A key problem with the concept of authenticity as it relates to food is that it’s nativist, arbitrarily privileging geographically "pure" culinary traditions over immigrant ones. Sniffing that Tex-Mex isn’t authentically Mexican is like complaining that a mixed-breed puppy isn’t authentically a boxer because he’s half-rottweiler. He is what he is—and so are cuisines that developed organically from the integration of two (or more) different cultures. Tex-Mex may tend to be bigger, beefier, cheesier, and wheatier than its south-of-the-border counterparts, but it’s inherently neither better nor worse.
Which is all just an elaborate way of saying it’s A-OK to dig fajitas. Though the Austin-inspired Moontower Tacos es no más and actual Austin transplant Torchy’s Tacos has yet to open, there are plenty of other places to indulge your cravings for Lone Star-style comida.
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