If you’re from San Antonio, you probably have a signature breakfast taco order, or at least a go-to order that never disappoints. You might even have a couple of neighborhood spots you tend not to stray from because you know it’s going to hit the same every time.
But just know that because this topic is so close to the heart, there are some people out there who will criticize your order if it makes it onto the r/sanantonio subreddit. In a recent post titled, “American cheese does not belong in tacos!” a user expressed extreme distaste for the type of cheese they got on a bean and cheese taco one morning. The photo attached to the post showed the taco in question, which admittedly looked like it had a very melty cheese situation, prompting some commenters to call it “government cheese.”
So here’s where the controversy comes in. The user who made the post wrote, “Anyways these tacos suck and I hate taco spots who serve tacos with American cheese. Major yuck.” They continued in the comments, saying “There are some others where American is better vs Cheddar but I will simply not order a B&C from a place that puts American on it and B&C is my favorite breakfast taco.”
Seemingly, the user was referring to tacos made with that gooey orange cheese rather than shredded cheddar, although even that was called into question, as a significant portion of the more than 300 comments under the post were dedicated to the question of what constitutes American cheese. Others just plain disagreed, with one commenter calling the post a “hot take.”
In the words of one user, “I want beans that actually have a flavor and that plastic cheese in there. I will never return to a place that gives me a bean and cheese taco with just bland cheddar cheese… it isn’t right.” Another wrote, “Where Tex Mex is good, there is some plastic cheese to bind it together. Cheese enchiladas, [bean] and cheese tacos, quesadillas. We put plastic yellow cheese in it all. Embrace it. And don’t forget to have your cholesterol monitored regularly!”
Many others agreed with the originator of the post, saying, “I have been SCREAMING this from the rooftops. I avoid every taco place that has ever given me American cheese.” Others just expressed their love of shredded cheddar on a taco, which is valid (as long as it’s actually hot enough to get melted instead of turning into a brick of chewy despair).
At the end of the day, San Antonio is a place where you can spin around, throw a dart in any direction, and have it hit five taco spots. All of that to say there’s going to be an abundance of places that fit your particular preferences, the ones you’ve built since your parents brought tacos home on a weekend morning and since you started grabbing them as a cure-all for hunger, hangovers, and everything else. So just grab the tacos you like and let bygones be bygones.