Texas Monthly

Food Network’s New BBQ-Competition Show Stars a Few Familiar Texas Faces

Daniel Vaughn — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

When Esaul Ramos was offered a spot to compete on Pitmasters, a new cooking-competition show on Food Network, he was asked to choose a teammate. “I automatically knew I’m bringing my wife,” he said. For years Grecia Ramos has been an integral part of 2M Smokehouse, the barbecue joint Esaul opened in San Antonio in 2016, and she is also the creative force behind French bakery Baked, in Castroville. For a week this April, in southern Utah, Grecia and Esaul battled against eight other barbecue teams for the show, which premieres July 13.“I think it’s going to be a thrilling and unique competition show that is different than everything,” Andrew Zimmern told me. The host of the Outdoor Channel’s Wild Game Kitchen, who made his…

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The Complicated Return of August Ponthier

Meher Yeda — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

By the time we’re ushered inside the record store, it seems like everyone in line will have taken their picture in front of the “Y’all Means All” mural across the street. Every few minutes, a group of two or three peels away, drawn magnetically to the perfect message for this meetup. Within this community of August Ponthier fans, there was never any danger of losing your spot, but each attendee asks the person behind them to hold their place anyway. Dressed in Brandi Carlile T-shirts and denim jackets, chunky Doc Martens, and old Ponthier merch, the fans don’t seem like they’re here just for the music. It’s more like they’re all here for an important community meeting.Once the doors open, the mood remains earnest, if…

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Frisco Was a Welcoming Place for Indian Immigrants. Then Came the Influencers.

Mark Dent — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

In April 2008, a couple hundred Hindu devotees spread out on the floor of a landscaping company’s former warehouse in Frisco to witness guru Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji bless the land that would become Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple. While parts of Frisco had filled up with houses over the past decade, this portion of the city, several miles east of the Dallas North Tollway, featured empty fields and farms. Coit Road, now a major thoroughfare, was a gravel street. But when Swamiji rode around in a pickup truck, he saw potential. “He guided us, saying, ‘This place has good vibrations. It’s a peaceful area,’ ” recalled Dhanunjaya Naidu, a temple trustee.So it came as a surprise last fall when a distorted voice crackled over a megaphone,…

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The Daily Crossword: July 7, 2026

Texas Monthly — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: July 7, 2026

Texas Monthly — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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Elon Musk’s Starbase Was a Strangely Apt Spot for Celebrating the USA’s 250th

Joe Pappalardo — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 20:45:29 +0000

Towering hundreds of feet above the dunes of Boca Chica Beach, an American flag the size of a two-car garage ripples dramatically, hung from a crane beside a pair of launchpad towers built for the largest rockets ever constructed. In the fading sunlight, it’s a properly patriotic backdrop for the squat stage serving as the center of today’s Fourth of July celebrations.A live rock band gives way to a young local singer with a surprisingly mature voice. After she belts out the national anthem and state representative Janie Lopez delivers an exhaustive opening prayer, the mayor of Starbase takes the stage.Bobby Peden, who’s also a vice president at SpaceX, tells the crowd what it took to get the beach ready for today’s party. He shouts…

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The Daily Crossword: July 6, 2026

Texas Monthly — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: July 6, 2026

Texas Monthly — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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The Daily Crossword: July 5, 2026

Texas Monthly — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: July 5, 2026

Texas Monthly — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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The Daily Crossword: July 4, 2026

Texas Monthly — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: July 4, 2026

Texas Monthly — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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A Weekend Road Trip to Texas’s Small, Kinda Weird Beaches

Lauren Castro — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Not once did my hope falter. Even as I checked the forecast by the hour to see if the storm cloud image on my phone’s weather app had magically disappeared, I was determined to find the most diamond in the rough beaches in Texas. My weekend pilgrimage to Barton Springs was becoming lackluster. I needed an escape. Naturally, the weather had other plans.I’ve always loved the beach. I find deep healing in the waters of the ocean, and I return to them time and again for relief. I grew up going to South Padre Island with my family. When I graduated from high school, my friends and I drove to Padre on our own. After college, during a family vacation to Maui, I was practically…

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The Texas GOP Says Talarico is a Soyboy. Here’s What They Believe a Man Is.

Dan Solomon — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

The 2026 race for Senate has settled on an auspicious theme: masculinity, and whether Democratic nominee James Talarico meets a definition of it that will resonate with Texas voters. Talarico did not specifically invite speculation on his testosterone levels or his dietary habits, but such speculation has nevertheless dominated Republican critiques of his candidacy, and the discourse is now on a runaway course. What a Texas man actually is has become the chief question of our current political moment. Gender, of course, has been at the heart of the past decade of American politics. It was a not-at-all-subtle theme of the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections, both of which featured a woman atop the Democratic ticket. Debate over the 1 percent of the population identifying as…

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The Daily Crossword: July 3, 2026

Texas Monthly — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: July 3, 2026

Texas Monthly — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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More Mexican Restaurants Are Charging for Chips and Salsa. That’s a Good Thing.

José R. Ralat — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

There is nothing Texans like to argue about more than food, especially when it comes to Tex-Mex. Everyone knows about the long-standing beef between Austin and San Antonio over tacos. Last summer, hot dogs wrapped in blue-corn tortillas had Facebook commenters up in arms. Another sensitive topic? Whether restaurants should charge for chips and salsa.The complimentary appetizer rose to prominence decades ago as a replacement for the free tortillas and butter Tex-Mex and Mexican restaurants used to dole out. Mass-produced tortilla chips became more widely available in the seventies, and offering them with a side of salsa (house-made or from a jar) turned out to be cheaper in some cases. Chips and salsa soon became a standard, and customers expected them to hit the table before…

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An Afghan Man Who Aided the U.S. Died in ICE Custody. His Family Is Waiting for Answers.

Bekah Stolhandske McNeel — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Twelve-year-old Imrain Paktiawal’s large brown eyes looked weary as he recalled what he remembered of March 13, the day that would permanently change the course of his life. That morning, he had been in the car with four of his siblings, waiting for his dad to take them to school in the Dallas suburb they’d called home since fleeing Afghanistan, in 2021. His father, worried they would be late, said goodbye to Imrain’s mother and youngest brother and rushed down the stairs of the apartment building toward the car. Before he reached the driver’s seat, several men in plain clothes and tactical gear jumped out of two black, unmarked SUVs and approached Imrain’s father. They asked if he was Nazeer Paktiawal—he was. They took him,…

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Savitha Shan’s Friends and Family Are Making Sure Her Legacy Lasts

Clayton Maxwell — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

When Savitha Shan was a student at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, a public high school in Austin known for its rigor and nerdiness, she launched a YouTube channel called Studyfluff. The COVID-19 pandemic had just upended the world, and most teenagers’ sole way to connect to one another was online. In a series of videos, Savitha turns note taking into art. Her hand glides over the pages of a spiral notebook as she writes in a neat lowercase script and marks key terms with the smooth strokes of a highlighter. In an encouraging voice, she throws out occasional Harry Styles quotes, pokes fun at her marker obsession, or reminds her viewers that they’re not defined by test scores. It’s mesmerizing, like ASMR for…

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The Daily Crossword: July 2, 2026

Texas Monthly — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

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Word Wrangler: July 2, 2026

Texas Monthly — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:59:00 +0000

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The Texas Book Club Is Taking a Trip to Greece

Texas Monthly — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:21:28 +0000

Texans know a thing or two about fleeing the summer heat. Whether it be to the beach, a cool mountainside, or a city with a selection of air-conditioned museums, sunbirding for a weekend (or two) helps break up the oppressive triple-digit days. This summer, the Texas Book Club will take a month-long trip to Greece while digging into Texas author Amanda Eyre Ward’s new novel, Arrivals and Departures, a page-turning follow-up to her Mediterranean family saga The Jetsetters. If you haven’t read The Jetsetters, rest easy—although the cast of characters is largely the same, Arrivals and Departures works as a stand-alone read. In the book, celebrity Lee Perkins finds herself lost and of little use while searching for her missing sister in Greece as her nieces…

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Meet Our Newest Landmark

Ross McCammon — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Editors’ note: This article has been updated to include additional information about the origins of the name Rabbit Ears Mountain. I always called them the Rabbit Ears, though most historical accounts say the two small peaks that make up Rabbit Ears Mountain are named after a Cheyenne leader. As geologic formations go, these two six-thousand-foot peaks are remarkable only because of their context, and the context is the flattest land in Texas. Even though the peaks are in New Mexico.Let me explain.You first see them (and it’s them, plural, though technically they are called Rabbit Ears Mountain) around Dalhart. If you’ve been traveling from Dallas, as I have approximately four million times, they are the first geological protuberances in forever. They have always been a welcome sight to…

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Roar of the Crowd: July 2026

Texas Monthly — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Two Views of the CanyonI’ve just finished Courtney Bond’s account of visiting Palo Duro Canyon [“The Big Overlook: Palo Duro,” May 2026]. I’m torn between wanting more people to know about one of my most beloved places and wanting to keep it forever to myself. I grew up in that park, going with my mom and dad for turkey watching, hiking the shady trails along the river, and riding the now defunct Sad Monkey Railroad.I’m in San Antonio now, but I visited last year as a memorial to my parents, whom I lost unexpectedly in the past two years. The canyon welcomed me back with its sparkling gypsum, and I was flooded with beautiful memories at every water crossing.My only critique would be that this…

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Smoked Chicken Is Texas Barbecue’s Secret Joy

Daniel Vaughn — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Chicken is the most mysterious protein in Texas barbecue. Unlike with brisket, ribs, or pulled pork, whose naked form on butcher paper reveals much about its quality at just a glance, a smoked chicken’s condition remains veiled by its skin. Sure, a glossy sauce or pebbly rub can provide some clues, but you must dismantle a bird to find out whether it’s succulent or (the horror) desiccated.Many value-minded customers are willing to take that risk, especially when the cost of beef is at an all-time high. Next to eye-popping brisket prices, roughly $8 to $12 for a half chicken is attractive. (The most I’ve ever paid for a half chicken at a Texas barbecue joint was $42, which is certainly more comparable to brisket.) But…

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