-♪ Maíz ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Dulce maíz ♪ ♪ Abundado ♪ ♪ Listo pa' la tierra cultivar ♪ ♪ Maíz ♪ ♪ Dulce raíz ♪ -Edgar had made an arroz con leche during the pandemic and said that in Iran there's something very similar called sholeh zard.

We wanted there to be a little bit more representation of the intersectionality of Mexican food, Iranian food, and growing up American.

And we adopted the dish to be a blend between the two, leaning more into the Persian side.

Nixta honors my family's kind of history and cultures.

In a few ways rather than, like, the physical aspects, it's more about the environment that's created, which I, like, take a lot of pride in.

♪♪ -¿Ya le echaste sal?

-No, ahí va. Tranquila.

-Podríamos hacer separado.

¿Cómo ves?

-¿Cómo que separados?

-Ahí mismo.

¿No, verdad?

Luego se pueden juntar.

-It was very easy for me to fit in with Xose's family.

The cultures, Italian and Mexican cultures, are very similar.

Going into his house, like, definitely felt like home for me, even though, at that time, I didn't really speak Spanish, I didn't speak the language, but somehow, like, his parents and I would be able to communicate just fine.

Xose, can you put my salsa on a little...?

[ Laughs ] -Just on my nerves, huh?

-Well, actually, I stopped and got tacos on the way home.

-[ Laughs ] After Discada, I did spend the night.

We definitely would share, like, a little twin bed, like sleeping foot to head.

And then his mom would, like, wake us up in the morning with, like, the smell of coffee and, like, making either menudo or chilaquiles or something good.

Like, it was like vacationing at his house 'cause his mom cooked so good, and, like -- -Also, I shared rooms with my brothers... -Oh, yeah.

-...so there's, like, four of us in there.

Like -- -In a tiny room with tiny beds.

-Yeah.

Or you could've slept on the floor.

You didn't have to sleep in my bed.

-No.

-[ Chuckles ] If you think about it, yeah.

-I guess so.

♪♪ For me, the moment I knew, I was like, "Alright, this person will be my forever person for the rest of my life."

About a year-and-a-half into us dating, we had a friend who's also a really talented chef.

We were like, "Hey, let's -- let's throw a pop-up at our house."

And we decided to invite like 20 people for this party.

It was going to be like a five-course menu.

-Hola.

-Hola.

-Si compramos aquí carne, ¿nos das tortilla y todo lo de más, o no?

-Mire, todos vendemos la carne.

Todo va por separado.

Yo solamente le vendo carne.

Sí se le vende de todo, pero se le cobra todo por separado.

But I remember that night, in the midst of all this, it starts.

-Huge thunderstorm.

-Pouring.

And I was so bummed out that we were about to, you know, lose all this.

And I felt bad, too, that, like, all these people had just spent like 65 bucks.

It was like, "Oh, my God, like, we're about to lose everything."

Like, it was -- 'cause it was a huge gamble for us at that point.

-Ah, qué rico.

-30.

-¿30?

No.

30 no.

No necesitamos 30, señora.

-30 pesos.

-Oh, vale.

Yo pensaba que me iba a dar 30 tortillas.

No, no necesito 30.

Soy tragón, pero no tan tragón, señora.

-Qué rico.

-Permiso.

-Muchísimas gracias.

I remember, at that moment, like, Sara just, like -- was, like, "No, like, screw this.

We're still going to do this.

Like, we're just going to make these little worlds inside of our house."

Ooh, baby.

-Muchísimas gracias.

-¿Cómo está?

-Hola, buenos días, doña.

-¿Cómo están?

-Bien, ¿y usted?

-Pues también.

Gracias.

Like, she made this whole restaurant happen inside of our house.

In the face of, like, adversity, like, was able to, like, keep composure.

She kept me calm.

I think at that point, I knew.

I was like, "I will marry this girl one day."

She ain't messing around.

[ Speaks indistinctly ] -Gracias, doña.

-Is this place crazy?

-It's amazing.

-Did you see the back yet?

-Well, I walked through -- -The pit room?

You saw the pit room?

-Yeah.

-♪ Para bailar la Bamba ♪ ♪♪ -Are you going to confit in the tallow?

-The talo, yeah.

-Aw, hey.

-Confit in smoked beef tallow.

-Looking at you, bro.

-Wow.

Love that.

With the eye?

We're going to eat the eyes, or what?

You're going to eat the eye with me?

-Absolutely.

I always eat the eye, man.

-There you go.

-You can't let anything go to waste.

-[ Laughs ] -Eso también.

-My name's Alec Varnell.

I'm from Houston, Texas, and I'm a barbecue chef here at J-Bar-M. My introduction to barbecue was more of your typical side-of-the-road gas station, old-school barbecue, you know, brisket, ribs, and sausage.

Growing up as a kid in Texas, you'd kind of just be accustomed to that.

It's almost like going to McDonald's.

I really fell in love with barbecue when my mom and my stepdad got together.

He's from San Antonio and grew up there.

So instead of just, you know, chopped beef sandwiches, we were cooking carne guisada, barbacoa, carnitas.

That's when I really became obsessed with barbecue, and I've always loved tacos, so he really introduced me to, like, the best of both worlds.

Before the Taco Mafia even ever existed, I known Xose and Anthony all the way back to grade school.

We spent a lot of time in high school, a lot of late nights just hanging out, talking about our lives, you know, talking about our interests.

And we bonded real quick over music, food, just general interest in life.

And then, you know, fast forward many, many years after high school, I started my concept in 2019, Big Daddy Carne, and about a year or so later, Anthony had reached out to me and told me about Discada.

He brought up the idea of, you know, eventually collaborating on some stuff.

-[ Speaks indistinctly ] -Out of pretty much anyone I've ever, ever worked with in food, they've always been the most inspiring to me, the most uplifting and supportive.

I just think the bond we formed was something you don't -- you don't get with everyone.

You know, it was a brotherhood that was formed, and I think it's just felt like a family since day one.

-Going through this door?

I got it.

-I really wanted to bring the guys down here to Houston.

I've always loved to give back to people, to be of service, and they're completely, you know, parallel with -- with the same mind-set and willingness to do the same for people.

-That's perfect.

-Perfect.

-Yeah.

That's such a set, too.

-Probably the perfect set right there.

-Yeah.

-Today's event is to find a way to give back to the community.

So we're doing, you know, discadas, of course, specialty discada.

We're doing my sliced brisket taco.

That was, you know, always my heavy hitter at pop-ups.

And J-Bar-M here, we have Chuy and Pablo cooking some cabrito.

We're going to be donating 100% of the profits to Relief Gang.

You know, Relief Gang is a great organization.

It's owned by DJ Mr. Rogers and Trae Tha Truth.

They founded it in 2017 after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston.

It's more of the old-school form of what a gang would be -- citizens of, you know, neighborhoods kind of coming together and partnering up just to watch out for each other's backs.

I've been a lifelong fan of Trae Tha Truth and DJ Mr. Rogers since I was a kid, so these guys are, like, heroes to me.

They do great things for the people year 'round, so we just, you know, want to do our part, to -- to, you know, help them out with that.

-So we just start it like an hour, two hours -- -We just get all the prep done for it.

Longaniza, no... -Yeah, let's get it.

Thanks for having us over, man.

-Yeah, man.

Literally, like, if you want me to crank it up, we can lower it or -- -No, that's -- that is perfect.

-It's important for me to support other taquerias that fall in line with the same values and traditions that I have come to know growing up, and La Santa Barbacha is one of those places for me.

-Hola, Rosa, ¿cómo estás?

-Bien.

¿Qué se te antoja?

-Eh, voy a pedir uno de Benito, uno de barbacoa, y un agua -- ¿Tienes limonada?

-¿De fresa o piña con menta?

-Fresa.

-Orale pues.

¿Cuánta azúcar?

-Ah, poco.

-¿Poquito?

-Sí, un poquito.

-Understood.

[ Blender whirring ] La Santa Barbacha, they're the sweetest family.

I see a lot of, you know, their family in my family.

I met Rosa first, and from there we just started talking about, you know, what we're doing, where they're from.

-Mi nombre es Daniela Hernandez.

-Y mi nombre es Rosa de Lima.

-Y somos las dueñas de La Santa Barbacha.

-Nosotros nacimos en Querétaro, México, pero nos criamos en Guanajuato.

-Vendemos barbacoa.

Es una receta de mi papá.

♪♪ Nos enseñó a hacer la barbacoa.

Es como una tradición de la familia.

-Consiste en poner la barbacoa en un cazo con pencas, en un horno.

♪♪ -Todas las tortillas que salen de la food truck son hechas al momento cuando entra el ticket.

Entonces, las personas pueden tener una tortilla suave con una barbacoa del día.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Nosotros vemos a Beto y es inspiración.

Es ejemplo de disciplina.

Es el balance entre ser persona y ser un business owner.

-Here we go, Beto.

-Hola.

Gracias.

-El es como nuestro mentor.

O sea, yo lo veo así.

El cualquier cosa mínima que tú quieras preguntar como si te bajó una luz así y te abre el camino.

-Todo lo que hace va pasando desde que empezaron ustedes, desde que nos conocimos y todo.

Viendo y conociendo a gente que se esfuerza a mejorar en su craft que ya están haciendo.

Les tengo mucho respeto a todos ustedes.

It's awesome to see everything y'all are doing.

Y como les digo, también, con ustedes que lleguen a un punto -- No se olviden de mí.

You know, it's going to be -- it's going to be -- it's going to be awesome and happy to see a dónde van a llegar.

Porque sí les digo, esto no es -- This is not the beginning.

This is not -- This is not it.

-Antes de cualquier cosa, somos familia.

Yeah.

Yeah.

-Y la familia no se hace a un lado.

Yeah, I know.

-Que detrás de un negocio existe algo más.

Hay una familia representando, hay cultura, hay una historia, hay un porqué estamos haciendo las cosas.

Y que la gente sepa que detrás de nosotros existen el esfuerzo de nuestros papás, el esfuerzo de nuestros abuelos, y por eso somos las personas que estamos ahora.

-It's right here, Oliver.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Little more.

Little more.

That's good.

That's gonna cook fast.

What are we thinking on the smoker, like 15, 30?

Like, to finish it up.

-Like an hour.

-An hour?

-And we're going to sear it after this, like we do at the restaurant.

2013 was when I moved to Austin.

Was working various restaurant jobs.

One of the people that I worked with, his name was Jorge.

He was suggesting that maybe someday we should start a food trailer, so I looked into the food trailers.

I couldn't afford to buy one new, so him and I ended up building one from scratch.

Definitely nothing was up to code at first, but, like, we did our own electrical, like, everything.

We pieced that together.

It was called Raw Goods.

And we set up on Cesar Chavez, where the original la Barbecue location was, and we sold things that were healthier than barbecue to kind of, like, offset the demand.

It was really good because of that spill-off from la Barbecue, definitely.

Whenever they left and moved to the Quickie Pickie location, we realized that we did not do enough marketing.

But trying to rebrand after that was pretty difficult.

Was open for about two years, and whenever we closed it down, I was unemployed for various months and that was during the time when we went to New York together.

He kind of opened up and vented to me about how everything that he's been trying to do has not been working out, how he feels stuck, how he feels like he's starting to feel, like, extreme depression.

-Después de que perdí todo mi estatus migratorio, para mí yo creo que es el problema más... Es el más grande que tengo en mi vida.

Se siente una impotencia no poder de regreso a mi país, a mi ciudad, donde está toda mi familia.

Desde que empezaron -- O sea, desde que perdí los papeles, por ejemplo, también tengo -- mucha gente de mi familia ha muerto, han pasado cosas así, y no puedo ir a visitar.

La verdad, me cuesta mucho trabajo hasta hablar del tema por el hecho de que... pues no sabes qué va a pasar.

Y siempre piensas que -- Al principio pues piensas: "Va a ser un año, dos años".

Llevo desde el 2008.

Llevo más de 10 años sin poder salir.

Just put them straight in the middle, like a -- like a mountain 'cause we're trying to capture all the layers.

I think that it's very unfair to put a child in that situation and then take it away from him.

I mean, as a kid, you don't have a choice on where you're going or what you're going to do.

The Dreamers Act was a glimpse of hope, but for it to not be renewed based off of something as common as a DUI is very, very infuriating.

He's a business owner, pays massive amounts of sales tax every month, creates jobs, hasn't gotten in any trouble in his life besides then, and that was over five, six years ago at this point.

I think that that needs to be recognized.

He's a job creator.

He helps out the local economy.

Not only that, he does a lot of charity work for this community.

For his business to be uncertain because of his status when he gives so much to this country and this community, I feel like the least they can do is give him the chance to go see his family in Mexico again and work here without fearing what's going to happen next.

-Vives en -- No quiero decir constante miedo, pero dices: "O sea, vivo en un país donde realmente no estoy al 100", ¿me entiendes?

Tengo que fijarme en cualquier cosa.

O sea, no me siento libre al 100.

No es algo que sienta yo.

-Yeah, it's not like you're scared.

You just don't feel like -- -No.

O sea, te sientes limitado, te sientes... No puedo hacer las cosas que mucha gente hace.

O sea, desde viajar hasta cuestiones de votar, cuestiones de -- Son cosas que no se pueden hacer.

No sé.

Me cuesta trabajo -- Es mi mayor con él porque decía que no dejo de hablar de eso, pero es algo que constantemente -- Es la única cosa que es constante en todos mis días, es el si pudiera viajar a México, si pudiera hacer esto, si pudiera hacer esto, pero mi estatus migratorio yo creo que es el problema más rígido que tengo en toda mi vida.

-It kind of rules your life, at this point.

-Mm-hmm.

And it's ruled it since the moment it happened.

-Mm-hmm.

-You can't really do anything about it.

It's like it's on your present every day.

So I don't know.

It's just -- it's not a nice way to live, but it is what -- what I have.

So, yeah.

Yeah, that's it.

♪♪ -Another one of those taquerias that give you that same sense of values and appreciation of the craft is Ensenada.

Really thankful to have them all be a part of this movement that we're trying to create in the city.

-¿Cómo estás?

-Hola.

Bienvenido.

-Hola.

Gracias.

Se me olvida que estoy bien alto.

-[ Laughs ] -¿Cómo han estado?

-Bien, bien.

Muchas gracias por preguntar, Beto.

Y ustedes han sido una inspiración, ¿eh?

-Ah, no, no.

[ Chuckles ] -¿Cuántos tacos...?

El Taco Mafia ha sido una inspiración para nosotros.

-What really caught my attention before even going there was their menu.

I fell in love with -- with the food and with them.

And, like, that same day, I went for dinner to get a couple more tacos.

From there, we started to talk a little bit and just getting to know where they're from.

-Mi nombre es Liz Everett -Y mi nombre es Stephanie Everett Martin, and we are the co-owners of Ensenada ATX.

La traila inició porque yo me mudé a Austin.

Entonces, le dije a mi mamá: "Oye, mamá, ¿qué te parece si abrimos un lugar de tacos, mariscos estilo street style Ensenada?".

Y dijo: "Let's do it".

Entonces, en eso -- We went off, bought the trailer, and we were like, "Let's open."

♪♪ -Lo que hace al taco especial es que es de una familia.

Estamos compartiendo la receta familiar con la comunidad.

Y nuestra familia es de Ensenada.

[ Woman laughs ] -El taco se prepara con mucha dedicación y mucho amor.

Lo sirvo como me gustaría que me sirvieran a mí un taco.

♪♪ Inicié hace como 30 años preparando estos ricos tacos.

♪♪ Mis hijos crecieron con eso.

Ahora mi tercera generación de mi nieta ha crecido en eso.

Y creo que vamos a ir avanzando generación tras generación.

-♪ For the best tacos ♪ ♪ They're the best tacos ♪ Papá, tengo una duda.

-Beto es un finísima persona.

Muy amable, muy -- Le gusta apoyar.

-I feel it's a little community that you kind of feel like they're family.

You know, we're so grateful for all the guys at Taco Mafia, you know?

-Se preocupan de cómo va el negocio.

A mí en mi cabeza, cuando dicen "Taco Mafia" es unidad.

Unidad en la industria de tacos.

Venir a Estados Unidos y compartir esto, mi receta, la dedicación de mis hijas y mi nieta.

La gente de Austin ha sido muy generosa, y yo quiero darles las gracias a toda la ciudad de Austin.

Muchas gracias, Beto, y le agradezco a Taco Mafia por estar siempre ahí.

-Claro.

Muchas gracias.

-De nada, Beto.

-Gracias.

-Hasta luego.

-Bye.

♪♪ -No sé.

En estilo diferente.

-Ah.

-Pero gracias.

-Muchísimas gracias, doña.

-Alrighty, so, engagement time.

How did it go down?

Edgar and I decided to travel to Mexico again, and this time we were down in the Yucatan.

-Este es el cucharillo, mire.

Ya te doy, mamita.

-Si fueran estos dos, ¿cuál...?

-Mira, para mí, yo te digo este.

Pero el paladar a cada persona es diferente, caballero.

-Sí, sí.

Sí, porque para mí no me gusta que esté muy amargo.

So we're hanging out, having a good time in the city, and one of the days, Edgar says, "Hey, let's -- let's go to Progreso," which is this beach town an hour away.

And I said, "Hey, that's the plan for tomorrow.

Like, let's have the night off.

Let's go tomorrow.

We'll have our swimsuits and all that."

He's like, "No, I really, really, really want to go tonight."

And I didn't know what the big deal was.

So we're on the highway, and Edgar's going, like, over 100 miles an hour, super fast.

I'm like, "What is the big deal?

Like..." And he's going so fast because he wanted -- wanted to catch the sunset.

So we park.

We're on the boardwalk.

-I just remember looking at the clock.

I'm like, "Sunset's in 15 minutes.

Oh, my gosh."

I'm like, "We got to -- It's going to take, like, I don't know how many minutes to walk to the beach."

I'm like -- in my window, I'm, like -- I'm just losing my window of time.

-♪ Qué tienen de... ♪ -He's, like, sweating, and I'm like, "I don't know what his deal is."

So we head to the beach, and I'm out there, looking at the water, getting rocks and seashells wherever I go.

And I'm, like, picking -- I'm bending down to pick one up, and I overhear him say, "Better now than never."

And I was like, "Yeah, I mean, shells are best found on the beach.

I guess it's better."

And then I turn around, and I see he's on one knee.

I was like, "Oh, he's not talking about shells right now."

So, you know when you have, like, this sort of blurred filter on and it's, like, a dream state that you're in?

So I don't hear anything.

He's saying a bunch of really beautiful things and crying and I'm crying and, yeah, waves are coming up.

Puts the ring on.

-Whole beach just starts clapping.

-Yeah.

-Everyone was like, "Yeah!"

I was like, "Alright.

She said yes.

Thankfully."

I wasn't sure.

I was like... -Sí.

-Lo que me quieras dar.

I love Sara's just, like, openheartedness and, like, kindness.

-Gracias, jefe.

¿Tu nombre?

-Ahí está.

-A ver, enséñamelo.

¿Edgar también?

-[ Speaks indistinctly ] -What I love most about Edgar is he feels, like, very California to me.

He's kind of like the ocean.

Like, on the undercurrent, there's that intensity, but, on the top, it's so gentle.

-Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.

♪♪ And then, if you could open that -- yeah.

Actually, it's already open.

I think we could pull those out.

-[ Speaks indistinctly ] -Thank you.

♪♪ [ Speaks indistinctly ] Alright.

Show them ours.

-Okay.

Este va a ser... ...cebolla.

¿Dónde está la piña?

-Knowing someone like Xose and this being something that's so personal to us, I just felt like we are completely vulnerable with each other, know everything about each other.

When he opened up to me in that way in New York, I was just like, "Dude, let's do this."

♪♪ -Come on.

♪♪ -Y acá nada, acá.

-Not only did I need him, but I wanted to work with my best friend.

It just sounded like a dream come true.

I wouldn't have ever done this without him.

It's his family's special recipe.

It's something that he introduced me to.

It was either with him or not at all.

-Thank you, sir.

-[ Chuckles ] What up?

-I told him about my first food truck, the mistakes I made, what I would do differently.

He's still a little hesitant, right, but it was a good conversation, and then we just enjoyed our trip.

Didn't talk about it.

When we get home, he gives me a call, and he literally goes, "Let's do it."

He's like, "Whatever.

Let's just do it."

I was like, "Do...what?"

I was like, "Say it."

Like, please -- please tell me you're saying what I think you're saying.

He's like, "Let's start Discada."

You should just hand this one to her, bro.

-Yeah.

-Or tell -- tell her -- tell her over there.

-Yeah.

Okay, these two, that one's my mom and my... -Okay.

-...my sister, so, yeah.

I'm going to take care of those two in a little bit.

Llévatelos.

Ya están.

I'll take care of those.

-Hi.

♪♪ ♪♪