Some folks are holding fast to their New Year’s resolutions, while others are maybe not so much.
Resolutions work well for some folks, but what about do’s and don’ts? Ever tried framing it that way?
Taco journalist Mando Rayo certainly has. The Tacos of Texas podcast joined the Standard with some do’s and don’s for 2026. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Have you been sticking to your resolutions or your do’s and don’ts?
Mando Rayo: I try, man, but, you know, the tortillas pull me in every time.
Hey, let’s kick off the first do and don’t of 2026. I know you’ve been making out a list and checking it twice. This one’s about recipes, right?
Yeah, for sure. You know, the thing about recipes is like, you can play around with them. And for me, it’s super important to just kind of have fun with them. You don’t have to follow the recipe to the T, right? Just play around with it, make it your own.
What are the kinds of things you can use? Like, what do you got in your fridge? Add something to it. Whether you’re making a salsa or a marinade, use citrus that you have at home or use that extra pepper that you have at home that will spice up your recipe.
So I would say explore and have fun with your recipes for sure.
I like that one. But what about the don’t? What’s the corollary?
I mean, what I would say is that don’t cosplay that you’re an expert Mexican chef.
I’ve seen this in barbecue, man.
Yeah, you know, I see people cosplaying where like, you know, the honored tradition of making barbacoa in the pit and they kind of come into one of these places out in the Hill Country or whatnot. And then they’re like, “oh, this is how you do barbacoa.” They put on the outfit and they’re just doing it for the views, man.
Like don’t cosplay, you know? Come with respect a little bit.
Yeah, and learn what’s behind some of this. It’s a lot about learning.
So I guess we could narrow this down or sort of wrap it up with “do play around with recipes. Don’t cosplay Mexican food. Don’t pretend to be the pitmaster. Learn along the way.”
Let’s move on to the second do and don’t for 2026. We’re going to lean into our curiosity a bit, no?
Yes. So what I would say is do explore the places that you go to – learn the history, learn, like, what they’re doing and how they’re doing it differently. You know, find a local, cool new taqueria, find out what their story is, but find out like more so than, “hey, they have a great birria plate” or whatever, or barbacoa or maybe something that is like a cosa taco or something like that.
But explore like, hey, how did they come up with that? You know, talk to the folks that are making the food. When you explore that story, I think the tacos going to taste even better. So I say, yeah, do go into the story.
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The story behind the plate. All right. And the don’t?
Yeah. So I think on the opposite side of that is maybe don’t helicopter in just to get your 30-second video or try to be the first one to the new taco spot, you know?
So you do see that a lot where you’re like, “Hey, I’m going to find the first place to open in 2026.” Nah, take your time. Explore it, learn, go a few times and from that you can actually dig into some of the story.
So yeah, what I would say is like, don’t go, what we call, “helicopter in” and try to discover the new whatever new place.
And claim it as your own on social media.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, you’re not discovering anything. They’re there already.
What about the next do and don’t on your list?
Yeah. What I would say is do keep supporting your local Mexican eatery, taqueria, restaurant, taco truck, you know, Latin American place, because they need that support.
You know, we’ve seen in just the last year, a lot of uncertainty with a lot of the ICE raids. So use your privilege to support them. And I think people are actually doing that – you know, now more so, allowing people to feel safe in their own communities.
So use your privilege to support your local taqueria for sure.
What about a don’t?
Oh, man. Here’s a big learning lesson. Definitely, when you think about like Mexican food, just recently over the last month, there was a British baker opened up a place in Mexico City, and they went on a podcast to trash the bread culture of the whole country.
And so I’m like, you know, the thing is, don’t come to a place and you’re a visitor… Come with respect. Honor the traditions and don’t just say “hey, I’m going to show you know people from this country how to do a certain type of food – like in this case, of bread. So they definitely came after him.
So definitely don’t come in and trash a whole country because you think you have the expertise or experience.
You know, what strikes me about your list here is that a lot of this is tied in to how social media is so much a part of the scene these days.
Oh yeah, for sure. You know, the thing is, is everything that you see out there – whether it’s three seconds or 30 seconds or a minute – you got to capture people’s attention. And it’s important for you to really be intentional with the stories that you tell.
Ultimately that’s why I’m a taco journalist, right? So to be intentional around how do we tell these stories with grace? How do you tell stories with respect and honoring people where they’re coming from and where they are at as well?
