The taco and Tex-Mex list

Baytown is a Tex-Mex town first and everything else second. Here's where, and what to order, in the order we'd send a friend, not the order of anyone's review count.

The list

Bocanegra's Kitchen, 214 West Texas Avenue. The one the town adopted fastest. It opened around 2022 and already has regulars who act like it's been there since their parents' wedding. Start with the flour queso tacos, take the birria if it's on, and come on a Tuesday for the brisket and barbacoa tacos at $1.50 each. Wednesday brings a ramen special, which sounds wrong and works. Open Monday to Thursday 11 to 9 and Friday and Saturday 11 to 10, closed Sunday, with a happy hour most weekday afternoons from 2 to 4. Street parking and the Town Square lots are the options. On Market Saturdays and Grito Fest weekends it is a wait. If the line's out the door, El Toro on Garth opens at 9 on Saturday and will take you in.

El Toro, 5810 Garth Road. The institution: a Ybarra family restaurant since 1960, tortillas made in-house, and a green sauce that regulars will defend in a parking lot. Weekdays the door opens at 11, not seven, whatever the internet claims, but Saturday and Sunday it opens at 9 for the breakfast plates. Fajitas after dark, and always the green sauce. There is a large lot, and a second room on Decker Drive and another on Bayway if you're on that side. The plate combos haven't changed and nobody wants them to.

Mi Parrillada, 2109 North Alexander Drive. A neighborhood grill that locals keep recommending in the same breath. Carne asada plate, and ask what's on the grill that isn't on the menu. It opens at 7 a.m. and the kitchen runs to 10 p.m., until 11:30 on Friday and Saturday, which makes it one of the few local rooms still plating at eleven. This is where you take the person who says Tex-Mex is all the same.

El Sinaloense, 3002 Market Street. Sinaloa-style: aguachile and tacos gobernador, mariscos, lime on everything. It barely has a web presence, and a line anyway. It closes early, at 7:30 every night, and opens at 10:30 on weekdays and Saturday and at 11 on Sunday. Do not confuse it with El Sinaloense Seafood & Bar on Garth, which is a separate business. El Sinaloense Xpress, at 5926 FM 2100 in Crosby, is the seafood counter for anyone out that way. If you only eat seafood once on this list, it's the Market Street room.

Luna's Mexican Restaurant, 730 West Cedar Bayou-Lynchburg Road. Scratch Tex-Mex on the east side, the table that isn't Garth. Fajitas for the table, birria tacos and birria bowls if you're in the mood, and enchiladas if you came hungry and alone. Sunday to Thursday it closes at 9:30, Friday at 11, Saturday at 10.

Mambo Seafood, 4300 East Freeway. Not Tex-Mex at all: big Latin seafood platters off I-10, from a Houston-born house that is honest about being a chain. Go with a crowd, order the Mambo rice and the tostones, and let the mariscada feed the table. Open 11 to 9:30, and until 10 on Friday and Saturday.

The plate combos haven't changed and nobody wants them to.

Pupuseria El Rey, 5622 Garth Road. Not tacos, mostly, and on this list because it's the best $3 you'll spend in Baytown. Revuelta and loroco pupusas, extra curtido, and a baleada if you want Honduras in the same sitting. Salvadoran, not Mexican, and nobody in the lot cares. Open Monday to Thursday 8 to 8. The one trap is that it is closed on Saturday, and it closes at 6 on Friday and Sunday.

The Cuban Cafe, 4232 Decker Drive, on the 4 a.m. breakfast list. Also not tacos. The pressed Cuban is the sandwich of Baytown and it belongs on every food list in this town until someone beats it. The listing has it opening at 4 a.m. on weekdays and 8 on the weekend. Weekend hours vary by source, so check before a Sunday trip.

Before eight

Breakfast tacos are a separate sport. Doughnut Wheel at 3634 Garth opens at 3:30 in the morning for glazed donuts and boudin kolaches. Closing time is reported as 1, 2 or 3 p.m., so go early. Taqueria Torito at 1000 West Main opens at 3:30 on weekdays and closes at 1. Its Saturday hours run to 10, and it is closed on Sunday.

What to skip

The chain corridor on Garth. It's fine. It's the same as the one where you live. And any place whose "Mexican" section is longer than its Tex-Mex section is confused about which town it's in.

The rules

- Some places run weekday lunch specials. Ask what the window is when you order. - Sunday is a Tex-Mex day for the whole town. Go before noon or after two, and check the hours for each place. Several close Sunday or Monday. - Carry a little cash for the smaller places and the trucks. Card readers go down. - Mi Parrillada keeps the latest kitchen on weekends; the late-night list has the rest.

Bocanegra's on a Tuesday at noon, flour queso tacos and a brisket taco for a buck fifty. Next week, El Toro at nine on a Saturday morning for the breakfast plate and the green sauce. Decide then. Everyone in town has.

Before you go

Bocanegra's Kitchen is closed Sunday and El Rey is closed Saturday, so match the day to the room. Sinaloa-style seafood at El Sinaloense is an early-evening meal, not a late one, because the doors close at 7:30. El Toro's weekday doors open at 11, but on weekends the breakfast plates start at 9. For a Friday night, Mi Parrillada and Luna's are the two kitchens still plating close to 11. For the lightest bill, Bocanegra's on Tuesday and El Rey. Mambo's platters are meant for sharing.

Questions people ask

Where is the best Tex-Mex in Baytown? Bocanegra's Kitchen on Texas Avenue for the room, El Toro for the institution, Mi Parrillada for asada, El Sinaloense for mariscos, Luna's for scratch Tex-Mex on the east side.

Best tacos in Baytown? The early-morning taquerías and trucks, and Bocanegra's on Tuesday.

Is Bocanegra's open on Sunday? No. It is closed Sunday. Friday and Saturday it runs to ten.

Visit Baytown also keeps a Taqueria Tour list of 14 taco stops and 6 sweet stops. The Baytown Taqueria Tour sorts it by street so you can plan a route.

En español

La lista de tacos y Tex-Mex

Los tacos y el Tex-Mex de Baytown van desde platos de desayuno y camiones de comida hasta cenas combinadas de toda la vida. Elige por hora y por barrio, no por la fama, y pide siempre el plato seguro de cada lugar. La comida buena más barata: los tacos de brisket de los martes en Bocanegra's a $1.50 cada uno, o las pupusas de El Rey, alrededor de $3.

Dónde comer

- Bocanegra's Kitchen, 214 West Texas Avenue. El que el pueblo adoptó más rápido; abrió hacia 2022. Empieza con los tacos de queso en tortilla de harina y pide la birria si hay. Los martes hay tacos de brisket y de barbacoa a $1.50, y los miércoles un especial de ramen. Abre de lunes a jueves de 11 a 9 y viernes y sábado de 11 a 10; domingo cierra. Hay happy hour la mayoría de las tardes entre semana de 2 a 4. Los sábados de mercado y en el Grito Fest hay espera; si la fila llega a la calle, El Toro abre a las 9 los sábados. - El Toro, 5810 Garth Road. La institución: restaurante de la familia Ybarra desde 1960, con tortillas hechas ahí y una salsa verde que los clientes defienden. Entre semana abre a las 11; sábado y domingo abre a las 9 con platos de desayuno. Fajitas de noche. Hay otro local en Decker Drive y otro en Bayway. - Mi Parrillada, 2109 North Alexander Drive. Parrilla de barrio. Plato de carne asada, y pregunta qué hay en la parrilla que no está en el menú. Abre a las 7 a. m. y la cocina funciona hasta las 10 p. m., hasta las 11:30 el viernes y el sábado. - El Sinaloense, 3002 Market Street. Estilo Sinaloa: aguachile, tacos gobernador y mariscos. Cierra temprano, a las 7:30 todos los días, y abre a las 10:30 entre semana y sábado y a las 11 el domingo. No lo confundas con El Sinaloense Seafood & Bar en Garth, que es otro negocio. El Sinaloense Xpress, en 5926 FM 2100 en Crosby, es el mostrador de mariscos para quien vive por allá. - Luna's Mexican Restaurant, 730 West Cedar Bayou-Lynchburg Road. Tex-Mex hecho desde cero en el lado este. Fajitas para la mesa, tacos y tazones de birria. Domingo a jueves cierra a las 9:30, viernes a las 11 y sábado a las 10. - Mambo Seafood, 4300 East Freeway. No es Tex-Mex: grandes platos de mariscos latinos, de una casa nacida en Houston. Pide el arroz Mambo, los tostones y la mariscada para compartir. Abre de 11 a 9:30, y hasta las 10 el viernes y el sábado. - Pupuseria El Rey, 5622 Garth Road. Casi no hay tacos, pero es lo mejor que puedes gastar por $3 en Baytown. Pupusas revueltas y de loroco, más curtido, y una baleada hondureña. Es salvadoreña, no mexicana. De lunes a jueves abre de 8 a 8, el viernes y el domingo cierra a las 6, y el sábado cierra todo el día. - The Cuban Cafe, 4232 Decker Drive. Tampoco son tacos. El sándwich cubano prensado es el sándwich de Baytown. Abre a las 4 a. m. entre semana y a las 8 el fin de semana; el horario del fin de semana varía según la fuente.

Antes de las 8

Doughnut Wheel, 3634 Garth, abre a las 3:30 de la mañana con donas glaseadas y kolaches de boudin; la hora de cierre varía, así que ve temprano. Taqueria Torito, 1000 West Main, abre a las 3:30 entre semana y cierra a la 1; el sábado cierra a las 10 y el domingo no abre.

Qué evitar

El corredor de cadenas en Garth. Está bien, pero es igual al de cualquier ciudad. Y desconfía de un lugar cuya sección "mexicana" sea más larga que la Tex-Mex.

Antes de ir

Bocanegra's cierra el domingo y El Rey el sábado, así que elige el día según el lugar. El Sinaloense es comida de la tarde temprano. En el desayuno de fin de semana, El Toro abre a las 9. El viernes por la noche, Mi Parrillada y Luna's siguen sirviendo cerca de las 11. El domingo muchos lugares cierran, así que revisa el horario de cada uno. Lleva un poco de efectivo para los lugares pequeños y los camiones.

Visit Baytown también tiene una lista, el Recorrido de Taquerías, con 14 paradas de tacos y 6 de dulces. El Recorrido de Taquerías de Baytown la ordena por calle para que pueda planear una ruta.

Sources

- Bocanegra's Kitchen, hours and menu (official site and listing). - El Toro Mexican Restaurant, Baytown locations (Garth Road, Decker Drive, Bayway Drive). - Mi Parrillada, El Sinaloense, Luna's Mexican Restaurant, Mambo Seafood, Pupuseria El Rey, The Cuban Cafe, Doughnut Wheel and Taqueria Torito: the businesses' own listings, checked against HERE's places data.