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On FrontBurner this week.
Conversations this week included taco talk, the Cowboys and alleged distractions, a very blessed Tesla, and first-day voting hiccups. We also watched as a juror from death row inmate Robert Roberson’s first trial testified she now believes he is innocent and found out that the city’s biggest police union says proposed charter amendments S, T, and U are bad for Dallas.
As always, you can share your thoughts in the comments. Let us know what you think.
Is Dallas Still a Boxing City? Promoter Cyrus Tidwell Fights to Prove It
Some great news about Joshua Ray Walker.
One of my fave podcasts we’ve ever done was with JRW. Super love that dude. Which made me sad when we had to drum up support for his GoFundMe to offset his medical expenses for cancer treatment. But hang on. Here’s the man himself: “I’m so excited to share with you that my pre-surgery diagnosis was incorrect. I’ve beat the odds and to everyone’s complete surprise, my lungs are cancer free!”
Josh is doing Friendsgiving this year at the Kessler. Get to it.
West Dallas neighbors oppose shingle factory air quality permit.
The air quality permit for the GAF shingle factory in West Dallas is up for renewal with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Last night, the agency listened to several complaints from residents who wanted it denied, KERA’s Nathan Collins reports.
State Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, requested the hearing. The permit renewal is complete, and the TCEQ could approve it without any additional community input. Residents have been fighting to close the plant for years, citing data that links its emissions to poor health outcomes. More than 50 comments were submitted to the agency about the plant, most in opposition. Over the summer, Singleton United/Unidos, a group of residents who live closest to the factory, worked with researchers at Texas A&M and the local nonprofit Downwinders at Risk to produce a report on the health impacts from the GAF factory. We wrote about it in the story below.
In Industry-Heavy West Dallas, New Study Finds Health Problems and Bad Air
Let’s Revisit Scenes from the 2024 State Fair of Texas
D Magazine’s 50 Greatest Stories: ‘The Elusive Erykah Badu’.
For our 50th anniversary, we’ve been emailing a weekly newsletter highlighting 50 of our finest stories. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, you’ll find a link to sign up above our running list of what we’ve already featured.
This week, we’re bringing you one of the late Zac Crain’s best pieces: “The Elusive Erykah Badu.”
Badu is such an integral, ever-present piece of Dallas that it can feel like we know her. She lives near White Rock Lake. She shops at Whole Foods. She celebrates her birthday in Deep Ellum every February. She exercises in public gyms. She’s just like us. She’s also absolutely nothing like us.
The star who stayed. The artistic soul of the city, the Booker T. grad who made it big but kept her heart in Dallas. In 2017, the late Zac Crain wrote what we believe is the finest profile of our hometown hero. She is only quoted by way of a text message. Instead, Zac told her story through the people who have been part of her life at different periods, from Ty Macklin of Shabazz 3, who went to high school with her and reconnected after college, to Zach Witness the then-upstart musician with whom she released her last album, 2015’s But You Caint Use My Phone.
The story was published in coordination with the 20th anniversary of her breakout album Baduizm, which sold more than 3 million copies stateside alone. It also details how she thinks and creates, how she collaborates, how she creates new worlds featuring the people around her. Sometimes, we get to be part of that world, even if it’s only spotting her walking out of a head shop on Garland Road.
The Elusive Erykah Badu
Twenty-three seconds of proof that Klay Thompson still shoots a basketball very, very well.
Last night’s Mavs home opener was, in a word, fun. The offense hummed despite Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving shooting a combined 15 of 42, which is precisely the sort of thing that didn’t happen enough last year. Dallas’ defense made Victor Wembanyama the second-best young center on the floor. (Sorry, Austin Ngaruiya, but the Dereck Lively hype isn’t slowing down any time soon.) Jaden Hardy looked like he leveled up a time or three as a playmaker, which could be massive for the second unit. All very, very good developments in a comfortable double-digit victory.
But we can be honest: after getting a season-opening win, the most important plot point was always going to be Klay Thompson, never mind how much or little one game could tell us. For instance, we still do not know how his defense will hold up, and we probably won’t for a while. If you want to fret about that a bit longer, I won’t stop you.
But if you were among those concerned that one of history’s greatest jump shooters couldn’t drill threes anymore at age 34, well, go ahead and set that concern free. Going 6 for 10 from distance speaks volumes. And so does Luka Doncic here:
That’s what automatic looks like, even if Thompson said postgame he was mostly relieved he didn’t make Doncic look stupid by bricking the shot.
Klay Thompson is going to make a lot of shots in Dallas. And it’s going to be a joy to watch.
Leading Off
Dallas ISD’s legislative priorities: more money, please.
Dallas ISD trustees approved the district’s legislative priorities on Thursday evening, which are headlined by a request for more money to pay teachers and implement additional safety measures on campuses. Republicans are rearing up to push another bill that would reimburse families that choose to send their kids to private school. Public districts are already hurting and concerned that a voucher-esque program would only result in deeper cuts. The Legislature hasn’t increased public school funding since 2019. Session begins in January.
Roberson’s attorneys ‘deeply appalled’ at AG Paxton’s defense.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday released a series of statements aimed at countering the prevailing narrative that Robert Roberson was sentenced to death based on junk science called “shaken baby syndrome.” Roberson’s fate is in limbo after lawmakers successfully used a novel last-minute approach to stall his execution, which was previously set for last week. Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott have maintained that lawmakers were out of line, and the attorney general’s latest attempt to “correct falsehoods” resulted in Roberson’s defense team releasing CT scans, EMS records, and evidence from the scene as a rebuttal to prove their client didn’t kill his daughter.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker will run for a third term.
Parker announced her decision during her state of the city address. One of the interesting things she’s touting is the reconstruction of East Lancaster Avenue into a “vibrant, urban boulevard” that will be “catalytic for not just the entire city, but specifically for East Fort Worth.” That’s a $200 million collaboration with the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Our neighbor also has a fully staffed fire department and has conserved 477 acres of land under Parker’s tenure.
Mavs cruise in home opener.
Mike will have more later today, but Klay Thompson fit like a glove alongside Luka Doncic as the Mavs rolled to a 120-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Thompson’s eight point stretch over a 16-4 run in the third helped seal the game.
Things To Do in Dallas This Weekend
Here’s what happened with the voting machines on Monday.
I waited until the second day of early voting to cast my ballot, at Dallas College’s El Centro campus downtown. Things were a little harried, even though there wasn’t a line. The election judge was talking fast to someone on the phone, bouncing between the volunteer poll workers. The machine being used to check me in was glacial, and the volunteer told me it had spat out ballots with the incorrect precinct the day before. She checked mine against the information on the screen; it was correct.
All of that is in line with what Elections Administrator Heider Garcia told the Dallas Morning News. A software issue caused the computers to deliver incorrect ballots to some voters. The manufacturer, Election Systems & Software, pushed a “configuration update” that solved the problem, and the issue was apparently only affecting the machines used to check voters in.
Votes for president, U.S. Senate, and county offices were unaffected, but it’s likely that some voters weren’t presented with races unique to their precincts. Garcia doesn’t know how many voters this affected; their ballots are in locked boxes in the polling places, where they will remain until after November 5.
This isn’t a vote counting issue, and Garcia acknowledges that it “should have never happened.” But considering the local GOP has alleged that machines contain “illegal software and hardware,” despite tests from the Texas Secretary of State and Attorney General’s offices proving otherwise, this couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Source: Dallas Morning News
John Tesar candidly reviews his own “mediocrity”.
When we dropped Knife from our 50 Best Restaurants this summer based on D editors’ recent visits, the executive chef sent me dozens of angry private messages. Then, apparently, the Michelin Guide didn’t include Knife or its new sibling Knife Italian in its upcoming Texas launch.
In an interview with the Dallas Observer last week, Tesar told Chris Wolfgang, “I want to get into the Michelin Guide in [this] restaurant, and I want to get a Michelin star at Knife Italian. Those are my goals, but I know that we’re not worthy of those now.”
So the chef is jumping back in the kitchen. The Highland Hotel, which is under new management, will renovate its rooms while Knife, temporarily closed, remodels its dining room and bar. In January the restaurant will reopen with new look and menu as Knife Steak & Seafood. Although his comments imply changes at Knife Italian, too, we don’t have word on those yet.
“I need to cook,” Tesar told Wolfgang. “I’m tired of the mediocrity. I want to create something special for people.”
I’m excited for the renewed focus, and for my DMs to calm down again.
Source: Chef John Tesar To Launch Knife Steak & Seafood in Dallas Next Year
Make Brandon Aubrey the Jury Foreman
The Mavs Tip Off Tonight. These Questions Will Shape Their Season.
Leading Off
Council votes to pause DBDT funding.
The Dallas City Council voted to have its Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture committee reconsider the Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s next round of funding before signing off on it. The DBDT fired all of its dancers, who had voted to unionize, over the summer and the two sides differ on why. The matter is currently under review by the National Labor Relations Board.
Pepper Square vote stopped by judge.
The Council was also due to vote on whether to rezone Pepper Square, an aging shopping center in North Dallas, but a group of residents sued the city Tuesday and argued successfully for a temporary restraining order. The zoning would allow the property to be redeveloped into a mixed-use project that would include nearly 1,000 apartments.
Cowboys kicker gets jury duty.
Brandon Aubrey has reportedly been selected to sit on a felony assault case in Tarrant County. He will reportedly miss practice today and Friday, but since the jurors in this case are not sequestered, he’ll be able to travel to San Francisco for Sunday’s game.
Erykah Badu is a fashion icon.
I mean, duh, we knew that. But the Council of Fashion Designers of America will give its Fashion Icon award to Badu next Monday during the 2024 CFDA Fashion Awards.
UNT’s head coach expects you to be at homecoming.
The Mean Green play against Tulane at the very unpalatable hour of 11 AM, which isn’t exactly the preferred choice for anyone wanting to tailgate beforehand on homecoming weekend. There’s a good reason for that: the game got picked up for a national broadcast after the 5-2 Mean Green emerged as one of college football’s pleasant surprises. Accordingly, Saturday could have major ramifications in the American Athletic Conference.
Will Mean Green alumni accept the inconvenience in the name of taking in important football? Judging by the quote he gave the Denton Record-Chronicle’s Brett Vito, head coach Eric Morris is skeptical. And pissed.
“We have to get out of this mold of people not wanting to come, enjoy these Saturdays together and cheer. Homecoming is a great time to do it. You get everybody who’s proud of the school, proud of their degree and wants to come back and watch the Mean Green play.
“People complain about 11 o’clock. Get over yourself. You can go back to the Southland Conference, and you pick when you want. … We don’t get to pick it.”
Morris is correct. Consider Matt Goodman excommunicated from the Mean Green family if he isn’t slugging down mimosas on campus at 6:45 AM.
Source: Denton Record-Chronicle
Council to consider honoring Glauben, Reyes on street signs.
The City Council will today consider two separate agenda items to honor the achievements of two residents who have died in recent years by placing sign toppers bearing their names on city streets.
One would place ceremonial toppers on street signs around downtown’s Holocaust and Human Rights Museum after the late Max Glauben, a Holocaust survivor who worked extensively with the museum and other organizations to educate generations about Hitler’s regime. Glauben died in 2022, and council members Jaynie Schultz, Jesse Moreno, and Paul Ridley started the process of honoring him earlier this year.
Another would approve placing similar street sign toppers on Morris Street between Sylvan and North Winnetka avenues in Weest Dallas after Raul Reyes Jr., a longtime community advocate who died suddenly in February. Omar Narvaez, Carolyn King Arnold, and Adam Bazaldua requested the toppers.
Should the Council approve both measures, it won’t formally rename the streets. Instead, it will place additional signage atop street signs that memorialize the two Dallasites. (Update: Both items were approved unanimously and enthusiastically by the Council Wednesday evening.)
A pretty damning story about the Cowboys’ facility tours.
While plenty of pro sports franchises offer tours of their stadiums or ballparks, it probably goes without saying that most do not put you within feet of its players by including stops just outside locales including the weight room, meeting rooms, and war room. But it also goes without saying that the Cowboys do not handle business like most teams, and so for $40, anyone is welcome to do all of the above to spend “a day in the life of a Cowboys player.”
Is this a smart idea for a team 29 years removed from making its last conference championship game? That’s what ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler explored in a very good, very well-sourced feature that dropped this morning. You should read the whole thing, but I’d remiss not to drop two quotes of note here.
Here’s the first, from former safety Jayron Kearse:
“We get all the top-of-the-line things throughout the day, the hot tub and the training room,” Kearse says. “But it’s just a whole bunch of other things that come along with it. It’s all about the brand, that star, which I think supersedes trying to win at the highest level.”
And here’s the second, from Jerry Jones himself:
“I’d love to see cameras in the tour going to 20 million people while the people were making the tours and hearing the same thing,” Jones says. “And then while they’re coming down the hall, I’d love to see a coach talking to a player as he walked away from a meeting, talking about a player walking right through.”
Source: ESPN
Leading Off
Texas runs up early voting numbers while Dallas lags.
About 87,000 more Texans have cast their ballots this year compared to the 2020 presidential election, but Dallas County is trailing behind. As of Monday, fewer voters in Dallas have gone to the polls than at this point in 2020 and 2016, when 60,573 and 58,775 had already voted. This year is sitting at 56,067. The first day of early voting was marred by long lines at some of the most popular polling places, which the elections department blamed on software glitches that resulted in some voters getting the wrong ballot. I voted yesterday at Dallas College’s El Centro campus, and a poll worker reported that very problem. They were working diligently to check the ballots; mine went just fine.
Gov. Abbott points to amicus brief when asked about Roberson’s case.
The governor was in Preston Hollow for a campaign event on Tuesday and NBC 5 asked him about his thoughts on Robert Roberson, the man facing execution on what appears to be a sham conviction. Abbott pointed to the language in an amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court, which alleged that state lawmakers “stepped out of line” by using their subpoena powers to summon Roberson to testify and delay his execution. “The power to grant clemency in a capital murder case, including a 30-day reprieve, is vested in the Governor alone,” the brief reads. He isn’t showing any more of his hand.
Lewisville ISD may shutter five schools.
The district is the region’s latest to weigh school closures because of budget cuts and a decline in enrollment. The inner-ring suburb is staring at a $4.5 million budget hole and 10,000 fewer students over the next decade, which could result in five closures and redrawn boundaries for other elementary and middle schools. Richardson and Plano ISDs have both voted to close schools for the same reason.
It’s warm the rest of the month, which sucks.
We’re a good 10 degrees above our normal highs for October. Expect temperatures in the low 90s and upper 80s through the rest of the week and 40 percent chances of rain on Halloween. The highs will be back in the 70s once the calendar hits November. Some fall.
Monty Bennett and the Shadowy Dallas HERO Crew
FIFA is looking for a few volunteers.
With the FIFA World Cup headed to North Texas in the summer of 2026, organizers are now locking down logistics. And there are many to deal with: Nine matches, a fan fest, pop-up fan opportunities, and standing up a media center are all on the to-do list. After all, the event is expected to bring in hundreds of thousands of fans, so ensuring they have plenty of places to stay and can move around the region easily is key.
Want to help be the smiling face that greets visitors or helps out behind the scenes? FIFA has now opened up its volunteer sign-up page for Dallas. While it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be chosen as a volunteer, it does get you on the list. Sign up here.
Someone check Mike McCarthy for tire tracks.
Because Jerry Jones just threw his head coach—and, more pertinently for the moment, offensive play caller—under the bus during his return to 105.3 The Fan:
In fairness to the Cowboys owner and general manager, he’s not wrong. In fairness to McCarthy, [gestures broadly at what Jones gave him to work with]. But, hey, at least no radio hosts’ jobs were threatened today. So there’s your good Cowboys vibe on this fine Tuesday.
A blessed Tesla drives among us.
An alert FrontBurnervian snapped this pic this morning on the Tollway, near Keller Springs. As you can see from the message affixed to the rear of the Cybertruck, either Tesla has made a huge leap in car technology or this driver has come up with an impressive after-market modification. I have questions. Can the vehicle store prayer power, or does the driver have to pray continuously while the vehicle is underway? If the former, are there any prayer superchargers in North Texas yet, and, if so, who is supplying the prayers for them? If the driver of this Cybertruck can pray powerfully enough to get a 6,600-pound vehicle up to highway speeds, shouldn’t he or she also be able to fix I-345 or at least defeat propositions S, T, and U? Elon Musk calls himself a “cultural Christian,” meaning, I suppose, he likes Christmas and The Chosen but doesn’t believe in the transubstantiation of the Eucharistic host or the resurrection of Christ (not to mention the parting of the Red Sea). What does he have to say about his Cybertruck getting hacked so that it now runs on prayer?
Those are just the first few questions that come to mind. Anyway, y’all have a blessed day.
Leading Off
UT Southwestern to pay $900,000 for employment discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Labor found that UT Southwestern Medical Center discriminated against Black job applicants from 2016 to 2018. As part of the settlement agreement, the university, which has about 23,000 employees, has agreed to offer jobs to 132 applicants, along with paying back wages and interest to those covered.
Dr. Phil and John Grisham testify on behalf of Robert Roberson.
Roberson himself was not able to testify yesterday, despite legal wrangling to make that happen. Grisham testified via video feed. Dr. Phil spoke to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in person. “I am 100 percent convinced that we’re facing a miscarriage of justice here,” he said. “I say that because I do not believe that Mr. Roberson has had due process in this case. I do not believe he has yet enjoyed a fair trial in this matter.”
Part of I-30 will be closed for weeks.
Starting today, TxDOT is closing the eastbound I-30 off-ramp to northbound Central Expressway. It will be closed till November 11. A detour to southbound I-45, then to Botham Jean Boulevard should be loads of fun. Hang in there, folks.
Big fire near Love Field.
A huge pallet fire broke out last night at a business near Harry Hines and Mockingbird. About 70 firefighters fought the blaze, and about 200 homes and businesses in the area lost power. (I can’t help but think that pallet fires must be so much more common that palette fires.)
Former Roberson juror testifies before House committee.
As we reported this morning, the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence was scheduled to meet today and hear testimony from death row inmate Robert Roberson. Rep. Joe Moody, the committee’s chairman, said lawmakers were still negotiating with the Attorney General’s office, which insists on a remote interview, to have an in-person interview with Roberson. He also said he weighed Roberson’s ability to testify under those conditions. “I considered his needs as a person with a disability above all other things,” he said. Roberson was diagnosed with autism after his conviction on a since-debunked junk science called “shaken baby syndrome” after he found his daughter, Nikki, dead in their home.
The committee heard from Dr. Phil McGraw and author John Grisham, but perhaps the most compelling testimony of the day came from a grandmother. Terre Compton drove from Roberson’s hometown of Palestine to testify Monday. She was a juror in his original trial in 2003 and testified that, contrary to the assertions of the Anderson County DA’s office and the AG’s office, the jury was given a case that “was all about shaken baby … If we would have had this evidence we would have had a different outcome. The only thing we discussed in the jury room was shaken baby.”
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s insistence that the case was about an alleged beating of Nikki by Roberson, she said, “has pissed me off very much.”
If she knew then what she’s learned now that the jury did not hear most of the evidence about Nikki’s poor health, “I would not have found him guilty.” Compton said that over time, she read about Roberson’s case, and it weighed on her heavily. “In my eyes, I was killing a man that I knew was innocent. And I was going to have to live with that,” she said.
It’s still unknown whether the political maneuvering will earn Roberson a new trial—which is what everyone today insisted they want. But the more testimony that is taken, the more likely it becomes that should Texas do its worst, those responsible will have to face a very angry, very bipartisan crowd.
Check voting wait times before you go.
Some of the peeps I follow on Twitter have reported long voting lines today. That’s not a very scientific survey of voting lines, so I’m not going to say that the lines are all long. What I will say is that you can check wait times on the Dallas County elections website. Know before you go. (Based on info at 4:36 p.m., looks like the Park Cities and North Dallas were voting hard today. And Mountain Creek Library had a wait time of 91 minutes? Garland Center-Dallas College was at 160 minutes?! That’s rough.)
Two out of three young adults in Dallas County don’t make a living wage. Let’s talk about it.
On Wednesday, D Magazine is co-hosting an important conversation about the future of our city. The education nonprofit Commit has a goal that at least half of all 25- to 34-year-old Dallas County residents earn a living wage by 2040. Its data show that two out of three in that age group presently do not, a fact that is as sobering as it is distressing.
Commit shares its data with lawmakers, school districts, and other institutions that are invested in helping students and young adults after graduation. Wednesday evening, we’ll host a panel at the Dallas Career Institute about this topic. I’ll moderate a chat with Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde; Dr. Tiffany Kirksey, the vice provost of educational partnerships at Dallas College; and Karla Garcia, a former Dallas ISD board member and the college access and success manager for Commit.
We’ll talk about the issue and what each of these organizations are doing to help Commit reach its goal. Join us at Career Institute North, at 10115 Midway Rd., at 5:30 p.m. on October 23. It’s free, but you need to RSVP here.
Dallas Police Association rejects HERO amendments.
The largest police union in Dallas says it is “strongly opposed” to the three proposed changes to the charter that would force the city to allocate half of its new revenue to hire more cops, among other things. That means both of the city’s largest public safety unions are opposed to the three amendments; the Dallas Firefighters Association had already announced its opposition.
Here’s a prepared statement from DPA President Jaime Castro:
Dallas Police Association, which represents thousands of Dallas police officers, is strongly opposed to all three of these amendments—which were contrived by a small group of people who do not live in Dallas, with no open dialogue, no experience on the subject matter and no communications with police association leaders that would be impacted by these amendments.
It’s easy to look at this amendment and think more police officers is a good idea, but the truth is that this amendment could result in lowering the current standards for our recruits and making it more difficult to keep our good officers because we lose the ability to control our salaries and benefits for the officers we want to keep and incentivize.
Proposition S would force the city to waive its governmental immunity, meaning any Dallas resident could sue if they felt officials were not following the city charter, municipal ordinances, or state law. Proposition T ties the city manager’s pay to a survey of at least 1,400 residents. Proposition U would force the city to spend at least 50 percent of all new revenue on the police and fire pension system and maintain a police force of at least 4,000 officers. Presently, Dallas has a little under 3,100 total.
The Dallas Police Association is now in line with the mayor and City Council, as well as all past elected mayors and dozens of other public officials.
We have the details about the Mavs’ new streaming service.
About six weeks ago, the Mavericks announced they’d be migrating their non-nationally broadcast games away from the soon-to-be-defunct Bally Sports Southwest to free local broadcasting. Contained within the announcement was an interesting wrinkle: the team would also eventually launch a streaming service.
Lo and behold, three days after the announcement that KMPX Channel 29 would convert into KFAA 29 and become the team’s local TV home, we’re getting some information on the team’s digital broadcast future. MavsTV will launch on Saturday inside the NBA app and retail for $14.99 monthly or $124.99 for a full season pass. Season ticket holders will get it for free, while anyone who subscribes to the season pass will, for a limited time and while supplies last, get their choice of two tickets to “a thus-far-unspecified game” or a $75 merchandise gift card. (I’m pretty sure there is not a finite supply of gift cards in the world, but I digress.)
This probably doesn’t sound like a perfect solution for anyone who already subscribes to a live TV service such as YouTube TV, or a hardcore NBA fan who has to pay for MavsTV on top of NBA League Pass to avoid blackouts. But after years of being tethered to Bally’s poor distribution, the team has launched two different, widely accessible ways for its games to be seen, and one of those is free to anyone with an antenna or who subscribes to one of about 10 cable providers. That’s an enormous amount of logistical hurdles to overcome in six weeks. I vote everyone responsible be given one of those limited-supply gift cards, and a week off work to catch up on the sleep they missed.
Source: Dallas Mavericks
How many of Texas’ best tacos have you eaten?
Texas Monthly taco editor (and Oak Cliff resident) José Ralat consumed a mind-boggling 1,200 tacos to research the magazine’s new 50 Best Tacos feature. It’s a counterpart to the famous TM barbecue list, and Ralat’s recommendations stretch from Mount Pleasant to Alpine.
San Antonio dominates, with 10 of the 50 entries, and Dallas is represented by El Come Taco, Maskaras Mexican Grill, Molino Olōyō, Resident Taquería, and Revolver Taco Lounge, plus two suburban spots: Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Que and Zavala’s Barbecue. Don Artemio is the only Fort Worth representative.
One big trend Ralat sees statewide is what he calls “New Tejano,” a local-ingredient style that is “forward-looking and nostalgic at the same time.” Examples include tortillas colored with Big Red, crispy tortilla-wrapped hot dogs, elote croissants, buñuelo ice cream sandwiches, and the Zavala’s “Sloppy Juan” taco.
I’ve been to 14 of the 50 spots on the list and am already using it for travel planning. Next month, after the Michelin Guide ceremony in Houston, I’ll stop for breakfast at Azteca Taco House.
Source: The 50 Best Tacos in Texas