Taco Palenque Deserves to Go National Texas Monthly [Video]

There’s Taco Bell, and then there’s everyone else. Torchy’s Tacos and Velvet Taco may aspire to national reach, but they’ll never match the market share—or the international footprint, across nearly thirty countries—of the home of the Crunchwrap Supreme.

Yet they and other Texas-based chains—Taco Bueno, Taco Cabana, Taco Casa—share common traits with Taco Bell. Their menus are filled with head-scratching takes on Americanized Mexican food, and they were each launched by non-Hispanic white founders with access to levels of investment capital that most Latino business owners can only dream of.

That shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying a Cheesy Gordita Crunch at Taco Bell or a Torchy’s Scallywag (fried shrimp coated in coconut and Cap’n Crunch) or whatever mass-produced fast-food concoction delights your taste buds. I’m no stranger to the greasy beauties that are Jack in the Box tacos. I only hope that such fare functions as a culinary gateway to the wider world of …