Austin's Tex-Mex enchiladas are corn tortillas rolled around shredded yellow cheese, blanketed in chili gravy or salsa roja, baked until the cheese pools through to the plate, served with rice and refried beans.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Tex-Mex took shape in San Antonio's chili queens of the 1880s and spread to Austin via mid-20th-century combination plates. The chili-gravy enchilada (no tomato in the sauce, just chili powder, cumin and beef stock) is a distinctly Texan creation that Mexican-Mexican kitchens never plated. Matt's El Rancho (founded 1952 in downtown Austin; moved to South Lamar in 1986) is the canonical Austin Tex-Mex room; Fonda San Miguel runs an interior-Mexican refinement of the form on North Loop; El Naranjo plates a regional Oaxacan version. The combination plate (two enchiladas, rice, refried beans, guacamole) is the Austin lunchtime baseline.
Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten
Tip from the editors. The chili gravy is the giveaway; if thin or harshly spicy, use mild ancho, not chipotle or generic blend. Soften the tortillas in oil or they crack when rolled.
Matt's El Rancho in Austin is the Martinez family's South Lamar Tex-Mex room since 1952, home of the Bob Armstrong queso dip and a citywide birthday-dinner.
Signature: Bob Armstrong dip, Enchiladas with chili gravy, Frozen margarita
Order: Bob Armstrong dip, beef enchiladas with chili gravy, plus a frozen margarita on the side.
Tip: The patio under the oaks holds 200; arrive 5:30pm to dodge the 7-to-9 family wait.
Fonda San Miguel in Austin is Tom Gilliland's 1975 interior-Mexican dining room on North Loop, a pioneer of regional Oaxacan and Yucatecan cooking.
Signature: Cochinita pibil, Mole poblano, Sunday hacienda brunch
Order: The cochinita pibil from the Sunday hacienda brunch buffet, plus a bowl of pozole.
Tip: The Sunday brunch buffet is the showcase; book the dining room for it at least a week out and arrive at 11.
El Naranjo is a mexican room in Austin. The mole negro is the canonical order; daughter Ana Torrealba's Sunday-supper menu is the most experimental window.
Why locals love it: Iliana de la Vega's James Beard-winning Oaxacan dining room on South Lamar has a permanent reservation queue but flies under the visitor radar of Suerte and Comedor.
Tip: The mole negro is the canonical order; daughter Ana Torrealba's Sunday-supper menu is the most experimental window.
Pueblo Viejo in Austin is Nestor and Margarita's East Riverside Mexican taqueria since 2010, a brick-and-mortar grown from a taco truck and a citywide.
Signature: Breakfast tacos, Barbacoa taco, Pastor
Order: Bean-and-cheese breakfast taco on a homemade flour tortilla.
Tip: The Tillery Street trailer and the St. Elmo and Pickle Road locations run the same kitchen with shorter lines.
More cities are in research. Want tex-mex cheese enchiladas covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.