So this is it y'all, 30 days of Tex-Mex have come and gone. First off I've gotta say that this adventure has backfired on me. The whole reason to eat Tex-Mex everyday was to be sick and tired of it by the time we got to Massachusetts so we would be happy stuffing ourselves with clam chowder and Boston cream pie, but that is not at all what happened. We discovered so many wonderful new restaurants and dishes and we nommed down on our favorites from all over town. This only made us love, and inevitably miss, Tex-Mex even more.
So I think it's even more fitting, in that context, that day 30 is Maria's Taco Xpress because we will miss Austin even more than we miss it's cuisine, and the story of Maria's is the story of Austin.
Maria's started small, in a little trailer, making $17 a day, but then it got some good press and the masses started to flock there to see what the fuss was about. It moved to a building a bit haphazardly, with whatever janky supplies it could muster. Customers thought it was charming and weird; the junkyard decorations and the mismatched paint just made it feel authentic.
But then Walgreens ruined everything.
I was living in Barton Hills just across from Maria's while the Walgreens shenanigans was going down. It was seriously a big deal in South Austin. For a while we thought Maria's would be gone forever, that Walgreen's would just knock everything down while customers were still waiting in line for tacos. But the neighborhood and Maria's must have put up a good enough fight because, even though the old building was destroyed, a new and much bigger Maria's popped up right next door.
But something just wasn't the same. All the jankiness was gone and in it's place there were fabricated, perfectly selected and placed knick knacks, and coordinated mismatched paint that smacked of brand new jeans with holes already worn into the knees.
This is why I thought that Maria's was fit for day 30. Austin is confused about what it wants to be. We started out small, but then we got noticed because we're the state capitol, we have the best university in the state, and we're just so dang cool. Hippies and punk rockers took refuge in Austin from the rest of the state and they made our little town authentically janky. But then things started to change. We got to be too cool for our own good and we began to grow. Big companies and yuppies showed up and pushed over the little guy. In some ways the growth is good because it means there is greater opportunity for Austinites to work and experience the finer things in life, but it also sometimes takes away from the authentic weirdness we all want Austin to be and creates an income gap, a housing crisis, and racial and economic segregation.
Austin is struggling to figure out what weirdness is still acceptable and what we want to knock down and put concrete over. We can't decide if we want to be a city of high rises, tech companies, and posh restaurants or a city that gleefully waves at the dude wearing only a thong and riding a bike while he's running for mayor. Personally I don't think these things are incompatible and I think Austin is the city to prove it. However, the one change that we have to get used to is that Austin isn't going to be a city that just happens anymore. We must actively ensure that we make room for the nerds in suits, the grandmas in East Austin, and the pot smoking, topless hippies to keep Austin authentically weird.
P.S. For my last Tex-Mex meal (for now) I ate migas with a side of beans and potatoes. The migas didn't have tortilla chips or any bread products in them, which is mind boggling, but they were still delish.
Paul had egg, cheese, and chorizo tacos (like usual) and they were fully satisfying.
Goodbye Austin. We will miss all your fabulous weirdness and your Tex-Mex, all your foodie restaurants, your Lady Bird Lake, your white squirrels, and your festivals of all types. We will even sorta miss the hippies and the silly UT students wearing nothing but short shorts and massive t-shirts that makes it look like they're walking around without pants on.
Austin we love you!
Maria's Taco Xpress - 2529 South Lamar Blvd
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