Austin runs on tortillas. The breakfast taco is a civic institution — eggs, cheese and something glorious folded into flour before eight in the morning — and the argument over who makes the best one has outlasted every mayor. Then the sun goes down and the trailers take over: al pastor carved off the spit, brisket tacos that blur the line between taquería and barbecue joint.
The morning rules
Order migas — crispy tortilla strips scrambled into the eggs — on flour, with a side of salsa roja that will not be optional after the first taste. The famous spots queue long on weekends; the unglamorous gas-station counters and neighborhood trailers two blocks away are often just as good and twice as fast. East Riverside, right around Parker Lane, hides several of the city’s best.
After dark
Night tacos are a different sport: find a trailer lot with string lights, order al pastor with pineapple and eat standing up like everyone else. Most trailers run until midnight, later on show nights. The move after a gig on East 6th is a paper plate of three, a squeeze of lime, and the ten-minute ride home debating whether to go back for a fourth.
