In the Borderland, even the way you eat your menudo says something about where you come from.
A recent piece by Borderzine digs into a debate that feels small on the surface but runs deep in the culture: do you eat your menudo with tortillas, or with a bolillo? The story reminds us that along the U.S.-Mexico border, menudo isn’t just a red-chile tripe stew. It’s Sunday morning. It’s family. It’s tradition simmering in a giant pot.
Across much of Mexico, menudo is served with warm corn tortillas. But here in El Paso and throughout the border region, the bolillo holds its own place at the table. That crusty roll, with roots tracing back to the French intervention in Mexico under Emperor Maximilian, found new life in the Borderland as the perfect tool for soaking up broth.
According to Borderzine, local bakeries feel the difference. At Bowie Bakery in El Paso, staff bake around 70 bolillos on a weekday, but that number more than doubles on Sundays. Jose Estrada told the publication that they often run out because so many customers come in specifically for bread to pair with their menudo.
For me, that detail hit home.
Growing up in the Midwest, every Mexican family I knew and every Mexican restaurant we went to served menudo with a bolillo on the side. When my grandma gathered the family the morning after a big celebration, we crowded around a fat pot of menudo with nothing more than limes and loaves of bolillo. No tortillas. No debate. Just bread torn by hand, dipped deep into the red broth.
Borderzine points out that regional habits matter. In Chihuahua, menudo is often served with bread, while Sonora leans toward tortillas. That proximity shapes El Paso’s preference. Award-winning chef and author Pati Jinich described the region as a “third dimension,” where traditions flow back and forth across the border, adapting but never losing their roots. She admitted she was surprised the first time she tried menudo with buttered, toasted bolillo, but she found it delicious.
That’s the beauty of it. Whether you scoop with a tortilla or dunk with a bolillo, you’re participating in something bigger than a side choice. You’re carrying memory. You’re honoring geography. You’re tasting history.
On both sides of the border, menudo connects cities, families, and generations. And if you ask me, there’s nothing better than a Sunday morning, a squeeze of lime, and a bolillo soaking up every last drop.
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