High dollar Mexican food has arrive in east Austin, Texas. The old days of women selling tamales in lavanderias, and gas station parking lots are long gone. Nowadays the swells have arrived to sip on $15 shots of tequila añejo, and eat overpriced molotes. Earning six figures in Austin? Like to blow a bunch of money? Pat Sharpe breaks down Suerte a new Mexican restaurant lodged in the former Dario’s, one of the best old-line Tex-Mex joints in east Austin.

Meanwhile down in Houston, Tacoland owner Juan Lozano is doing business the right way. He sells tamales, made from scratch, as well as a taco platter of five al pastors for under eight bucks. It’s heartening to see small-scale mom and pops are still opening up in the Lone Star, and at prices where the working man can swing by for lunch without breaking the bank. more

If you’re going to eat your way across Ciudad de México you’re going to need a guide. And a minimum of a decade just to scratch the surface. The city is enormous holding over 20 million people within it’s metropolitan area. Of course you could hire a guide to take you to all the hidden spots that normal tourists would fear to tread. Anais Martinez offers such a service. She’s been crisscrossing the city for years. more

B&R Tamales up in Shreveport has been making tamales from scratch since 1987. A dozen will set you back $8.50. If we ever find ourselves in Ratchet City again we know where we’re going for lunch. more

Jacobo Perez, is a young poet who’s studying English at Mesa Community College out in Arizona. He recently won a competition with his magical realism poem “How to Cross the Border Illegally or How to Make Tamales de Rajas” read more about Perez here