Tacos of Texas

Alan Garcia: [00:00:00] That’s the thing that hurts me the most is to see when you compare the way that the cultures were Yeah. Celebrated and marketed by the city. Yeah. You know? ’cause when I was growing up, yeah. I saw the city rush to promote and celebrate these new South Congress food trucks. Right. But I knew that that was something that existed in the Barrios.

It was a working class tradition, but they weren’t doing the same. You know they weren’t giving them the same attention.

Mando Rayo: What’s up Taco World? I’m Taco Journalist Mandore, and welcome to the Tacos of Texas podcast, El Cinco produced by Identity Productions in partnership with KUT and KUTX studios. And we’re back exploring taco culture in Texas through the. Eyes of the people in the Lone Star state. So grab an old school menu and chips and salsa and get ready for some muy tasty taco conversations.[00:01:00]

In today’s episode of Back of Texas, we’re talking. Austin Tackle history with Alan Garcia, creator of the A TX Barrio Archive. We’re mapping the journey from the early 19 hundreds restaurant menus to today’s new generation of Ros.

What’s up, MI Gente? Mandore here. And today we’re taking a trip, not down the street for tacos, but back in time. That’s right. We’re going back to the future baby. To uncover the roots of taco culture in the city, I call home Austin Tejas. Now Austin’s changing really fast. You see cranes in the sky, condos on every corner, and don’t get me started with those loud [00:02:00] Teslas.

And the buildings that used to be pans and tortilla shops now turn into cocktail bars and robot restaurants. But here’s the thing. Behind every bulldoze house and shuttered taco truck, there’s a story, a family of flavor, a piece of our ura, and one person who’s been doing the work to preserve that memory is Alan Garcia, the voice behind a TX Barrio archive.

Alan documents the stories that might. Otherwise be lost from 1920s newspaper clippings and taqueria menus to literally saving old restaurant signs that developers and gentrification would just dump out of existence. In this episode, we dig into the taco timeline from the earliest mentions of tacos in local restaurants, the effects of the 1928 master plan.

The document that cemented gentrification in the city of Austin to the rise of trailers and [00:03:00] taco trucks in the eighties and nineties, to the displacement that continues to erase black and brown spaces today. We also talk about the signs, the little ones that Allen has rescued from old businesses and what it means to carry those histories forward.

So whether you’re new to Austin or you’ve been here for generations, this episode is for anyone who understands that tacos, yeah, they carry. So let’s get into it with Alan Garcia.

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From Austin lost Latin [00:05:00] Clubs to Long Goias, Alan Garcia serves as a collective memory keeper through his Instagram page. A TX barrio archive. He makes sure the stories of Austin’s black and brown communities won’t be forgotten today. He takes us deep into the city’s taco history. The families who shaped it and the restaurants they ran.

Ellen. Now I can officially welcome you to the show.

Alan Garcia: Happy to be here.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. So Alan, uh, tell us a little bit about yourself and the A TX Barrio archive.

Alan Garcia: Yeah, so, man, Austin native, born and raised here. Born in the old Bracken Ridge Hospital. Dang. Downtown.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: Uh, my parents immigrated here in the eighties from Mexico City Uhhuh.

So another Daco Capital.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: Um, and really I just wanted to tell their story as immigrants, you know, they worked back of house. Restaurant jobs, hotel jobs.

music: Mm-hmm.

Alan Garcia: So it was through archiving, through the social media project? Yeah. I wanted to. Tell people, you know, how [00:06:00] Austin was built by immigrant, things like that.

Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah. One of the things that I think that pops up when you look through your Instagram page, it’s kind of like this historical piece of something that when people come to Austin, they’re like, oh, wow, I didn’t even know that existed.

Alan Garcia: Yeah, exactly. I mean, it’s buildings that they know as a certain bar, right?

With kind of a trendy element.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah.

Alan Garcia: But if you peel back the layers. You know, an older generation of Austinites will know it. As you know, that was restaurant. Oh yeah. Or that was. So and so barbecue joint. Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Ara,

Alan Garcia: yeah. Right

Mando Rayo: there on, uh, Cesar and, and uh, um, pleasant Valley.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Yeah. I actually

Mando Rayo: took my wedding photos there.

Can you believe that? I need to, I need to see that.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Maybe the next post on the page. Yeah. Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Oh yeah. For sure. For sure. So when people come to, you know, your Instagram page, what are they seeing and what are they asking for?

Alan Garcia: Yeah. I mean, the response is, is huge. There’s, what I love the most is when people can help me [00:07:00] identify people in the photos.

music: Oh, wow.

Alan Garcia: And it’s a lot of family members. Okay. Who comment with memories and they’ll tag their t, you know? Yeah. Their aita. And it’s a lot of history they didn’t know existed in a newspaper article. Right. In the archive.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: So it’s really reconnecting them with a piece of history that’s theirs. Right. Um.

And it’s just the, the throwback that people remember. Yeah, yeah. You know, I haven’t seen that intersection of East Austin. Yeah. In years. And you just share one old advertisement or one old photo. And it just brings back this flood of memories. It’s very emotional, but yeah. Yeah. Makes people really proud, you know, of the, the neighborhood they grew up in.

Yeah. There’s

Mando Rayo: a lot of nostalgia and then there’s a lot of history in Austin around like just different families from the Limon. To, uh, Estrada and we kind of take it for granted, you know? Mm-hmm. We see those buildings, but we’re like, oh man, there’s people that actually worked there and built [00:08:00]businesses and we need to, I think, honor, honor that history.

Right? Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. And, um, you brought some stuff for us to look at. Yeah, yeah. And uh, when I reached out I was like, oh, let’s look at some of the things that I remember. ’cause I did mention we took her winning photos in front of that PIs negative taco truck. And, and, and then, and then you mentioned Doos.

That was right there, right? Yeah. The building. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Tell us like how you rescued maybe at that time.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. I mean, a lot of times, you know, just real estate, right? A building will be fenced off. It’s about to get demolished, but sometimes there’s still some of those old artifacts from when it was a Mexican restaurant.

Yeah. Or Mexican owned business. Right. You know, I, some people see it as trash. I see it as worth saving from the landfill and putting in a museum, you know? Yeah. Totally. Providing context, telling the story, so, right. It’s kind of in the story with a lot of artifacts I collect. Yeah. Uh, I find them for [00:09:00] sale.

Yeah. You know, I, I get them donated from people who don’t want them anymore. Old postcards, um. Some of them are old. Old, I mean, just precious.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. I see this, uh, Charro menu and it’s in a sealed, uh, document here to preserve it, obviously, but Charro on nine 12 Red River.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Right. Which is where the Mohawk.

Is today the music venue, the Moja. It’s the same building. Oh

Mando Rayo: yeah, yeah, totally. That’s the Moha. They have the drawing of it. That’s crazy. And I

Alan Garcia: have another postcard too, of the dining room at ro and it’s mind blowing to think, well, that’s where I stand to to see concerts. But before, yeah, that was where.

The Carlene family was, you know, serving crispy tacos. Yeah. The Carlene.

Mando Rayo: Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. Uh, and then we have obviously, uh, here Mat Rancho.

Alan Garcia: Mat Rancho, yeah. Right.

Mando Rayo: So they’ve been around for a long time. They were downtown, right? Yeah. Is that right?

Alan Garcia: And that postcard shows the. The East first Street, which is now Cesar Chavez Street location.

Right. Uhhuh. Right before [00:10:00] the hotel construction. Right. Right before they moved. Before they moved and then they

Mando Rayo: moved to, mm-hmm. To South Austin. And then, uh, El Matamoros home of the crispy tacos.

Alan Garcia: Yeah, that’s uh. Mid-century, early Mexican restaurant, early entrepreneur. Yeah. Monroe Lopez. Um, it’s hard to tell where it is today.

It’s on the frontage road. Yeah. Of I 35. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mando Rayo: Totally. Yeah. Yeah.

Alan Garcia: But, uh, the iconography, the neon, right, right. The giant, uh, al you know, neon sign in the front. Yeah. Love that. Um. Yeah, one of my favorites. You

Mando Rayo: have Monroe Mexican food, uh, to take home.

Alan Garcia: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Like that’s the official name of the restaurant.

That’s awesome. Yeah. Yeah. He, he mastered,

Alan Garcia: mastered the Togo business back then.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. No, that’s cool. This definitely has like this old feeling, like if you go to like, maybe outside of Austin, all the small, small towns. Yeah. It has that feel, right? Mm-hmm. And then you have a lot of these, uh, matches that, [00:11:00] that you have from different restaurants, you know, like laa.

Alan Garcia: Yes. Yeah. On, on south first, one of my, yeah. Favorites from South Austin. Rena Bakery. Yeah. Um, ela. I know I have, uh, yeah. Ela, El El Manto. Yeah. And a lot of places that I’m just learning about as I go because I’ve grown up here, but a lot of this history isn’t well documented. Yeah. It’ll be where I find it in a collection and I have to educate myself, you know, who owned this place?

Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where was it? You know? Yeah. And then of course, you know, you can’t have a proper Mexican restaurant without the like an Aztec calendar. Exactly. Right. So like this is, which is happy

Alan Garcia: to provide to y’all old,

Mando Rayo: old school man. Look at that. Yeah. Elte.

Alan Garcia: On East seventh Street, which Yeah, I remember.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. That

Alan Garcia: was their thing, right? You pick up a calendar. Yeah. You pick up a

Mando Rayo: calendar, yeah. Every year. That’s right. Yeah. Um,

Alan Garcia: so I know there’s still a whole God collection of calendars out there. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah, [00:12:00] I was blessed to be able to save this one. Yeah. Um, and display it a few times and that’s

Mando Rayo: cool.

That’s cool. And yeah, some of the stuff yeah. You know, it’s on loan and you let us borrow it for, for our right. For, so I appreciate that. Uh, so yeah, let’s get into it. So we’re gonna walk people through what was around in the earliest mentions. Of taquerias or restaurants or even like, um, uh, es, right? Yeah.

Uh, at the churches, uh, early on in the 1920s to really kind of, uh, talking about the master plan and what happened, the effects of that. Mm-hmm. And, and into the fifties and seventies, and then into the, the migration after that, a lot of the immigrant migration that happened in the. In Texas. Mm-hmm. And go Texas area as well, um, in the seventies that lead us to the nineties and two thousands, and then to current times.

Right, right. So let, let’s, let’s walk through that. So, yeah, let, let’s talk about [00:13:00] the, the early mentions of, of restaurants. Yeah. I know you, uh, shared some articles of, uh, I think a carma. Right. Yeah. Or a hamika.

Alan Garcia: A Hamika that was organized by the Guadalupe Catholic Church. Yeah. So we know of it today as being in East Austin.

Yeah. But this was an article from the 1920s when they were located across from Republic Square Park in downtown Austin. Oh, yes, yes, that’s right. Uh, and this came from a newspaper called LaGuardia.

music: Mm-hmm.

Alan Garcia: Probably Austin’s first Spanish language newspaper. Wow. We’re blessed to have it, you know, scanned.

Yeah. Yeah. Researchers are able to look through it, but that was some of the first mentions I’ve ever read of. Food, Mexican food being served to the community there. Yeah. Um, and it happened around, you know, Kamika es Right, right. Celebrations, right, right.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. We printed some of this. So, LA[00:14:00]

1921. No. Wow. Yeah. And then you have like, uh, advertisements here for different companies as well. Um, yeah. And like, you know. You know, like it’s all the, you know, old school, uh, when you think about how we get our media today. Mm-hmm. You know, it’s very similar, but it’s on how many different platforms now.

Right.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. There’s a, a lot of great articles back then about just keeping, you know, tabs on who’s who, and the, then interestingly with restaurants, a lot of news about discrimination happening against Mexicanos. Mm-hmm. In central Texas restaurants. Right? Right. So anytime someone was denied access, right?

Mm-hmm. They would publish that and say, you know, wow. You know, don’t visit this restaurant. Yeah. A member of our community was discriminated against. Okay. So that’s And just building up Yeah. These cases. Yeah. Building up

Mando Rayo: that support. Yeah. Yeah. That’s interesting. And um, Republic [00:15:00] Square Park was called Little Mexico.

Little Mexico, yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so there was like tamale vendors. Yeah. You know, small businesses, Titos. Mm-hmm. Right. So it was like a thriving community.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. There’s a lot of mention about the. The festivals they would throw mm-hmm. In that little blaa.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: Um, and a lot of workers lived there.

You know, they worked at the factory. Right. And housing was concentrated around

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: Republic Square, which you look at today and it’s impossible to tell

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: That that was a barrio, you know? Yeah. Yeah. One of the first. Yeah.

Mando Rayo: And, um, so then, then, then, uh, came, uh, so the earliest mentions, you know, 1920s.

Mm-hmm. Right. Uh, then came the, the city of Austin implemented the 1928 master plan.

Alan Garcia: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: So for somebody that doesn’t know what that is, can you kind of walk us through that?

Alan Garcia: Yeah. City planners who got together and decided, you know, we need to plan how we develop the city moving forward. Mm-hmm. And a lot of that [00:16:00] dealt with how do we.

How do we deal with this issue? They thought it was an issue that there are African American communities. Yeah. Living too close to white communities. Right. So they decided, well, we, we will move everyone to East Austin. That’s where we will locate the public schools for African Americans. Swimming pools, you know, public parks and Mexicanos were swept up in that too, you know?

Mm-hmm. The Republic Square barrio. That was also next to a red light district.

music: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Alan Garcia: And of course, you know, city leaders just used that excuse to, Hey, we gotta clean up crime, we gotta crack down on all this. Blight. So everything had to move, including the the Catholic churches. Yeah. And people move with their church, you know?

Yeah, yeah. They move with their saints, so. Right, right. That’s when you see like the

Mando Rayo: Guadalupe

Alan Garcia: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Church, right? Mm-hmm. Aha. Or or Lady of Guadalupe. Yeah. Which is now in East Austin. East

Alan Garcia: Austin, yeah. That used

Mando Rayo: to be downtown.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. So from the thirties is when they developed in that part of East Austin.

Right. And that’s when you see the neighborhood really flourish, as you know. Right. The [00:17:00]new spot for, for Mexicano.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. That’s part of our history. This, this idea that, you know, the city of Austin, like actual real people implemented it’s historical, not only in Austin, but redlining, right? Yeah. And so, so this idea that like, hey, you’re gonna have to relocate, we’re gonna move you.

Mm-hmm. And how we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna. Cut. Cut off your services. If you want access to water and utilities, if you want access for your kids to go to school, you’re gonna have to go on the other side of the freeway. Right. Exactly. And that was before obviously I 35. Mm-hmm. Right. So in a sense, we’re still kind of dealing with.

The effects of gentrification because of that. Yeah. Right.

Alan Garcia: Definitely.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. So what happened after that? How did communities kind of come together now that they were pushed out and forcibly move to another part of town?

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Uh, well, it is a happy story. Mm-hmm. I mean, there is, you see all of these examples of community getting rebuilt right around their church, around their [00:18:00] landmarks.

Mm-hmm. Architecturally, you see people just incorporating. Businesses into their, you know, front home. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You see a lot of RIAs opening up. Uh, that’s the era when Joe’s Bakery first got started.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. And they operated that just out of a house, you know? Yeah. They lived behind the bakery.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Yeah, that’s right. You know where that, what? What’s that little burger stand is right now? Um, oh yeah. Shortstop, short Shortstop. Uhhuh. That was the original location. Yeah. In that area. Mm-hmm. Until they moved to their current location. Yeah. And we’re talking about Joe’s Bakery on seventh Street. On seventh, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And

Alan Garcia: a lot of other examples of just neighborhood grocery stores. Mm-hmm. You know, neighborhood. It’s Mexican food joints opening up, you know, and you could

Mando Rayo: still see one of the, those that grocer on seventh Street, right? Yeah. The green and white grocery. The green and white G, right? Yeah, yeah.

Alan Garcia: Which they used to sell tamales full time. Mm-hmm. You know, they served the neighborhood. Now it’s the Vidia. Yeah. But they had to adapt. Right. You know? Yeah. People moving there. Um, that was now a busy thoroughfare, so they, [00:19:00] they had to. Start a business, serve food to,

Mando Rayo: right, right, right. And then you have kind of this different, uh, businesses coming to East Austin, like on Cesar Chavez.

Alan Garcia: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Right.

Alan Garcia: Mm-hmm.

Mando Rayo: Um, as well as seventh Street. So in a sense, you have this seven block area.

music: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Right. And then the idea around, okay, well what, what can we do? Right? Yeah. And just like we serve, uh, uh, a lot of old school, like in, in Mexican neighborhoods, it’s comilla ra, right? Mm-hmm. So they would like, Hey, the front, you know, they have their home, their kitchen was a little, little, uh, restaurant, right?

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes tortilla factories, you know, I know the family behind Tamal House.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: In East Austin. Yeah. They have roots in the old downtown Austin Battery. That’s right.

Mando Rayo: That’s right. Yeah. They had to move.

Alan Garcia: And they set up shop on East seventh Street. Right. It’s still there today. Uh, it’s still a building with a, with a little water tower Uhhuh.

For the longest time it was called [00:20:00] Tony’s Tortillaria. You know, they, they lived there, but they also manufactured tortillas. Yeah. Chips. Yeah. A lot of these places serving Manolo too. For, for the people. Yeah. Yeah.

Mando Rayo: That’s awesome. Love that. Yeah. And then out of that, I would say, um. Uh, that necessity to survive.

I, I would say. Mm-hmm. Right. They created these businesses. Yeah. You know, um, uh, taxi services. Right. Right. They created, um, these restaurants, uh, tortilla factories, and some of those families can still continue today, right? Yeah. Right.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. I mean, Cisco’s mm-hmm. On East sixth Street is. Huge example. Yeah. Uh, they really introduced Mexican food to a lot of white Austinites, you know?

Mando Rayo: Right, right, right. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe they weren’t visiting,

Alan Garcia: maybe they weren’t visiting the downtown Austin Barrio. Right. But now that this became more of a district for Mexican restaurants. Right. It became a thing, you know? Yeah. Oh, well, we, we will visit the neighborhood for Amiga.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah, totally.

Alan Garcia: Um, [00:21:00] Cisco’s, Joe’s Bakery right, is the thirties, right?

Yeah, it was, yeah. Um. There used to be La Patia on East sixth Street, right? Oh yeah. Um, that’s another family, the Carlin family, Uhhuh that has roots to the old Barrio. Right, right set up there. That later became Novo Leon. On street. Oh yeah, yeah. I remember Neval. The, the building. Yeah. Yeah.

Mando Rayo: That, so that restaurant, it used to be where Plaza Saltillo is now.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Right next to there. Yeah.

Mando Rayo: If you live in Austin and you’re getting these references, or not Google it, Plaza Saltillo, it’s a place, it’s not just a, the a Cat Metro stop, right?

music: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Okay. So, so there was a lot of thriving businesses that, that was happening. Um, and in a sense, the Chicanos of that time and the Tejanos mm-hmm.

You know, started to, to thrive right in there. And, uh, even though East Austin has always been under resourced.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Right. Definitely. Yeah. And

Mando Rayo: then, so the next [00:22:00] period in our timeline is going from the 1970s, eighties. And there was an influx of new immigrants coming in the migration to Texas, but also different parts of the us.

music: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Right? Mm-hmm. And so this need for, for labor and all that kind of created and also like, you know, awesome being, I think continuously, not even on paper, but a sanctuary city.

Alan Garcia: Yeah, for sure. I mean, that’s my parents’ generation, you know, they, they come here in that era and it’s very new to them too, you know?

Yeah. They’re from Mexico Uhhuh. So Tex-Mex is something they have to learn about, you know?

Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah.

Alan Garcia: Uh, but there’s also more taquerias, more taco trucks showing up. More essential American food that’s getting introduced. Yeah, that’s right. So it is just coexisting with the long time Tex-Mex theno owned spots.

Yeah. And yeah, new immigrants who say, well. I wanna make barbacoa my style. Yeah. So I’m gonna serve that. And you start to see destinations like East Riverside, Uhhuh starts to become a spot known [00:23:00] for, you know, hey, there’s good taco pasta. Right, right. Yeah, yeah. Rum right. Starts to develop into a

Mando Rayo: taco neighborhood.

Yeah, exactly. When you think about like the, the eighties and nineties, uh, the influx of trailers in Austin. Yeah. Like other cities. Say like Houston, they have taco trucks.

music: Mm-hmm.

Mando Rayo: But in Austin, uh uh, they don’t really move around. So they’re more trailers. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Because of city code and whatnot.

Yeah. And I think there was a lot of, I don’t know, maybe discrimination against, uh, Mexican or Latin owned Yeah. Trucks and trailers.

Alan Garcia: 100%. Yeah. Right. And that’s something that, you know, doesn’t get discussed a lot. You know, we’re known as a food truck. City. Right. But the roots of that, right? Yeah. Um, I can remember trying some of the first trendy food trucks, uh, popped up on South Congress because it was new.

Yeah,

Mando Rayo: yeah.

Alan Garcia: You know, the local news was covering it like chicken and a cone. Oh, oh God. Yeah. They’re like, you’ll, you’ll have to try this. But we were familiar [00:24:00] with that because all along, wherever there’s a cantina. And you know, that can be in the north Barrios, east Riverside, barrios. Right. There’s gonna be tacos served, you know, after hours.

Yeah. So this is part of the experience of, you know, young couples.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: Coming to the after dancing all night. Yeah, yeah,

Mando Rayo: yeah. You got it. And

Alan Garcia: yeah, there’s a stigma against, you know, young Latinos congregating at night in public and Right. Maybe one person starts a fight. Sure. And then that just gets labeled after that.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mando Rayo: I mean, I think that that’s part of, kind of the history of, of, of discrimination, I would say. Mm-hmm. Because of like, oh, well, this idea that. You know, there’s a lot of stereotypes around Mexicans Yeah. Around trailers and trucks that really disparage a lot of people. Right. A lot of communities.

Mm-hmm. You know, when I moved to Austin, I’ve been here for 25 years mm-hmm. And people still say this, is it safe to go to East Austin? Yeah. It’s crazy. [00:25:00] Right? It’s, yeah. And, and so all of that is rooted in, in, um. In bias culture. Mm-hmm. Right? And so the idea was like, oh, asking if, oh, is it safe to go there, like on Riverside, right?

Mm-hmm. That was like the big thing, uh, are, are the trailers and the food is the food clean and all that. So that is really kind of rooted in, in that discrimination and, and bias culture that that plagues a lot of, of, uh. Mexican restaurant owners and taco trucks and business owners, right? Yeah. And they even try to shut them down.

Uh, I believe it was in the nineties, uh, the, the trailers on on Riverside, right?

Alan Garcia: Yeah. So I have this distinct memory of, um, we would go to El Taquito. Huh?

Mando Rayo: Oh yes. Qui on the hill.

Alan Garcia: On the hill. And that was before they had the building, you know, it was still a, a trailer.

Mando Rayo: Oh, okay, okay.

Alan Garcia: And he was friends with my dad, Uhhuh.

So my dad would always chat with him when we were there, and he was telling my dad, you know. I have to [00:26:00] build a brick and mortar spot because the city’s after me. You know, the business is good right now, just serving out of the trailer open air. People are comfortable with it, but it was that,

Mando Rayo: yeah,

Alan Garcia: that, uh, it was about to be a, a zoning thing, a code thing that would’ve cracked down on trailers because they.

Or attributed it to crime, they said it’s attracting crime.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah.

Alan Garcia: And of course it’s all along where, you know, young Latinos are going to eat. Yeah. Families too, like mine, eat,

Mando Rayo: gather. There was mercados there. Mm-hmm. And also there was, uh, like Val. Yeah. You know, if ne, if you ne you never, never went to Val.

I dunno if it’s still open. Oh,

Alan Garcia: it’s still there. Yeah, it’s still there. Yeah. Same smell. It’s a good, it’s a

Mando Rayo: good, it’s a good time. It’s a good time. Yeah. And, and you know, a lot of, a lot of, uh, Norian Cumbia and, and all kinds of fun stuff.

Alan Garcia: Very rare that you can go dance cumbia somewhere where you’re. Aunts and uncles dance school.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 40 years ago. Yeah. Yeah, totally.

Mando Rayo: Totally. So it’s, yeah. And then until like some of the trendy trucks started saying, Hey, we [00:27:00] want to do this too. Yeah. You know, I mean, that was you. And then all of a sudden it was okay for the city of Austin to be like, all right, well, we’ll, you know, and ultimately what it was is white business owners

music: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Said we’re gonna start. Trucks and trailers, and the city was like, okay with that, but not okay with Mexicans.

Alan Garcia: That’s the thing that hurts me the most is to see when you compare the way that the cultures were. Yeah. Celebrated and marketed by the city, you know? Yeah. When I was growing up, yeah. I saw the city rush to promote and celebrate these new South Congress food trucks.

Right. As this thing that’s part of our culture. Yeah. I knew that that was something that existed in the Barrios. It was a working class tradition, but they weren’t doing the same, you know, they weren’t giving them the same attention. Yeah. Um, I think with the history of East Austin, right, yeah. They, they rushed to promote the kind of new era mm-hmm.

Of these new residents, new businesses moving in. Mm-hmm. Ignoring the decades of [00:28:00] all these successful small business owners. Yeah. The history of, you know, where else could you get Manu Capto in Austin? Right? Yeah. Yeah. Like that’s a cultural Yeah. Treasure that. Yeah. They should have settled. And Azteca

Mando Rayo: was the only place in East Austin that you could actually get Capto for a while, right?

For a long time.

Alan Garcia: No. Yeah. He is a pioneer. Yeah. I, I love his story too, as just a, a politically active Yeah. Business owner. I mean, yeah,

Mando Rayo: totally.

Alan Garcia: I believe there used to not be a, a stoplight. On East seventh and Pleasant Valley.

Mando Rayo: Mm-hmm.

Alan Garcia: It was just stop signs and there’d be a lot of crashes.

Mando Rayo: Oh, okay.

Alan Garcia: And that was so close to his business.

He said, Hey, you know, I want it to be safe for customers to visit here. As well as the flooding issue that neighborhood was, was hit bad by Boggy Creek. That’s right. So he would show up to city council. I mean, he, he would say, you know, pretty active, Hey, you know, we need resources. We need infrastructure because.

Can’t keep ignoring us and

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember even back, uh, like it was in the nineties and two [00:29:00] thousands, there was still some restaurants around that are now shuttered because of them new ROS are able to flourish, I would say. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And people are more open to that.

In, in East Austin, you still have like the old school places. You have like Joe’s Bakery, right? Uh, Cisco’s is still around. You have the, the, the next generation of the Tamal House East.

Alan Garcia: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Right. Yeah. Tamal house. So Tamal house, uh, obviously that family started in, in the downtown area. Mm-hmm. Right. And then there was a tamali house, uh, on the airport.

Road. Yes. Airport Boulevard where you get like tacos for 85 cents after, after, uh, a good night out. Yeah. Right. Yeah. They’re

Alan Garcia: sorely mist, sorely missed. Yeah. Yeah. People,

Mando Rayo: everybody, that was such a gem. And little, uh, paper trays or Yeah, little boats. Uhhuh, you know, that’s the only way to eat taco. Right. And then like, uh, you have like some old school trucks, like I mentioned, Piera, Negras.

Mm-hmm. You know. That was [00:30:00] like a staple. Yeah. You know, it was just like, you know, or, or Porphyrias. Right. You mentioned Rios, right? On Holly Street. Yeah. What’s your memories around that?

Alan Garcia: You know, it was just old school, you know, every taco had a number, so you ordered by the numbers. Yeah. You know, I went the number four, I went the number two.

Yeah. But it was just classic, you know, the, the owner, I was there by myself one time. It was end of the day Uhhuh, they’re about to close and. He came from around the kitchen and just had a plate of cupcakes and he said, Hey, do you want a cupcake? There’s just this relationship with customers that, yeah.

Yeah. I feel, I feel like it’s harder to find in some of these newer restaurant right vibes. It’s just, it feels less. Tight knit, you

Mando Rayo: know?

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Just feels like less

Mando Rayo: neighborhood rooted. Right. Right. When, when you think about Mexican restaurants, it’s an extension of their home.

music: Mm-hmm.

Mando Rayo: And, and that feeling, and you kind of, you’re not gonna get that the robot restaurant, you know what I mean?

Alan Garcia: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: And even like all the coffee [00:31:00] shops and whatnot, and it’s just very transactional.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Very. Where

Mando Rayo: within our community we’re, we’re definitely like more relationship community based. Mm-hmm. And she, so you miss. Some of that, you know? Yeah. But you still get that at Joe’s Bakery.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. And I would say too, the church community, Uhhuh, it is wonderful to read some of these articles from the 1920s Uhhuh and to, to notice that 100 years later these traditions are still Yeah.

Thriving. Right, right. They’re still Ha Micah celebrations. They’re still Carnegie salad tacos being served.

Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah, totally. Tam and

Alan Garcia: people, even if they don’t live in the barrio, they’ll come back, you know, to the church of their, you know. Yeah. Their family. Those families, they, they have so much pride in their booths, you know, to selling guita.

Yeah. Oh yeah. I

Mando Rayo: love that. I love that. So

Alan Garcia: I love to see that. That’s where I would point to, if anyone asks, you know, oh, is there still neighborhood traditions? Yeah. I thought it was all disappeared. I would say. No. Just have you been to ha Micah yet? Haah It’s not the church. Yeah. The church

Mando Rayo: festivals, you know?

[00:32:00] Yeah. I, I love that. And then thinking about like the, the new what’s, what’s new? You have like cru all natural. Mm-hmm. You have, uh, Vaquero Taro, which is downtown mm-hmm. As well as like the mix of the old school restaurants still. But then you also have like, um, a couple of places, like the big theme now is instead of standalone, you have trailers behind bars.

Right. Or trailers with a coffee shop. Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. So, yeah. So what, what are some of your now favorites of like where, when you look at mm-hmm. Some places that we should kind of even, you know. Keep the tradition.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. Yeah. You know, Gus is something that just Yeah, yeah. That’s always called me as a lango, someone with chi roots.

Oh,

Mando Rayo: yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s right.

Alan Garcia: But, uh, but I like that it appeals to, to everyone, you know? Yeah. You see tourists with their luggage in their hand, you know? Right. Waiting in line for tacos. Yeah. But I would see family there, you know? Yeah. It’s, it’s that [00:33:00] delicious that, uh, it brings both, yeah. You know, both crowds, um.

You know, I think having the vegetarian options too is something Yeah. Yeah. Worth. Yeah, for sure. Celebrating in the new era, because Yeah. Yeah. There’s variety for people. Um, yeah, I think the, the first people to do that on the east side, it’s the Mr. Mr Natural, the business owners. Oh, yeah. I

Mando Rayo: remember Mr.

Natural, of course,

Alan Garcia: but you know, they were, they were rare. Mm-hmm. Back then, that was where, so it is nice to see. Okay. This I can try, you know, more creative ways to have, right. Yeah. Veggies. I don’t know

Mando Rayo: how they, I don’t know how they grease up those, uh, those beans, but they’re the Fri beans. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

They’re good.

Alan Garcia: I do like that we can get in touch with these, you know, new traditions. Right. Culinary traditions. Yeah. But whenever I want to just be in an old school spot Uhhuh and see elders greeting each other. Yeah. You know, on a Saturday morning. Yeah. Joe’s. Right. Someone picks a song in the jukebox there.

I know, right? It’s like the place comes alive, [00:34:00] pick

Mando Rayo: it away. Yes.

Alan Garcia: It’s uh, it’s wonderful that that’s authentic, right? Yeah. Uhhuh and it’s not like places who, right. Sadly, try to just. Recreate that. And it’s, it’s not the same vibe. It’s, it’s not the same vibe. It’s not earned, you know? Yeah,

Mando Rayo: yeah. Like, uh, the last Tejano bar standing lala.

music: Yeah.

Mando Rayo: You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. And, uh, it’s a tiny room and, and you know, you see like all, a lot of like old school. Austin Tejanos there. Mm-hmm. Right. But, and, and then sometimes you get that mix of like people wa wandering in. Right, right, right. And uh, they have their, what’s that? Their famous drink?

The arm Modelo Arm.

Alan Garcia: Modelo,

Mando Rayo: yeah. Arm Modelo, right? Mm-hmm. Modelo with, uh, with, uh, is it Tabasco sauce and salt. Right. And yeah.

Alan Garcia: Then the lime. Yeah. And the lime.

Mando Rayo: And people try to replicate that, you know? Mm-hmm. But they can’t.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. They

Mando Rayo: can’t, it doesn’t come off.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. No. The clientele, just the, the atmosphere of getting welcomed in the music.

Yeah. Yeah. That, that still mm-hmm. [00:35:00] Feels like going back in time. Yeah. When that was the street, you know? Yeah. That was the district for food. Yeah. Entertainment.

Mando Rayo: Totally for me, I was, when I was thinking about this episode, I was like, I’ve been in Austin for, for a bit a hot minute. And, um, and I know some of that history.

Mm-hmm. And I know, uh, that there’s a lot of new people coming to Austin. Yeah. So like, it’s super important for, for you guys to like. Dig in and understand where this community has been. Mm-hmm. And it’s great that we have the support now. I would say greater support. Right. Yeah. But, uh, it’s also the history is also a part of our story.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. So if you wanted, uh, to, um, share anything about what you’re doing or any advice for folks wanting to get to know Austin or East Austin, what would you say?

Alan Garcia: Yeah, I would definitely speak to elders, you know? Mm-hmm. You can still find them. Yeah. I think that’s a myth that all the austinites are gone.

Yeah.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: But we are still here, right? Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. You just, you have to know where to [00:36:00] find us. Yep. Whole Foods, we might not, we’re probably not gonna be hanging out there, uh, but we will be supporting the neighborhood spots, right? Yeah, totally. I grew up here and that’s something I still love to do because I still have so much to learn.

About neighborhood history? Yeah, about just people’s memories and, and what it means, you know, about, about the neighborhood back then. So really just sit down with, with Elder and ask them what it was like. That’s, yeah, the best part. And, you know, check the calendar for the haika and get miss. Right? Yeah.

Yeah, totally. Celebrations. ’cause that’s, yeah. Yeah. Thelia

Mando Rayo: one is, is a big one too. Yeah, yeah. You know, that’s my old, old neighborhood too, so. Oh, nice. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. Well, last question, actually, that was supposed to be my last question. This is my last question. You kind of mentioned that you save some of like literally save some signs.

Tell us a couple of stories that for you it’s like, oh, I gotta do this.

Alan Garcia: Yeah. So [00:37:00] yeah, I mean, we’ve been seeing a lot of properties that are about to get demolished and these beautiful hand-painted signs for the Mexican restaurants were still attached to the side of the building or the roof. Mm-hmm. It’s just a matter of kinda sneaking behind the fence.

Yeah. Getting a ladder and saving it for what it is, which is, is, it’s an artifact, it’s artwork, you know? Yeah. A lot of the artists, I don’t know who, who they are, who painted it.

Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Alan Garcia: But, uh, I have been able to get in touch with the son of one of the original artists who. He did a sign for La Del Marico, which was Oh, yeah,

Mando Rayo: yeah.

Pleasant Valley, Cesar

Alan Garcia: Chavez. Yeah. So Mexican seafood. Yep. And that building was an all in one. There was a record store. Yes. You could get Te Hanno and Eno CDs. Yeah. You could get your hair done. Yeah. Yeah. There, uh, you could send money, you know, to Central America or, yeah, yeah. You could get, you know, Mariscos, you could get Caldo.

And the sign is huge. I mean, it’s beautiful. I just, I couldn’t live with myself if I had saw it in a dumpster. Right,

Mando Rayo: right. Yeah.

Alan Garcia: So we [00:38:00] saved it, cleaned it up. Uh, uh, invited the, the artist, Manuel Perez is the artist. We invited his son to see it for the first time in decades. Oh, wow. Uh, we have it in a gallery now.

Oh, Neela. That’s on Issa Sar Chavez.

Mando Rayo: Okay, cool.

Alan Garcia: Where we’ve created a, a museum, you know, with history behind each business. Yeah. Um. And it’s been, it’s been wonderful. That’s awesome. Just to see people light up ’cause they grew up seeing it. You know, that was just a landmark in their neighborhood.

Mando Rayo: Yeah.

Alan Garcia: And to think that it was gone forever.

Right, right, right. Um, to see it on the wall and to see us celebrating the history. And there’s been a few other examples mm-hmm. That they closed their airport Boulevard location.

Mando Rayo: Mm-hmm.

Alan Garcia: Oh

Mando Rayo: yeah.

Alan Garcia: So we were able to salvage that sign. Yeah. Ums on the frontage road of I 35. Oh yeah. That’s

Mando Rayo: a current thing.

Right.

Alan Garcia: Luckily they moved to a new spot. Yeah. Uhhuh, but the old location Right. Got torn down for the I 35 [00:39:00] expansion. I 35 Rental expansion. Expansion. Yeah. So anytime I, I see that, uh, you know, an artifact from a, a neighborhood landmark business, I just, I know I have to Yeah. Do everything I can to preserve it for, preserve it for the future, you know, for people to learn about it, to appreciate just the.

The way we advertised our food, you know? Yeah. Our culture. Yeah. You hand painted. Yeah. That’s the best

Mando Rayo: way. Yeah. Well, Alan, thanks so much. I really appreciate you coming on to the podcast. I learned a lot, like I know some of this stuff, but I learned a lot and I think we all could stand to kind of dig into the history of where art tacos come from.

Alan Garcia: Yeah, it is been a pleasure. I’ve been happy to help decorate the studio, the, the restaurant for you. Yeah. It’s awesome.

Mando Rayo: I know. Yeah. It’s dope. Awesome.

Alan Garcia: But yeah, I welcome anyone to visit the page. Okay, teach. Yeah. How do you find Jeff? On Instagram right now, just a TX Barrio archive. Um, and that’s where families, OG families usually reach out to me and [00:40:00] send me photos Yeah.

That they wanna share. Cool. Um, but yeah, that’s where the history I’m sharing now and yeah, happy to connect with folks.

Mando Rayo: Perfect. All right, Ellen, thank you so much. Thanks Mano.

music: All right.

Mando Rayo: Well, there you have it folks. Austin’s taco history. It was great having Alan from the A TX Barrio Archive on the show and kind of going into not only the history, but the nostalgia and honoring where the roots of this Taco City. Right. Taco City, USA, Austin, Texas. But we have to learn and think about what we’re eating when we’re going to a place in an old building or a new taco shop.

There’s, uh, a lot to explore there. Right? So I hope you learned a lot through this episode. I know I did. And with that, I like to shout out. Some old school places that are still around. Can you believe that? That’s [00:41:00] right. My favorite Joe’s Bakery, where every Mexican knows your name. Established 1958 El Pat from 1954 and of course Mats El Rancho, and now in South Austin since 1952.

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@www.identity.productions or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at Identity Productions and United Tacos of America. This is your host, Mando El Taco, journalist Rayos.

On the next Proximo Tacos of Texas, let’s take a class on whole hog butchering with Chef Jesse Griffith and put my [00:42:00] caritas to the test.

Louisa Van Assche: The Tacos of Texas podcast is presented by identity productions in partnership with KUT. And KOTX studios. Our host and producer is Mando. Our audio is mixed by Nicholas Werden.

Our story producer is me, Louisa Van Assche, and our creative producer is Dennis Burnett. Music was created by Peligrosa in Austin, Texas, and King Benny Productions located in the Quinto Barrio of Houston.