're on the run this week at Health Department Roundup, sprinting after some of the city's mobile eateries. In a routine inspection Tuesday, Taqueria Taconmadre - 7 Mundos (7501 Brownwood) notched 12 violations and was closed temporarily. The truck was not conforming to Article II, did not ... More >>

19th Annual Mariachi Invitational

"Volver, Volver" to the city's largest celebration of mariachi music

Learning to Share

The molcajete special at Taqueria De Jalisco

Learning to Share

Photo by Troy Fields​When you order the molcajete especial ($10.95) at Taqueria De Jalisco (408 Old Galveston Rd., 713-378-0059), you get two serving dishes, one a plate with guacamole, Spanish rice and refried beans, the other a molcajete — the traditional pestle used to grind spices in ... More >>

SPECIAL LONG-LETTER EDITION

The Reconquista and Mexican States

Loaves and Fishes

The best taquerías, like Taquería Jesus Maria, serve great Tex-Mex along with the regional Mexican fare.

Rudo y Cursi: Beautiful Losers

This is not the kind of sports movie where everyone wins.

One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Four, Let's Have Some Tequila, Then More, More, More

Photo by Margaret DowningThe scene last night was the wine vault at Voice in the basement of the Hotel Icon, 220 Main Street, and the occasion was a tequila cocktail pairing dinner for members of the media. Voice Chef Michael Kramer served up his usual magic with a dinner that started with a hearts ... More >>

Gift Giving at Soon-To-Be-Closed J. Will Jones Elementary

Thanks to some generous people in Houston and from as far away as New York State, J. Will Jones Elementary will celebrate its annual "Gift of Giving" celebration this Thursday, distributing "donated presents and hurricane relief supplies to students and their families," HISD announced today. St. Nic ... More >>

Drowned Sandwich at Paparruchos on Sage

Americans Recording Mexican Songs

The Bueno, the Bad and the Muy Ugly

Sole of Houston: Bissonnet, from Synott Road to Montrose

Mexican American Culture

Rude Pendejo-in-Law

Comida sin Fronteras

In 21st-century Houston, it's getting hard to tell the difference between Mexican and Tex-Mex

Naked Posole

The pork-and-hominy soup at Taqueria Mexico looks a little plain, until you dress it up

Esquivel

The Sights and Sounds of Esquivel!

Barandúa / Sisters Morales

Nuestras Canciones/Our Songs (Self-released) / Para Gloria (Luna Records)

North Guadalajara

Fonda Dona Maria transforms into a colossal palacio

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