The puffy taco is a San Antonio invention: fresh masa pressed thin and dropped into hot oil so the shell puffs and crisps into a light, blistered pocket. It is filled with seasoned picadillo or beans and cheese, then topped with lettuce, tomato, and shredded cheese. Eaten fast, before the shell softens.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
The puffy taco emerged on San Antonio's West Side in the mid-20th century. Ray Lopez opened Ray's Drive Inn in 1956 and trademarked the Original Puffy Taco, while his brother Henry opened Henry's Puffy Tacos on West Woodlawn, and the two family operations have traded claims to the dish ever since. The puffy taco is now so identified with the city that the local minor-league baseball team's mascot is a running puffy taco.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Fry one test round first to dial in the oil temperature; too cool and the shell will not puff, too hot and it browns before it sets.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Ray's Drive Inn on the West Side serves the original puffy taco for a few dollars, a cheap West Side institution where the deep-fried masa shell delivers.
Try: Original puffy taco, a few dollars
Tip: A couple of puffy tacos make a cheap, filling lunch. Cash and card both work at the drive-in counter.
Henry's Puffy Tacos on West Woodlawn plates puffy tacos with rice and beans for a modest price, the Lopez family's cheap, filling counter for the West Side.
Try: Puffy taco plate under fifteen dollars
Tip: A puffy taco plate with rice and beans is a cheap, filling meal. The shells come hot; eat them straight away.
Why locals love it: A 1977 Tex-Mex family room that locals guard, with puffy tacos and enchiladas that rarely make the tourist lists.
Tip: The puffy tacos and the enchiladas are the orders. A neighbourhood Tex-Mex spot that has fed regulars since 1977.
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