Four of the best new taquerias in Texas are in San Antonio, according to a new list from Texas Monthly.
Taco Editor José R. Ralat highlighted 25 new taco spots around the state in the magazine’s June issue, from Longview in East Texas to Midland and Odessa out west. Four Alamo City restaurants made the cut, tying Dallas for the most spots on the list.
The list includes new restaurants that opened since Ralat ranked the state’s 50 best tacos in 2024; 10 San Antonio spots made the cut for that list.
At Aguazul, which opened earlier this year on the Northwest Side, Ralat praised the shrimp aguachile azul and the Big Red shrimp taco from a menu that “reflects the Chinese and Mexican American heritage of owners Jose and Ericka Fong.”
Aguazul’s executive chef, Enrique Lozano, won Food Network’s Chopped last year, and was a James Beard semifinalist.
The West Texas-inspired Anacacho, inside the St. Anthony hotel, earned praise for its nopales, bean and cheese breakfast taco.
Chef Leo Davila opened the cantina at the downtown hotel last year, followed by Esencia in 2026, after closing his award-winning Mexican-Asian fusion restaurant, Stixs & Stone.
On the northern edge of San Antonio, Ralat highlighted Tacos on the Street’s first U.S. location, which opened in the Stone Oak area last fall.
While the Mexican restaurant, which started three decades ago near Puerto Vallarta, is best known for its carne asada, its new chicken offering makes it worth a stop, the magazine said.
“It’s hard to make a chicken taco stand out, but this one is impossibly moist and admirably retains the flavor of the fire,” Ralat wrote.
The fourth San Antonio spot on the list is this West Side food truck serving what Ralat called “raucous” carne asada tacos.
Waca’s non-taco offerings also impressed the critic.
“The Wacabolas are clever fritters of guacamole, chicken, and cheese,” he said, calling them “San Antonio–style hush puppies.” The birria grilled cheese also earned a mention, described as “a quesabirria taco with Americana flair.”