The pressure is on for Tex-Mex restaurants these days and the choices for them are to either evolve their menus or close down.
Beloved Tex-Mex spots have been closing after years of operation. While many believe the closures are happening because of the pandemic or the economy, some are suggesting food critics have been pressuring Tex-Mex restaurants in the U.S. to add other options to their menus.
Axios reported that migration from Mexico to the U.S. along with the public’s exposure to a diversity of Mexican dishes are to blame for the attack on Tex-Mex food. Though the food is still popular globally, the pressure is real for these restaurants.
Some of the shuttered Tex-Mex restaurants include:
- San Antonio’s Mexican Manhattan Restaurant announced its closure without explanation on Oct. 24, 2020, after 62 years in business.
- Another San Antonio restaurant, El Mirador, was sold to a different restaurateur after 50 years of operation in November 2018.
- El Real Tex-Mex Cafe in Houston, which paid homage to the popular Felix Restaurant, closed in 2019 due to a partnership split.
The term Tex-Mex, referring to the Texas Mexican Railway, became a fixture in American vocabulary in 1875, according to History. The hyphenated form of the title described the people of Mexican descent born in Texas and the railroad. Eventually the shortened version of the name morphed into a synonym for the Mexican food found in Texas.
The Rio Grande Valley, the closest region in the state to Mexico, was the birthplace of Tex-Mex food, which went on to San Antonio where the cuisine really blossomed, according to First We Feast food blog. Texas Monthly reported that Tex-Mex began to make a name for itself when women who served food in San Antonio’s Military Plaza were dubbed the “Chili Queens” in the 1870s.
Tex-Mex was further developed in the 1880s by low income Mexican Americans during a time of racial segregation. A highly patrolled U.S./Mexico border along with lack of food supply chains from Mexico forced Mexican Americans to take the ingredients readily available to them and develop their own type of food, according to Axios.
Some staples of Tex-Mex cuisine that many Americans love are fajitas, nachos, chili and queso dip.
José R. Ralat, editor at Texas Monthly, said that he believes Tex-Mex is alive and well despite the changes around the food. Within a few decades, Ralat thinks the cuisine will still be appetizing because of the ingredients used in Tex-Mex.
“It is reconnecting with its roots because there is now a greater appreciation for fresher ingredients as well as a renewed availability of once inaccessible ingredients,” Ralat said.