Corn tortillas filled with sharp yellow cheddar, rolled and blanketed in a brick-red chili gravy made from dried chiles, beef tallow, and beef broth. Served with rice and refried beans in Fort Worth.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas with chili gravy trace back to the early twentieth century, when Mexican-American restaurateurs in Dallas and Fort Worth adapted interior Mexican cooking to the palates of Anglo ranch workers and cattlemen. The chili gravy format, distinct from mole or tomatillo sauce, became the dominant style across the DFW metroplex and defined the combination-plate era of Texas Mexican restaurants. Joe T. Garcia's, open since 1935 in Fort Worth's Near Northside, kept the tradition alive through the postwar decades, offering a simple fixed menu of enchiladas or fajitas served on the same sprawling garden patio where generations of Fort Worth families have marked milestones.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Use freshly made corn tortillas if you can find them. The gravy must be well-salted to avoid a flat flavour; taste and adjust before assembling.
Joe T. Garcia's on N Commerce St in Fort Worth is a landmark Tex-Mex patio restaurant serving family-style brunch, flour tortillas, house margaritas.
Order: Migas with queso; house margarita on the garden patio.
Tip: The patio holds hundreds but fills fast on Sunday brunch; reservations via email are strongly advised for groups of four or more.
Esperanza's on N Main St in Fort Worth is a family-run Mexican bakery-cafe serving fresh house-baked pan dulce and breakfast tacos from 06:30 every day.
Order: Huevos rancheros, pan dulce from the in-house bakery, breakfast tacos with chorizo.
Tip: Fresh pan dulce comes out from 06:30. Arrive early for the widest sweet-bread selection. Breakfast tacos sell fast on weekday mornings.
More cities are in research. Want fort worth tex-mex cheese enchiladas with chili gravy covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.