Texas Monthly

For 50 years, Texas Monthly has been documenting life in Texas, delving into its politics, notable figures, barbecue culture, business landscape, true crime stories, taco delights, honky-tonk music, and outdoor adventures. We invite you to explore our collection of classic Texas Monthly articles available on this site, along with six fresh stories we add daily. You can find these stories across various platforms that our audience loves, including our website, printed magazine, podcasts, videos, books, and live events.

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The Texanist: Why Are There So Many Country Songs About Texas Towns?

4 days ago | texasmonthly.com | David Courtney

Q: The country-classics radio station I listen to plays lots of songs about Texas cities. There’s George Hamilton IV’s “Abilene,” Marty Robbins’s “El Paso City,” Glen Campbell’s “Galveston,” and Larry Gatlin’s “Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer to You).” Why are there so many country songs about Texas towns? Can any other state come close? A: As a longtime lover of country music and a lifelong resident of the state,the Texanist has not failed to note the abundance of songs about Texasplaces.
"What in the World Would Justify Doing This?": Texas Vet and Hemp Seller on Looming THC Ban

1 week ago | texasmonthly.com | Dan Solomon

By Sunday, Texans will know whether the hemp-derived THC products that have been legal in the state since 2019 will be banned as of September 1. During the Eighty-Ninth Legislature, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 3, which would end a $5.5 billion industry and which now sits on Governor Greg Abbott’s desk.
Austin’s Got Another Hot New BBQ Joint. This One’s Taking Inspiration From Louisiana.

1 week ago | texasmonthly.com | Daniel Vaughn

Texas barbecue has drawn many cultural collaborations from around the world over the past few years. Joints have paired their smoked meats with Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Egyptian, and Japanese cuisines. At Parish Barbecue, in Austin, owner and pitmaster Holden Fulco is looking just across the eastern border, to his home state of Louisiana, for menu inspiration at his new food truck. He’s parked outside craft brewery Batch and has been serving on a regular schedule since March.
After a Weekend of National Protests, Immigration Was A Hot Topic Among James Beard Awards Winners

1 week ago | texasmonthly.com | Paula Forbes

Texas picked up several medals last night at the 35th annual James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards, held in Chicago. Arjav Ezekiel of the counter-service prix-fixe restaurant Birdie’s, in Austin, won Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, a national award. Best Chef: Texas went to Thomas Bille, of the Mexican-influenced restaurant Belly of the Beast, in Spring, outside Houston.
How a Small Texas Architecture Firm Designs the State's Prettiest Rest Areas

1 week ago | texasmonthly.com | Lauren Larson

Before I visited the Brooks County Safety Rest Area, an hour and a half southwest of Corpus Christi, I looked it up on a bird tracking app. Although it’s a destination on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, I was suspicious, chiefly because I couldn’t imagine a rest area being a destination for anything.
Beyoncé Won Best Country Album. Now the Award Doesn’t Exist.

1 week ago | texasmonthly.com | Dan Solomon

This week, the Recording Academy announced a big change to the way it honors country music at the Grammys. From 1995 through this year, it presented the Best Country Album trophy to the best release in the genre during the preceding year. Starting in 2026, however, the single award will become two separate ones: Best Contemporary Country Album and Best Traditional Country Album. It’s a much-anticipated change that comes at an auspicious time.
Ben McKenzie Made One of the Best Documentaries in Years. Will Anyone Get to See It?

2 weeks ago | texasmonthly.com | Dan Solomon

It’s an age-old story: A Texas teen plays high school football, earns a college degree in economics, arrives in Hollywood, and becomes a TV star at 24 years old. He lands a few prominent grown-up roles, marries his costar, searches for investment opportunities during a global pandemic that disrupts film production, learns about Bitcoin, and becomes one of the leading critics of the cryptocurrency industry.
Abbott Sent the Texas National Guard to San Antonio. Protesters Threw a Fiesta.

2 weeks ago | texasmonthly.com | Bekah McNeel

Ice Villa, a 25-year old rapper from San Antonio, was disappointed that she had been out of town last week when around two hundred people gathered at city hall to protest recent raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. So she decided to host a protest of her own. “I figured, whoever wants to pop out, cool,” she said. She called the event “Take Back the Alamo” and posted it on social media.
Come to One of Texas’s Oldest Towns for the History. Stay for the Blueberries, Barbecue, and Gardens.

2 weeks ago | texasmonthly.com | Anna Mazurek

The self-proclaimed “oldest town in Texas,” Nacogdoches is full of Texas firsts—the state’s first wine cellar, the first oil pipeline, the first daily newspaper set to type, the first two-story building. The deep East Texas city, which was founded in 1797 at the intersection of two historic trading routes, El Camino Real and La Calle del Norte, flies nine flags—three more than in most of the state.
How a PhD and a Rescue Dog Led to the Opening of a Taco Trailer

2 weeks ago | texasmonthly.com | José R. Ralat

Alejandra Cavazos has a soft spot for strays. Growing up in McAllen’s Mexican sister city, Reynosa, she took in feral cats and loose dogs, a practice she stopped during her time at university in Monterrey. Cavazos received a PhD in international affairs there before moving to McAllen with her husband, Rafael Ramirez. Ramirez and his family own the Rio Grande Valley chain Tortillas Aries.