Since we introduced “Jim Duncan’s Austin” on July 6, 2025, among his most popular histories are those recalling the city’s beloved bars, clubs and eateries. This week, we adapt three more of his Tex-Mex restaurant chronicles. — Michael Barnes
1925: Tony’s Café / Tortilla Factory
Tony’s Cafe is visible on the left in this May 27, 1949 photograph of Capitol Truck and Trailer.
Neal Douglass/Austin History Center
Before he became Austin’s “Titan of Tortillas,” Antonio “Tony” Villasana faced two formidable historic hurdles: the Mexican Revolution and the 1928 Austin City Plan. To escape the revolution, 11-year-old Tony and his family emigrated from Tamaulipas to Austin in 1912.
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By the mid-1920s, he had opened Tony’s Café, a small eatery near Republic Square, where most of the city’s Mexican residents then lived. In 1928, however, his business was interrupted when city leaders pushed the Hispanic community toward lower East Austin. After brief downtown stops on Congress Avenue and Brazos Street during the Depression, he relocated to 1300 E. Seventh St. in 1935, where he rebranded the business as Tony’s Tortillas, and it was noted on city maps as a corn chip factory.
After Tony Sr. retired, Tony Jr. continued to operate the business until financial problems caused it to file for bankruptcy in the 1980s. Tony Sr.’s legacy, however, would be kept alive by his two oldest daughters.
Carmen and her husband, Moses Steve Vasquez, founded the Tamale Houses in 1960, and Gudelia and her husband, Camilo Jo “C.J.” Villegas, opened the El Mercado restaurant chain in 1985. Tony Sr. died in 1974, Tony Jr. in 1992, Carmen in 1999 and Gudelia in 2019.
1971: Taco Flats
The Burnet Road location of Taco Flats usually serves beer and tacos on game day.
Provided by Taco Flats.
Over the past half-century, Taco Flats has gone from counterculture to mainstream, interrupted only by a 33-year midlife siesta.
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Founded in 1971 by Hector Alvarado, it operated during the 1970s at 5213 North Lamar Boulevard as a “hippie hangout” known primarily for its annual jalapeño-eating contests and cheap beer and food.
Its menu included a 99-cent “hobo plate” with taco meat, beans, salad, a couple of tortillas and a toothpick-punctured jalapeño.
In 1979, Carl Alex Steele acquired the business from Alvarado and added live music. For two years, Taco Flats was a regular venue for performers such as Gary P. Nunn, Michael Martin Murphey, Blaze Foley and Townes Van Zandt.
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Taco Flats closed in October 1981. After three dormant decades, Simon Madera bought the rights to the business and reopened it at 5520 Burnet Road in 2014. The new Taco Flats, however, is not the old Taco Flats.
So far, there have been no jalapeño-eating contests and no cosmic cowboy crooners, but there are four Taco Flats locations and a food trailer serving gourmet tacos and craft beer. Steele died in 2011.
But as recently as early July, Madera was talking about reviving the jalapeño competitions.
1983: Las Palomas
Exterior view of Las Palomas Restaurant on Oct. 24, 2004
American Statesman File
After serving as a cultural attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, Javier Guerena Corona immigrated to Austin in 1982 with his wife, Amelia, and family. Upon their arrival, the Coronas opened Las Palomas, a bar and restaurant at 3219 Bee Cave Road in the Westwood Shopping Center.
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Noting that there were already many Tex-Mex cafés in town, he opted to focus on interior Mexican cuisine from the Yucatán.
Corona was a cross-cultural Renaissance man. As a Mexican diplomat, he had promoted American culture in the form of music, dance and the visual arts, and, as an American entrepreneur, he promoted Mexican culture in the form of interior Mexican cuisine amid a setting of live Latin music and art.
Signature dishes include chiles rellenos, mole poblano, cochinita pibil, steak chimichurri, fish Veracruzano and paella. The restaurant soon became popular.
Early regular diners included Austin Mayor Gus García, University of Texas President Larry Faulkner and family advisor to the Bush political dynasty, Karen Hughes. Corona died in 2003. Today, the restaurant is managed by his daughter, MariCarmen Corona Dale, who started as a cashier and hostess.
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Three previous stories in this series
Tex-Mex history: Stories behind Mr. Natural, Guero’s and Camino Real
Juan in a Million, Manuel’s and more Austin Tex-Mex history
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Austin Tex-Mex history: El Matamoros, Maudie’s, El Arroyo and more
Please send tips and questions to mbarnes@statesman.com.