Texas Monthly

Everyone’s Got It Wrong. This City Actually Has the Best Breakfast Tacos.

José R. Ralat — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. With all due respect to the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas in general, the title for the area with the best breakfast tacos goes to Monterrey, the Mexican city from which Tex-Mex gets its biggest hits. Monterrey has long had a beef-centric culture and an affinity for flour tortillas, which it makes exquisitely thin. There, breakfast tacos are called tacos mañaneros, and while you’ll find plenty of egg-filled options, there’s so much more diversity to explore in the mornings, with guisados aplenty, tacos al vapor, and even tostadas. The fillings are fresher in Monterrey than other breakfast-taco hubs, and the city has the most delicious,…

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A Weekend in the South Texas Town That King Ranch Made

Pam LeBlanc — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Five years ago, a friend invited me down to the coast, where he and his brothers had built a cozy cottage along a salty finger of Baffin Bay. We cast for redfish from a dock that extended into the shallow, blue-green water, set traps to catch blue crabs, played endless board games, watched the sunset, and wandered into nearby Kingsville. Since then, I’ve returned over and over, always squeezing in time for birdwatching, kayaking, and forays into town to explore shops, museums, restaurants, and the legendary King Ranch.The area between Corpus Christi and Harlingen was once called the Wild Horse Desert. Richard King, a steamboat captain…

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How a Scrappy Legal Team Paused All Big Bend Border Wall Construction

Sam Karas — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. When my friend Billy took the stand on Friday afternoon, it would mark the first time emotion entered the record, midway through four hours of testimony on everything the Big Bend region could lose to a $7.5 billion border-barrier project. It was weird to see all these Terlingua men in suits, I thought, looking around the courtroom. I don’t think I’d ever seen Billy wear anything but basketball shorts and flip-flops; he was most comfortable on the oars of a raft or belly up to the bar. But here he was in federal court, with a fresh buzz cut and a bolo tie, a witness and named…

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The Daily Crossword: October 9, 2026

Texas Monthly — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: October 9, 2026

Texas Monthly — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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Join Us at the 2026 Texas Monthly BBQ Fest for a Fun and Barbecue-Filled Weekend in Lockhart

Texas Monthly — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 15:04:17 +0000

Texas Monthly’s award-winning BBQ Fest is back with another savory, two-day celebration of one of the state’s favorite culinary traditions. This year, the signature event also sees the return of the popular Taco Trail, a curated lineup of some of the best taquerias in Texas. Combined, both experiences offer festivalgoers a chance to enjoy two of the state’s most beloved cuisines over a flavor-filled weekend in the barbecue capital of Texas. On Saturday, November 7, the BBQ World’s Fair kicks off at noon in downtown Lockhart. The free event will feature joints showcasing the diversity and signature styles found across Texas barbecue. Skilled pitmasters will also demonstrate their time-honored craft during live-cooking demos. At the celebrated Taco Trail, attendees will get a chance to enjoy delicious,…

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The Daily Crossword: October 8, 2026

Texas Monthly — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: October 8, 2026

Texas Monthly — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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All the President’s Ken

Christopher Hooks — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 22:02:15 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Meet me in the parking garage—bring your longest trench coat. You’re from one of the three-letter agencies, aren’t you? Blink three times if we’re on the record. Play the soundtrack at maximum volume: They could be listening. Somebody’s always listening.On Wednesday, a third leaked audio recording hit the Paxton campaign. Believe it or not, a lot of campaigns conclude without this happening once. The gist of all three is that Paxton is not currently having fun, not a good time at all, on the trail. This is not as surprising or revelatory as the Pentagon Papers, though it’s useful to have it confirmed. But the fact…

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Angela Paxton Knows Exactly What She’s Doing

Sandi Villarreal — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:17:26 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Throughout Ken Paxton’s seemingly centuries-long campaign for Senate, the attorney general has been a punching bag for not only his opponent, Democrat James Talarico, but also late-night talk show hosts, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Texans who might vote for him, and the president of the United States. Recent polls show Paxton down as much as six points in his race against Talarico, a shocking number in a state that hasn’t seen a Democrat win a statewide seat since 1994. Politicos blame “candidate quality”—i.e., it can be a difficult thing, precedent aside, to elect a man who’s been impeached, indicted, and had multiple affairs detailed in…

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Texas Republicans Might Finally Lose. Will They Learn Anything?

Christopher Hooks — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:43:56 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Had you tuned into a show hosted by the unusually long-lived conservative thinkfluencer Sean Hannity in the 1990s or 2000s, four or five versions of himself ago, there’s a very good chance you would have heard a nugget of faux history that had totemic value in the conservative movement until sometime last decade. Rome, the saying went, collapsed when its people realized they “vote themselves largesse from the public treasury,” exposing the fatal flaw of democratic governments: The great unwashed masses could elect to give themselves money. Because America was understood to be Rome 2.0, this was a chilling warning about the dangers of Social Security,…

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A New Joint in Houston Is Already One of My Top BBQ Destinations

Daniel Vaughn — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:43:46 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Willow Villarreal and Jasmine Barela have opened a Houston barbecue gem. Writing that gives me déjà vu. I felt the same way in 2018, when Willow’s Texas BBQ shone brightly before shutting down thirteen months later, when it ran out of money after paying for an expensive health-department permit. In 2021 the couple resurrected their barbecue careers in glorious fashion at J-Bar-M Barbecue, where Villarreal was pitmaster and Barela was executive chef. In April of the following year, a month after my favorable review, they left the restaurant after a disagreement with the ownership. Thus began a years-long journey to open their own place.Willow’s Smokehouse &…

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This UT Grad Was Supposed to Direct a Marvel Blockbuster. He Made a Houston-Set Action Flick Instead.

Dan Solomon — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:43:38 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother wasn’t supposed to exist. Not long ago, the new film’s director, Houston-raised University of Texas at Austin alumni Bassam Tariq, was supposed to be helming Marvel’s reboot of the superhero horror movie Blade, slated to star two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali as the titular, sword-wielding vampire hunter. That project fell apart, and Tariq found himself with space for a new project—and a leading man, in Ali, by then equipped with a year’s worth of edged-weapons training. So the pair pivoted, and now we have the result: a movie that’s a million miles away from Marvel’s Blade, except for the sword…

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The Daily Crossword: October 7, 2026

Texas Monthly — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: October 7, 2026

Texas Monthly — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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What Are These Weird, Off-Putting Pro-Paxton Ads Trying to Accomplish?

Dan Solomon — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 17:07:34 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. If you watched sports on television this weekend—regardless of where in the country you may live—you probably saw ads touting Ken Paxton, the man fighting to maintain the GOP’s generations-long grip on statewide elections in Texas as he’s locked in a tight race against Democrat James Talarico. Perhaps you saw an ad from the Senate Leadership Fund–affiliated Texas PAC, which has spent more than $130 million on the campaign, starring state Senator Angela Paxton—hey, that’s a familiar last name!—in which she expresses her support for the entire GOP ticket running in November, no need to get specific about any one candidate or race. Or maybe you caught…

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Do You Have a Third Grader? Consider Joining Texas Monthly on a Special Project.

Texas Monthly — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:03:26 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Texas Monthly is launching a very special project, and we need your help. To tell the story of the life of Texas, we’re looking to partner with a wide range of families from across the state. There’s just one stipulation: You must have a child who’s currently in third grade. Over the next decade, from now until high school graduation in 2036, we’ll occasionally check in to document their life as they grow up in a fast-changing world. Stories may be told through video, audio, and/or photography. (Imagine, for example, a one-hour podcast episode in which we hear your child morph from eight to eighteen years…

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Jason Landry’s Parents Speak Out for the First Time Since His Remains Were Found

Peter Holley — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Their nightmare began with an early-morning phone call from a state trooper. He informed them that their son had gone missing outside a small town two hours west of their suburban Houston home. It was freezing outside, he said, and their son appeared to have taken off his clothes and slipped into the darkness. It was the opening scene of what would become an almost unthinkable saga. But last month, that story would end much the same way it began, with an unexpected phone call from law enforcement. This time it was an investigator with the Texas attorney general’s office’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit…

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Yes, There Are Still New Things to Learn About Cormac McCarthy

Andrew R. Graybill — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. In the summer of 1998, after my first year of a doctoral program in U.S. history, one of my classmates circulated a breathless email to the rest of our cohort, pressing us to read Cormac McCarthy’s Cities of the Plain, which had appeared that May. While I was charmed by my pal’s enthusiasm, I was also a little perplexed. I wondered who in graduate school had time to read novels, and even if they did, why spend time on McCarthy? In a quieter moment, I’d worked my way through the first two volumes of his Border Trilogy—All the Pretty Horses (1992) and The Crossing (1994)—and thought them…

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The Daily Crossword: October 6, 2026

Texas Monthly — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: October 6, 2026

Texas Monthly — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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‘Texas Monthly Presents’ and ‘Texas Country Reporter’ Secure Nominations for 2026 Lone Star Emmys

Texas Monthly — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 19:20:50 +0000

Texas Monthly Presents: The Story and Texas Country Reporter were recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences this week in eight categories for the 2026 Lone Star Emmys.Texas Monthly Presents, which won four Lone Star Emmys months after launching last year, received nods in six categories: documentary, magazine program, and the “short form or long form content” category for environment/science, health/medical, military, and Texas heritage.“The School of Synth,” an episode based on Michael Hall’s story about students from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired who embark on a mission to cut an album and perform at SXSW, was nominated in the documentary category. “Changing Landscapes” earned recognition in the magazine program category. The three-segment episode features stories about Texans…

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‘Where the River Took Us’ Podcast Is a Signal Awards Finalist in Three Categories

Texas Monthly — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:24:58 +0000

Where the River Took Us, a Texas Monthly podcast written and hosted by senior editor Aaron Parsley, is a finalist in three 2026 Signal Awards categories for limited series and specials. The announcement came Tuesday. This year’s honors focused on risk-taking and excellence across the medium, according to the Signal Awards press release.Where the River Took Us is a follow-up to Parsley’s Pulitzer Prize–winning feature, in which he chronicled his family’s experience with the 2025 Central Texas flooding. The podcast explores how individuals navigate the healing process after a mass tragedy through the lens of one family. Where the River Took Us received a finalist nod in the best original score/music category. The podcast is also a finalist in two other categories—documentary and mental health.There…

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Why Is Ken Paxton Using AI to Re-Create Things James Talarico Really Said on Camera?

Ben Rowen — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 10:58:13 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. In Republicans’ endless quest to portray James Talarico as slight and nerdy, there are revolutionary technologies at their disposal. The eye—cornea, rods, cones, the whole darn lot—first emerged 500 million years ago. What would become the human ear came about during the Mesozoic era. And so, it was at least a little bizarre that in his latest attempt to prove to voters that Talarico is out of touch and unmanly, GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton—a man Donald Trump says is not so easy on the eyes and ears—eschewed those novel creations and instead employed artificial intelligence. In early September, the Paxton campaign began airing a thirty-second spot,…

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This Barbecue Pop-up Went Old School—Like, Antique

Daniel Vaughn — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 10:58:03 +0000

Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Have you ever had napalm sausage with a side of tomato-cracker salad and a glass of buttermilk to wash it all down with? How about rye bread fortified with bacon fat and a thick wedge of multicolored Jell-O cake for dessert? I’ve eaten at more than 2,700 barbecue joints, and my initial experience at Beef Lounge was the first time I’d tried any of that.The barbecue pop-up is run by Jonny Butch, a pitmaster at Goldee’s Barbecue, near Fort Worth. I’ve written before about Butch’s quest to visit as many old-school barbecue joints across the country as he could manage. The Beef Lounge menu has been…

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