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October 1, 2024

Are Chico’s Tacos actually tacos?

By: Mando Rayo

This might be controversial but those drowned tacos are actually flautas or are they? We’ll dig into this highly debated issue in Chucotown. Guest is Ivan Enriquez, owner of El Perrito Austin.

The full transcript of this episode of Tacos of Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

Mando Rayo They’re rolled. They’re soaked. Drowned in a tomato sauce and topped with cheese and a bright green salsa. Are these Chicos tacos? Actually tacos. Find out tonight on unsolved Taco Mystery. What’s up tackle world I’m Taco Journal is Mandrill and welcome to the Tacos of Texas podcasts. Seizing Collateral produced by Identity Productions in partnership with KUT&KUTX Studios. And we’re back exploring taco culture in Texas through the eyes of the people in the Lone Star State. So grab your rolled tackles and a weenie sandwich and get ready for some tasty taco conversation. Source. In today’s episode and this might be controversial, but are those Chicos tacos actually tacos or are they? We’ll dig into this highly debated issue from Chico Town, a.k.a. El Paso. And we’ll be talking toIvan Enriquez from El Burrito Austin on today’s episode of Backwoods of Texas. So Chicos Tacos is a small local chain restaurant that was established and is really only available in El Paso. It was founded in 1953 by local boxing promoter Joe Mora. And to this day, it’s a local institution. It’s two in the morning and you are jonesing for some some greasy Mexican food, but they’re all closed. And so what do you have left? What are your options? Chico’s Tacos, man. You go there and it’s like, Egad. You know, you’re super hungry. You get a double or maybe a triple order. And so I’m talking about those drowned ketosis, a.k.a. loud bass, a.k.a. tacos. I don’t know whatever you people column these days in that tomato sauce and where. To be honest, you know, growing up, we used to do it like in like a family get together and then obviously had to in the in the morning. And yeah, so you got these tacos in a boat, right? Paper boat. You got the taquitos. And one order comes with three. A double is six and a triple. It’s nine. Right. And then they put that sauce in there. The tomato sauce. Now, the taquitos. You don’t know exactly what’s in there. It’s mystery meat. Maybe that that yellow government cheese, number five. And then you top it off with that super vibrant, almost glow in the dark green salsa. And then you just go to tap right at the end of the night. You’re just like, so good. You’re ready for the next day because you won’t be probably as crudo as, you know, if you hadn’t had a night at Chico’s Tacos and the one on Dyer, that’s kind of like the go to one. So today we’re talking about I Chico’s Tacos, actually tacos. That’s the age old question. You know you got the mix half saying like, no, no, son, Taco didn’t have it. And then you got the, you know, the people who come in to go down. They’re like, yeah, but they’re, you know, we used to go there when we were kids. So that’s what we’re talking about today. It’s like this idea and why did I say they’re rolled? They’re crispy, but they’re also soggy towards the end. And, they could be taquitos, right? Right. Little tacos. Taquitos. Definitely not tacos because, you know, they’re not like your traditional straight back where they’re not folded or they could be mini flour. That’s right. And, you know, I did ask the Internet. Hello, Internet. You all you know, I posted my question. Are Chicos tacos actually counts? And this is what you guys have to say. Kilo, Texas and they are loud bass and tomato sauce. Delicious O.G. veggie set that keep us all the way. Yasmin Ramirez writes, No, they’re nostalgic. Late night eats. So they’re not tacos, but they are nostalgic and it’s great for the after party. And then the Choco lives as an El Paso staple. We recommend the dire location. Who? Red Raider eight said, It doesn’t matter. They are amazing. And then Poncho omg 23 says very like sickly emoji. So I’m like, I don’t know. It’s it’s a thing. And so here’s my personal take on it. I grew up with it. I love them. And I’ve had quite a few tacos in my career as a taco journalist. And they’re not my first attempt when I go back home. But I will eat them if they’re around. You know, so I kind of maybe grew out of it. But there’s so many other new places that have a copy, if you will, or a and maybe they’re inspired by tacos. Right. And so we’ll be talking to one of them today. And very different to vendors and parts of Lauter. And then back in the day, there was a big Chicos versus Chicos controversy. That was way back when people were blogging. But I won’t go into that because it’s been known that she goes, it comes out for you. You know, they’ll pull out the cease and desist. So we’ll see what happens. Hopefully we won’t get that, but we won’t cease and we will definitely not desist. Vamos had to go down and visit El Paso if the hometown of this taco journalist. Chico’s tacos more than just delicious and affordable. They’re an El Paso icon. Since 1963, Chico’s Tacos, founded by local entrepreneur Joe Mora, has become a cornerstone of the Sun City’s culinary scene. Their unique tacos have inspired many, with other restaurants recreating that beloved dish even reaching Austin. Experience Why Chico’s Tacos are a local favorite and a staple in the city’s vibrant food scene, which has gotten us to our friends at Visit El Paso for sponsoring this podcast episode. Follow. Visit El Paso on Instagram and Facebook. Visit El Paso or on their website at. visitelpaso.com today on Tacos of Texas. We have Ivan Enriquez with us, owner of El Burrito Austin.Ivan is bringing his love for El Paso food culture through his version of rolled tacos bathed in tomato sauce, cheese and salsa. #querico. You know, I showed up with my Chico Town shirt from Chico. Relax. And of course, you know, we invited Johann and requests from El Perrito, 80 acts to talk about the ultimate question. Right. Are Chico’s tacos Actually, Because you don’t have to answer that right now. Okay,Ivan. But let’s start with your roots. Tell me about your transition from El Paso to Austin.

Speaker 2 Shoot, man. Well, obviously eight years ago decided to come to Austin and never being here actually brought this. You know, people always tell me you got to go to Austin. You got to go to Austin, you know? I was in my early 30s, you know.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah. Well, there’s not like a straight line. No, I don’t like an invisible train that you go from. From El Paso to Austin. Yeah. And then everybody just hangs out here, and then they stay here.

Ivan Enriquez Exactly. Exactly. So I was always like, kind of in El Paso in the alcohol industry, you know, I mean, and in the restaurant industry. So I was always in doing like this and the service and you, you pretty much me on premise. So that’s where it came from, my experience, you know. So always being in that side, I was, you know, turning 30 and then I was like, What am I going to do? You to me? Yeah. And they never it was like, everybody tell me, awesome arts is cool cities. Kind of like, you got to go visit it, You got to go visit it. Never being here. I was like, Man, I’m just gonna go check it out. I was working for Republic National, a liquor distributor, right. And then they had a position available out here. And I was like, You know what, man? I’m just going to apply for this if I get it. It was in the Hispanic market doing like Hispanic marketing and sales for like other brands towards restaurants, Mexican restaurants and things like that. So it’s kind of like similar what I do now. So I was like, you know, I’ll try and apply for a long story short, got the job, and that’s how I came out here to Austin.

Mando Rayo Okay. And what prompted you to to start El Perrito?

Ivan Enriquez So the first year, just being here in Austin always, I’m pretty sure just like any other old person is going to complain like mad. I kept buying food.

Mando Rayo Like I would come back.

Ivan Enriquez And I guess and I’m not even talking about like the the roll tacos. I’m talking about like the Chico’s tacos or whatnot. Yeah, I’m just talking about like the food, you know, just basic food that we.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Mexican. Yeah. Yeah. Basic food for us. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, but, like, kind of done it, right? I’m not saying, like, I’m not taking anything away from Austin.

Mando Rayo Or anything like.

Ivan Enriquez That, but just that we are super particular. I feel like living on the border. I think we’re like super lucky to have that influence. We’re super lucky to have those type of that that culture coming from Juarez. Ryan Being that it’s so big too, because there’s a lot of international travel.

Mando Rayo yeah. I think there’s so.

Ivan Enriquez Much so, you know, their influence where influence, you know, we all work together, you know, especially in the service industry, there’s a bunch of people coming in and out. So you kind of like learn a lot of things and you experience a lot of things. And I just feel like we got we got super spoiled. Yeah, super good food all the time, you know, because if it wasn’t from your wallet, that’s your.

Mando Rayo Mom right.

Ivan Enriquez There at some point.

Mando Rayo Because you know.

Ivan Enriquez You know your friend’s mom, I guess.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I’m thinking that, you know, it’s just.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, yeah. I just feel like, like I said, we were just so spoiled growing up in El Paso and having just super good home cooked food.

Mando Rayo You. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you got here, You’re like, I miss you, Miss, I, I got to create my own. Yeah, Yeah. You know, that.

Ivan Enriquez Was a whole concept, you know, And Austin super expensive, man. I was like, I couldn’t live off of making X amount of money.

Mando Rayo In a day.

Ivan Enriquez And I want to do some stuff. I can’t be doing it living here on this type of salary, you know?

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Money, you know, I mean, I was a so my whole thing was like, I had a little trailer I had already bought. So like, you know, only sell hot dogs since that hot dog was crazy after the bar, you know, maybe.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez I was like, maybe it’ll help. Yeah. So that was my whole kind of like, introduction. Yeah. And then I learned real quick. Obviously being in Austin, everybody’s super healthy. And I was like, I don’t know, hot dogs.

Mando Rayo Or.

Ivan Enriquez Healthy food or either I want tacos. I was like, Yeah, yeah. So that’s how I kind of just had a real quick and I was like, You know what? I’m going to start, you know, selling tacos.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah. And it’s where you’re like, Well, you know, I, I really missed those, those road back. All right. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. But to be honest with you, I was, like, more like, you know what? What? I want to do this. I want to do it right. You know, I wanted to do the road tacos, you know? I mean, but I wanted it the right way. I want to give it justice. So I spent a whole year, literally a whole year, just different recipes batching different different recipes, trying different things, trying to, like, learn this sauce, you mean?

Mando Rayo Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Man. Because, you know, it’s all about the sauce.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. It is. It is. So. So for those of you that aren’t from Chico Town and haven’t heard of Chicos Tacos, they’re basically these robocalls that they’re called and they’re drowned in this tomato bathos, if you will. And then with yellow cheese. Yeah, yellow cheese number five. Right. And then with like, super bright green salsa, right? Yeah. Yeah. And so a lot of us being from El Paso, it was kind of our diner food, you know, fast and easy. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Yep.

Mando Rayo Right. Good and good for the whole family. You can feed them for, like, ten bucks. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, that’s like.

Mando Rayo You know that. Yeah, I.

Ivan Enriquez Used to, man. Back in.

Mando Rayo Back in the day, man.

Ivan Enriquez You know, you’re getting like, what was a single three bucks?

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez You know, for something. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Anything that. Cheese, the cheeseburger. You know.

Mando Rayo You’re right.

Ivan Enriquez And then people start making their own little secret menus and get the the grilled cheese with the patty. Get it?

Mando Rayo Me and. Yeah, the patty.

Ivan Enriquez Melt, you know, but yeah.

Mando Rayo Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Good times for sure.

Mando Rayo Yeah. And then so you’re like, okay, well, let me bring that to Austin.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, right, Yeah, exactly. So I was like, I wanted to do, I guess I want to say our version of tacos, but I wanted to introduce a type of version of our tacos. Yeah, Yeah. To Austin. So I guess I spent a year trying to, like, figure out a recipe, trying to get a good recipe down. So I was different. I was trying different things, different different bases, different techniques. What I just like asking people, Hey, what do you think? You know, looking at people’s recipes. Well, let me try their recipe. Obviously, you know, my messaging working and then, you know, I just kept just kept up with they just kept, you know, just trying to trying different things. And then I was running one day on Lady Bird Lake, to be honest with you. Like, no, like, yeah, I was just kind of running and then I was just like, you know, man, I think I need to figure this out. I had been thinking about it for like almost a whole year and it just hit me, man, I tried doing it this way, and it just, like, got, like it just like a lightbulb, you know? And then I. I ran home that day like I was finishing running down at the lake. And then I went down and tried the recipe, tried the different seasonings, and bam, I was like, I have to work, work. And after that I just been tweaking it, just trying to get it.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah, Right.

Ivan Enriquez Let me just really go there. So you get, you know, the measurements and stuff like that. So yeah.

Mando Rayo And you’re attracting people that miss home. Exactly. Right. Yeah. Yeah. My brother was here not too long ago. We went down to their place and they’re like, because I told them others, this place, you know, that does kind of the version of the Chico’s Tacos. And so. And they loved it. Yeah, yeah. We try.

Ivan Enriquez We want to hit that. Yeah. I mean, we just want to hit that passion point, you mean?

Mando Rayo Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez You think about back in the days, you know, we just like growing up. It’s like, you know, we’re just. Yeah, you know, that’s what we try to go for.

Mando Rayo Yeah. And there’s the nostalgia, too. Growing up, I went to Chicos Tacos. Obviously, if you’re from El Paso, like, maybe 99% of the population. Yeah, Yeah. And for us, it was like this nostalgia thing. And, you know, I don’t go back as often, right?

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, Yeah, I agree. But there’s super diehard fans out there, man, that I’m talking about like that. Just love Chico’s or love with. Like, I can’t even say, you know, just love that.

Mando Rayo Those are. Those are real.

Ivan Enriquez Tacos, man. People are like super diehard fans that are just want to drive and willing to get that you I mean especially especially if you can if you hit it right on the die for us we’ve been we’ve been trying to do and we’ve been and we’ve been there. We’re getting there better and better. Yeah, for sure, man. We’re getting a lot of like a lot of people from like Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, like every weekend.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez I’d rather like I only take the 3 or 4 hour drive, go down there and then spend the weekend here. Yeah.

Mando Rayo I mean.

Ivan Enriquez And they get to come and enjoy some good food.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah. I love that.

Ivan Enriquez I love. So. Which is kind of cool.

Mando Rayo Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah. You realize, like, wow. Okay.

Mando Rayo All right, well, here comes the ultimate question, you know? Drum roll, please. I know what you’re like where you grew up with and what you’re making right now are Chico’s Tacos actually backwards?

Ivan Enriquez Man, I to be honest, I come back ethos back. I call them back ethos.

Mando Rayo And why is that?

Ivan Enriquez And I think it’s just because growing up my my grandma mama should always be like poquito and that was it. I think that was just a general name for a taco, you know? I mean, I think that was a necessary little.

Mando Rayo A little tiny little taco. Right?

Ivan Enriquez Just a daiquiri that I like. I like it. Those kids, you know, stuck to them. Like, I don’t always get quite a sticky close up was almost like it was a Baracoa was one of those. It was almost like it was a bastard. Yeah. I mean, she never would say like, let’s go. And it was always so, you know, growing up from that, you know, you just kind of stuck to me. So I just want to keep those, you know, like, I feel like there’s a little docket. Those aren’t necessarily a taco, but they’re not. I would say they’re more like, We’re more related to a flower.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s cousin. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez I consider flowers.

Mando Rayo That was not that because it had not been known that that’s been happening. All right. So like, you know.

Ivan Enriquez You know, if you think of a flower, like a bigger, like a flower that for me, traditionally is longer, right?

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez So, like, I think it’s a smaller flower. That sounds like man’s not really. Yeah. Yeah, it is flower. They’re just smaller variants. I call that taquito.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez And I just kind of looks like.

Mando Rayo You know me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I love this idea. Like, there’s some comedians that are riffing off, like, the variety of Mexican food. It’s so great. Well, what is it? How? Well you get a tortilla? Yeah. Like beans and fillings that you fold it. That’s a taco. Well, what else? You know, a flounder. You know, you roll it, you fry it with some protein.

Ivan Enriquez And that’s called the plant.

Mando Rayo Yeah, that’s so true. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez I think we just. We’re just on the right track, you know? I mean, it’s. Yeah, you know, it’s all about sticking to what we know, right? Like good tortillas, good proteins, some different Salazar’s and stuff like that.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Totally. Like they’re all related taco flour that, you know, that’s, you know, I mean they’re on the same. Yeah. Same little family.

Mando Rayo Yeah. So I’ll let you describe the inspiration from Chico’s and going to what you’re serving. Describe to us if somebody is going to go get yourself. What do you what do you call them?

Ivan Enriquez I call them road tacos. You know, I would try to keep it simple and.

Mando Rayo Make sure they don’t say, you know, to do that.

Ivan Enriquez I don’t want them to come out.

Mando Rayo And I.

Ivan Enriquez Know I’ve heard a lot of stories.

Mando Rayo On copyright. I don’t know that you can copyright food.

Ivan Enriquez Right? That’s what I use, you know, too close to the name, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I like to like you know, it’s one of the things that you really don’t want to play with them.

Mando Rayo As they go.

Ivan Enriquez You know, as soon as, you know, you might be like, yeah, it’s, you.

Mando Rayo Know, they’re.

Ivan Enriquez Too close or something.

Mando Rayo I’m like, Right, right, right.

Ivan Enriquez I just can’t really talk.

Mando Rayo About like a.

Ivan Enriquez General, you know, a broad general name, you name.

Mando Rayo It. When people order that at your place, where does it come with?

Ivan Enriquez Yeah. So definitely we use we so traditionally like what they use down there. Nobody knows. Right. Everybody is a huge Joe.

Mando Rayo Yeah right. yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Everybody uses this kind of meat or whatever. But like.

Mando Rayo I.

Ivan Enriquez Think a day like I actually heard one time. No, like, this is crazy, super absurd. Somebody told me, yeah, they use zebra Me. Well, I was like, That’s.

Mando Rayo The craziest thing I’ve ever heard.

Ivan Enriquez Zebra me. I’m like, okay, whatever.

Mando Rayo Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez It’s just crazy stuff that.

Mando Rayo You hear Brazil in the desert. It’s like Z set for the zoo, you know?

Ivan Enriquez And then always you hear like, for example, all the sauce. People say, this is because they do it this way.

Mando Rayo You know, I mean.

Ivan Enriquez We use obviously we go with our traditional because you got a nice ground beef, nice ground. Chuck 820 And then we use the golden yellow potatoes. We mix that together. They’re nice picadillo. Yeah. So sometimes people will be eating in the black. How do you will make crunching I think and it’s actually potatoes because we put ground beef.

Mando Rayo Okay yeah yeah.

Ivan Enriquez So it does a Yeah it does a lot of people obviously. Yeah. Because we also do our traditional crispy tacos as well.

Mando Rayo Yeah, that’s.

Ivan Enriquez Right. Our ground beef and potatoes and you know, I mean that’s another like staple of. You’re from El Paso.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah for sure.

Ivan Enriquez Is a good old fashioned crispy taco. Yeah, I was.

Mando Rayo All right.

Ivan Enriquez I’ll do the protein like that, so I might as well just keep it the same. And obviously it’s not going to change. The taste is going to make it for me. Just make it give. That takes a little bit better, you know?

Mando Rayo Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez So we do that, you know, it’s rolled up in a nice fresh corn tortillas. We, we get them fresh from fiesta through the area. Not to get mistaken with the supermarket. Yeah. Actually one one from on Burleson it’s a okay. Yeah. Yeah. A family owned tortilla here in Austin locally.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah. And you know.

Ivan Enriquez We use them and then we use their tortillas because it’s the specific tortilla that we use, right? I mean, because it has to roll perfectly and it has to fry perfectly. Yummy. Yeah. Because if you try using other ones, like they’ll tear.

Mando Rayo The tear or the track. Exactly.

Ivan Enriquez So it’s just like a specific tortilla that we use. Okay. And so they’re rolled up, obviously, and a nice fresh corn. My salad with the contact with. Yes. And then we fry them nice golden crispy you know, and then they’re sauced up in our homemade to our spicy tomato broth. So this is something I, I did different. I mean, I remember growing up always was like, man, that red sauce is always so nice and yeah, spicy. Yeah. So when I made it, I always had that in back of my head. So I knew I was already going to make it kind of like with that memory and.

Mando Rayo Right, right, right.

Ivan Enriquez So ours is. I make it with a nice fresh tomato broth, nice and spicy. Kind of like That’s Roth. More like it. Yeah. And then we use it actually a four cheese. So we use a nasal blend. Ooh. We also use a cassava, a blend of white cheese. And then we throw in yellow jack sharp cheddar and a Colby. So all those up and then that’s our four cheese blend, right? And now we use that fresh. We blended up ourselves and then we usually use our green salsa. These are the Anaheim or New Mexico, depending on what’s available. Yeah. And we use that for our green salsa. So it kind of gives it a different little kick. So like people were saying like, yeah, it’s not too spicy or whatever. It’s mainly because of the pepper depending on it.

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez You know, So I also don’t want to make it too much spicy because, you know, I just try to, I want to taste, get, I want to be like, damn, you know?

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez So but yeah, yeah. So we use a nice little green salsa if they want it or not, or on the side. That’s what we serve it. They people can order it in 3 or 6. You mean a single or double. People know that. Pretty familiar.

Mando Rayo Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez But also what we do differently as well is that we also offer chicken, shredded chicken.

Mando Rayo Okay.

Ivan Enriquez And brisket.

Mando Rayo And for those of you on a diet. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Right.

Ivan Enriquez And that’s what I say. This is a typical day, right?

Mando Rayo Yeah. I always.

Ivan Enriquez Said chicken and short of brisket if you want to change.

Mando Rayo It. Wow.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, people want to be, like.

Mando Rayo Central Texas style.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, exactly. You don’t me. So I want to switch. That’s cool. Give people an option.

Mando Rayo You. I mean.

Ivan Enriquez Because not everybody’s into the, you know, ground beef potato’s like, okay, well, let me try brisket fried chicken. So I want to give you a bit of an option. So now they get choice, you know, So, yeah, you know, said to me a little different from everybody else. Yeah.

Mando Rayo And so basically you get that, I get those in the side and then you put the cheese as well as the, the salsa. So for, I mean, I know how I eat out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I eat them with my hands. Right.

Ivan Enriquez So a little pro tip for people. Yeah. I always stick the fork inside the flour. So that way it’s like a little like, of course it’s like a little hook. Little shelf.

Mando Rayo Like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez So that way. And then. And then the way you drink the sauce. Yes. Don’t use spoon just in the corner.

Mando Rayo Just like. Yeah, yeah. Because it’s served on the boat.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.

Mando Rayo You just like to prop it up, Let nature take its course.

Ivan Enriquez Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t ask me for a second district. It’ll just be asking for a spoon, you know?

Mando Rayo Then I’m just gonna eat. Just the football.

Ivan Enriquez Cereal. No, no man’s land.

Mando Rayo But, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez Now I’ll give him a spoon, though.

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah. Well, that’s cool. So what do you think about, you know, like, some die hard mexicanos? Ah, like, no, no, son. Taco, they’re not real tacos. And then people that live in El Paso are like, Yes, they’re part of that. Yeah. Yeah. And so what are your thoughts on people that say that they’re not real tacos?

Ivan Enriquez And I would say they’re I don’t know. It’s kind of hard. Yeah. I mean, I would say there’s some tacos.

Mando Rayo For.

Ivan Enriquez Me. It’s like, you know, we’re just we’re the same. Just. Just a little different. Yeah. Kind of like Austin, right?

Mando Rayo Yeah. Yeah, same. Just a little. Like, you know, the intersectionality cloud us that goes into Quito. Yeah, exactly. You know, you know.

Ivan Enriquez We just like to, you know, keep it tight a little bit. Roll it up. Let’s see, you know.

Mando Rayo Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez You know, we like to I like to say just like we just like to, you know, get the party going, just, you know, roll up our tacos, throw them in the sauce and just go to town.

Mando Rayo Even mean. Yeah, yeah. So. That’s right.

Ivan Enriquez And then just drink it up, you know.

Mando Rayo Nice. Nice. Well,Ivan, thanks so much for having this conversation. I don’t know if we’ve fully answered the question. All depends on maybe.

Ivan Enriquez Your.

Mando Rayo Perspective. Yeah. Yeah. But because this is what you do, this is your business. You know, I feel like people should come try your tacos. And I do feel like going to your place, you know, this is definitely that next level, you know, because it does feel like it’s fresh and you know what’s in it.

Ivan Enriquez Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Mando Rayo Because, you know, Chico’s like, we all.

Ivan Enriquez Know stories.

Mando Rayo We hear about. Yeah. Well, is there anything that you like to tell our listeners in regards to your version of the robocalls or anything you have on your menu?

Ivan Enriquez Nah, man. Just so if you are looking for try out. You know, I wouldn’t even say El Paso staff who I would just say, you know, border style food, you know where to eat. I mean, come on down. You know, I mean, now we also just opened up our our bar. So we got our we got a liquor license going on now. So an hour to be doing like, you know, some boozy Iowa Frescas we do because we do have fresh our frescas right now. Okay. So now we’ll be doing some, you know play off of that, doing some booze. Yalla frescas. Right. We’re doing some like, red beer styles, like tomato styles, like back home. Yeah, yeah. So we’re doing a lot of that style, you know? I mean, nice and spicy. Not like your Austin style, you know?

Mando Rayo Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ivan Enriquez You know, everything we do. I mean, that would change that. So you’re going to have.

Mando Rayo That and.

Ivan Enriquez Make it nice.

Mando Rayo You know? Yeah. Yeah.

Ivan Enriquez You want to make sure you want to get rid of that crew that you don’t mean at the end of the day.

Mando Rayo I mean.

Ivan Enriquez You want to, you know, just be able to showcase that El Paso style, man. Yeah. And just, you know, this is the only way I know how to do it, you know? Paso style. So I got, I guess you could say that’s just the style of cooking that we do. You know.

Mando Rayo Me? Yeah. And.

Ivan Enriquez You know, some people try it out.

Mando Rayo Yeah, for sure. Well, there you go. You heard it here. If you want that Chico Town flavor and vibe, that border culture, y’all come out to El Burrito eight X?

Ivan Enriquez Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Mando Rayo All right.

Ivan Enriquez Appreciate him. Thank you.

Mando Rayo Man. I appreciate you. Well, there you have it, folks. It’s a taco. No, no, no, no. It’s not a taquito. That’s a flauta. It just drowned in tomato sauce. It’s all of the above, you know? I don’t know. It all depends on the perspective. Right? So for me, I’ll. I’ll call him taquito. So I’m going to put it out there. I’m gonna put it out there. That drown. Taquitos ahogados how about that? I keep those. I had those. And so it was fun to, you know, just connect with Ivan. And so it’s super shout out to Ivan Enriquez from El Perrito Austin. You know, doing what he loves and showcasing the love of food culture in El Paso and bringing it to the ATX. And I definitely want to shout out Ivan’s place el Perrito Austin. Austin But in Austin you also have El Paso, Flauta. And of course, I have to shout out El Cometa in El Paso, Texas. It’s one of my favorite places to get flautas. But watch out, they might not be drowned in that tomato sauce. This has been the Tacos of Texas podcast developed and produced by Identity Productions. If you enjoyed today’s episode and are craving more taco content, go to our website at www.identity.productions or follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube at Identity Productions and United Tacos of America. If you like the podcast, don’t forget to leave a five star review. Every review helps us keep the podcast going. This is your host, Mando and Taco Journalist Radio Silence. Tacos. On the next proximal Tacos of Texas Spanglish, botana and border culture. If you grew up along the border in Texas, you can speak con ganas. No where the  good tacos and Botanas are. And your identity runs as long as the Rio Grande there across Texas.

Speaker 3 The That of Texas podcast is presented by Identity Productions in partnership with KUT&KUTX Studios. Our host and producer is Mando Rayo. Our audio is mixed by Nicholas Worden. Our story producer is me, Luis, Vanessa and our creative producer is Dennis Burnett. Music was created by Public Rosa in Austin, Texas, and King Benny Productions. Located in the Quinto barrio of Houston.

This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.


Episodes

February 11, 2025

Why El Paso Mexican food hits different

In this bonus episode of the Tacos of Texas podcast, Mando Rayo, taco journalist joins the Texas Standard, to talk about El Paso’s unique flavors. The programming featured in this bonus episode was originally aired on the Texas Standard in February, 2024. As we gear up for the next season of Tacos of Texas, we […]

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February 7, 2025

‘It impacts all of us’: A Day Without Immigrants 

Earlier this week, folks in several industries participated in an event called “A Day Without Immigrants.” The focus was to highlight the contributions immigrants make every day, including to the economy.  Mando Rayo, taco journalist and host of the Tacos of Texas podcast spoke with Texas Standard about the protest and the contributions of the […]

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February 4, 2025

Taking your tacos to the next level in 2025 – BONUS

Mando Rayo shares his “taco hacks” for both restaurants and home cooking. This is a previously aired segment of the Texas Standard from 2024.

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December 24, 2024

The Best thing I ate in 2024 (Live at El Perrito ATX) — BONUS

We’ll bring El Cuatro, season 4 of the Tacos of Texas Podcast with a live event at El Perrito ATX. We recap some of the best things we ate in 2024 and talk to our special guest from Visit El Paso, Julio Cotto about his identity and favorite taco spots. 

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December 17, 2024

Taco Font, A Latino Art Weekend – Live at The Cathedral ATX — BONUS

Taco Font, a Latino Art Weekend live event in collaboration with The Cathedral Austin and Of Color. Some taco trucks are colorful, some hand-written and painted, and others are inspired by the food they make. In this episode, we’ll capture the most creative taco trucks, the inspiration, and stories behind the art, and eat along the way. Guests include muralist, Ernesto “Cheche” Hernandez and Reyna Vasquez, Veracruz All Natural (Austin) and moderated by Mando Rayo, Taco Journalist.

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November 19, 2024

Introducing: 24 Hours in Austin

The Tacos of Texas teams want to share a new podcast with you! 24 Hours in Austin tries to answer the question: What does a day in the life of Austin, Texas sound like?

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November 5, 2024

H-E-B’s road to Mi Tienda

What led HEB to go full Hispanic aisle? With the Mi Tienda brand, HEB went full into targetLatino consumers from barbacoa, salsas y tamales. Guest is Manny Colunga, store leaderat Mi Tienda in Houston, Texas.

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October 29, 2024

Is that Freddy Fender on my tortilla?

Let’s talk about folklore in Mexican cooking from apparitions of La Virgen or Freddie Fender on a tortilla, good and bad omens to ofrendas for our loved ones. Guest is Ayden Castellanos from the podcast, SUSTO.

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