Tacos of Texas
Mando Rayo
October 21, 2025
Let’s take a deep dive into the history of tacos and Mexican restaurants in Austin, from the early 1900s to the effects of the 1928 Master Plan and the Tejano establishments still standing to the next generation of taqueros and taqueras. Guest is Alan Garcia, the creator of the instagram page ATX Barrio Archive. If […]
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October 14, 2025
Uncertain Times: Dreamers, MAGA Latinos & Taco Politics
Let’s get a pulse of the community and how tacos play a role in identity and politics in 2025.
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October 7, 2025
Cocineras: The Backbone of Mexican restaurants
Join us for a conversation with Esme Tejeda from El Dorado Cafe and what it takes to run the back of the kitchen as well as how cocineras play a major role in a restaurant’s success. If you’d like to support the Tacos of Texas podcast and other podcasts like it from KUT & KUTX […]
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September 30, 2025
Standing out in Texas BBQ is not easy. Let’s find out how Pitmaster Chuck Charnichart and the team from Barbs-B-Que are making a name for themselves in the Barbecue Capital of the World.” If you’d like to support the Tacos of Texas podcast and other podcasts like it from KUT & KUTX in Austin, please […]
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September 23, 2025
Join Chef Kirk (Jesse Kuykendall) and Mando as they break down the major components of Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine.
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September 16, 2025
Tacos and (mostly) Tequila, a brief 10,000 year history
A deep dive into the intersection of tacos and tequila with agave expert and photographer Joel Salcido. If you’d like to support the Tacos of Texas podcast and other podcasts like it from KUT & KUTX in Austin, please visit supportthispodcast.org. Thank you for your support!
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September 9, 2025
Take one part Mexican, add Japanese sabores, what you’ll get is an incredible combination at Ramen Del Barrio. If you’d like to support the Tacos of Texas podcast and other podcasts like it from KUT & KUTX in Austin, please visit supportthispodcast.org. Thank you for your support!
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September 2, 2025
A primer into the Michelin guide and how tacos took over the list in Texas with Chef Edgar Rico from Nixta Taqueria. If you’d like to support the Tacos of Texas podcast and other podcasts like it from KUT & KUTX in Austin, please visit supportthispodcast.org. Thank you for your support!
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About
El Seis of the Tacos of Texas Podcast is taco journalism at its core. We open with a mom cooking en la casa amid fears of ICE, we sit down with Gina Hinojosa on why she’s ready to take down Abbott, and head into the barrios where Tejano families built Austin’s taco scene, now fighting gentrification. We close our heaviest stretch with “conflict foods”outside a detention center in Dilley, tying today’s story back to the Japanese internment camps in Texas.
But it’s a season filled with sazon as well: a taco truck gone full halal, a live taping on Black, Indigenous, and Mexican Texan history, empanadas y pupusas, fajitas in San Antonio, three generations of Baja-style women in East Austin, the Taco Bell debate, and a Migas Madness showdown to close it out. Twelve episodes, one taco at a time, we’re continuing to share the stories of Tejas.
CREDITS:
IDENTITY Productions
http://www.identity.productions
Host and Producer: Mando Rayo
Story Producer: Sharon Arteaga
Audio Mixing: Nicholas Worthen &
Ever Calderon
Creative Producer: Dennis Burnett
Host
Mando Rayo’s experience is deep-rooted in Latinx & BIPOC communities. Mando is a digital story-teller and uses his Latinx identity to inspire and build bridges through his production company, IDENTITY. From working with Laredo Taco Company, Beef Loving Texans, KLRU-TV, PBS Austin, Whataburger, Austin Film Society, People en Español y más, Mando shares stories through food, culture, documentaries and digital platforms. As an avid taco ambassador, food explorer and street ethnographers, Mando has traveled across the U.S. to uncover the tastiest tacos, from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to L.A. and New Orleans to New York City. Mando is the producer and co-author of ‘The Tacos of Texas book (UT Press) & docu-series with PBS Digital Studios and United Tacos of America TV Show on El Rey Network. Mando’s work has been featured on Bon Appetit Magazine, The Food Network, NPR, The New York Times and SXSW.
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