{"id":370952,"date":"2026-07-13T10:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/370952\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T10:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:36:09","slug":"austin-tex-mex-history-taco-flats-las-palomas-tonys-tortillas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/370952\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Tex-Mex history: Taco Flats, Las Palomas, Tony’s Tortillas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since we introduced \u201cJim Duncan\u2019s Austin\u201d on July 6, 2025, among his most popular histories are those recalling the city\u2019s beloved\u00a0bars<\/a>,\u00a0clubs\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0eateries<\/a>. This week, we adapt three more of his\u00a0Tex-Mex restaurant chronicles. \u2014 Michael Barnes<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1925: Tony\u2019s Caf\u00e9 \/ Tortilla Factory<\/p>\n

\"Tony's<\/p>\n

Tony’s Cafe is visible on the left in this May 27, 1949 photograph of Capitol Truck and Trailer.<\/p>\n

Neal Douglass\/Austin History Center<\/p>\n

Before he became Austin\u2019s \u201cTitan of Tortillas,\u201d Antonio \u201cTony\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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By the mid-1920s, he had opened Tony\u2019s Cafe\u0301, 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\u2019s Tortillas, and it was noted on city maps as a corn chip factory.<\/p>\n

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.\u2019s legacy, however, would be kept alive by his two oldest daughters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carmen and her husband, Moses Steve Vasquez, founded the Tamale Houses in 1960, and Gudelia and her husband, Camilo Jo \u201cC.J.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

1971: Taco Flats<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Burnet Road location of Taco Flats usually serves beer and tacos on game day.<\/p>\n

Provided by Taco Flats.<\/p>\n

Over the past half-century, Taco Flats has gone from counterculture to mainstream, interrupted only by a 33-year midlife siesta.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Founded in 1971 by Hector Alvarado, it operated during the 1970s at 5213 North Lamar Boulevard as a \u201chippie hangout\u201d known primarily for its annual jalape\u00f1o-eating contests and cheap beer and food.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its menu included a 99-cent \u201chobo plate\u201d with taco meat, beans, salad, a couple of tortillas and a toothpick-punctured jalape\u00f1o.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, there have been no jalape\u00f1o-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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But as recently as early July, \u00a0Madera was talking about reviving the jalape\u00f1o competitions.<\/p>\n

1983: Las Palomas<\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/p>\n

Exterior view of Las Palomas Restaurant on Oct. 24, 2004<\/p>\n

American Statesman File<\/p>\n

After serving as a cultural attach\u00e9 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Noting that there were already many Tex-Mex caf\u00e9s in town, he opted to focus on interior Mexican cuisine from the Yucat\u00e1n.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a0amid a setting of live Latin music and art.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Signature dishes include chiles rellenos, mole poblano, cochinita pibil, steak chimichurri, fish Veracruzano and paella. The restaurant soon became popular.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early regular diners included Austin Mayor Gus Garc\u00eda, 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Three previous stories in this series<\/p>\n

Tex-Mex history: Stories behind Mr. Natural, Guero’s and Camino Real<\/a><\/p>\n

Juan in a Million, Manuel\u2019s and more Austin Tex-Mex history<\/a><\/p>\n

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Austin Tex-Mex history: El Matamoros, Maudie\u2019s, El Arroyo and more<\/a><\/p>\n

Please send tips and questions to\u00a0mbarnes@statesman.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since we introduced \u201cJim Duncan\u2019s Austin\u201d on July 6, 2025, among his most popular histories are those recalling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-370952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}