The Michelin Guide ranking top places to eat was announced recently. Like many Texans, we were wondering if some of our favorites made the list.
Mando Rayo, host of the Tacos of Texas podcast, Thanks, joined the show with a breakdown of the new Michelin luminaries, as well as details on how he plans to celebrate the podcast’s fifth season. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
So give us some names.
I’m going to go with a barbecue nickname. Her name is Chuck Charnicart out of Barbs-B-Q. And, you know, her real name is Teresa. And, she was selected as Texas’ Most Promising Chef.
They’re out of Lockhart and, to be honest, it’s kind of like this idea around like really focusing in on not only the flavors from home and growing up in the Rio Grande Valley and then being in the barbecue game and now mixing in kind of like that traditional barbecue, but also those flavors from home. And the new generation of barbecue-eaters, right? And makers. So I love that.
And, you know, I think when you think about Texas, you think of Tatemó out in Houston, Mixtli in San Antonio, and obviously Austin’s Nixta Taqueria. But one of the standouts for me is definitely a new one. It’s Mercado Sin Nombre.
Where is this?
That’s in Austin, Texas. And yeah, the whole focus of what I would say is their menu is really corn. Everything’s corn-based and everything from scratch. But they make these killer burritos and one of the owners has a lineage back to El Paso-Juárez. So I appreciate that.
Yeah, being an El Pasoan yourself, I guess. You grew up in the area.
You know, when it comes to these guides and the stars and all that, is it significant when a city doesn’t get a new one on the list, or is it just business as usual? How does that wash out?
It’s kind of like the game, if you will. Cities buy into the Michelin Guide and then you do get that – you know, they’re being able to get the recognition, right? And so I think when you do you get that recognition and maybe you don’t get the next one, it’s okay because it leads to more opportunities and more recognition.
And it could be a James Beard, it could the Food & Wine magazine, or they’ll get invited to do like chef pop-ups, and then people line up for them.
And so I don’t know if it makes that much of a difference, but just being recognized in the Michelin Guide, what I would say is like people definitely can squeeze like 10 years out of that recognition.
Now, let’s talk about five years of the Tacos of Texas podcast. Season five has just officially wrapped. The podcast came out just a couple of days ago. How was this season? How’d it go?
Surprisingly, I mean, you know, people love these taco stories, right? But we really dug into different issues and explored not only culture, but what’s happening even politically in Texas right now and in the United States.
So for us, I thought, you, know, definitely we went deeper into interviews, but also the conversations. You know, we asked a MAGA Latino around like how does he feel when an immigrant makes his food? Considering the stance that he takes on anti-immigration.
We also went out to El Grandpa Mexican BBQ out in Georgetown, Texas. They got all the TikToks. They blew up. And they’re doing lamb barbacoa, above-ground pits that’s amazing. And it’s definitely worth a trip. It’s out in this field, in this ranch road, and you just get there and it’s so good.
You know, I have to say, if we’re talking about the end of five seasons of the Tacos of Texas podcast, you guys should celebrate – have a party or something.
Shouldn’t we? Yes, and people want it. And you know what? We’re gonna bring tacos to the people.
