How Texas Food Reviews Came to Be
TexasFoodReviews.com didn’t start with a brand deck or investor pitch.
It started with a napkin, a brisket sandwich, and a stubborn idea I couldn’t shake.
Somewhere outside Luling—sitting at a picnic table behind a smoke-stained trailer—I bit into a slice of pepper-crusted brisket that made everything else in my life go quiet. No phones. No emails. Just bark, fat, and smoke. I pulled out my phone and typed a few words. Not for Instagram. For memory. That’s where this began.
I didn’t plan to start a blog. I just wanted to track the spots that made me feel something—and eventually, to share them with folks tired of chasing food that looks better than it tastes.
The First Review That Lit the Fire
The first write-up was about a no-name taco trailer on the edge of the Rio Grande Valley. No sign. No social media. Just handmade tortillas and barbacoa that fell apart if you breathed on it.
I threw together a one-page site under the name Texas Food Reviews and hit publish. Didn’t expect much. But then friends started asking for more. Then strangers. Then local cooks emailed me saying, “Thanks for telling the truth.”
That’s when I knew this wasn’t just a hobby—it was a responsibility.
Documenting a State That Feeds Its Own
Texas is bigger than most countries and more diverse than most people realize. We’re not just BBQ and Tex-Mex. We’re Vietnamese-Cajun crawfish in Houston. Czech bakeries in West. Lebanese kibbeh in El Paso. Indigenous stews simmered over fire on tribal lands.
There’s a whole flavor history here—woven into migration routes, cattle drives, oil booms, and border crossings. And a lot of it is getting erased or ignored.
This site exists to capture that story in real time.
Want to learn more about the state that built this? Start with Texas or the Texas History Timeline.
A Living Archive, Not a Static Blog
This is a living record of what Texas actually tastes like—from the crust on the ribs to the grease on the paper plate.
Every spot is a local favorite or well known spot in Texas. We are aimed at keeping the Texas heritage alive and help locals find the best spots.
If a place changes, we update the review—not delete it. Because this is memory, not marketing.
Why It Matters
The pace of change in Texas is fast—and flavor is often the first casualty.
Old diners close. Pitmasters retire. Family recipes get buried under convenience and chains.
I made this site to resist that. To document the meals that feed a real culture, not a content calendar.
If you want to understand the soul of a state, don’t look at its skyline—look at its lunch menu.
Where We’re Headed
This site will always stay local, honest, and flavor-first. But we’re growing into:
- More coverage of unincorporated towns and roadside eats
- Deep dives into regional food traditions, harvest seasons, and forgotten recipes
- Annotated food maps and “worth the drive” routes
- Interviews with cooks, pitmasters, and generational food keepers
This isn’t just food content. It’s a rolling documentary of Texas, one bite at a time.
If you’re new here, start with Our Mission or About Us.
To learn more about the guy writing all this, check out Larry Rojas.