Birria, the stewed goat, lamb, or beef with broth, is originally from Jalisco, Mexico. For years, you could find birria at taquerias in Austin, sometimes served in taco form, and sometimes served as a stew, with tortillas on the side for a DIY taco experience. But what's been popping up all over town recently is something a little newer—fried birria tacos, AKA tacos dorado de birria—that’s made its way over from Southern California and Tijuana.
Often served with a cup of the accompanying consomé for dipping and sipping—a clarified broth made from the meat, roast chiles, onions, cilantro, and other spices—these tacos usually end up with a reddish-orange color as a result of being coated in consomé before hitting the griddle. And the quesabirria takes it one step further by adding cheese to the mix.
There are a lot of variations, and asking us to pick our favorite would be an impossible task. Whether you’re looking for consomé to sip on, birria tacos, their fried cousin, or their fried-with-cheese other cousin, Austin has plenty of options. Here are some of our favorites.
THE SPOTS
C-Spot in East Austin has one of the most extensive birria menus we’ve ever seen. Sure, you can keep it classic with some very good birria tacos. But you can also enjoy some savory stewed meat in a torta, on a pizza, or on a burger. In the mood for ramen? They’ve got that too (with birria, of course). There’s even a birria Crunchwrap supreme. If you can dream it, it probably exists on the menu here.
If you’ve ever found yourself on Instagram, mesmerized by videos of rich, birria-filled tacos being dunked into a steaming bowl of consomé, there’s a good chance you stumbled across a video taken at Palo Seco (formerly known as La Tunita 512). That, or you’re in a very vivid daydream that we’d love to be a part of. The tacos here are excellent, and the consomé is so good that we’ve debated if it’s socially acceptable to carry around a small flask of it. They usually have a limited menu of rotating specials and tortas here, but most of the people anxiously lined up are here for the birria tacos or the quesabirria, the latter of which adds a signature spin on things by frying the cheese directly on the griddle before going into its tortilla blanket. The end result is truly something to look at, and even better to taste. And that line we mentioned? It’s real—we recommend getting there right when they open.
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Sabor Tapatio has been making great tacos out of a food trailer in South Austin for a couple of years now. Here, you’ll want to order the tacos barbacoa estilo Jalisco—with a double layer of utra-crispy tortillas that will hold everything together through even the deepest of plunges into the rich consomé. The flavors in the consomé here are a bit more concentrated than some of the other spots, making it good for sipping, but even better for dipping. And if you’re still hungry for more after, they have a whole menu packed full of great options—try the al pastor or suadero tacos.
El Borrego de Oro has been serving Michoacan-style Mexican food in South Austin for over 15 years now, in that time developing a loyal fanbase across the whole city. The birria tacos here are made with lamb, with just a hint of gamey-flavor, on house-made corn tortillas. And we devoured them all in our car before we even left the parking lot. But if you’d rather sip on something, they also make a great lamb or goat stew—served with a side of tortillas—perfect for cold, rainy days (or really, just about any day).
Tucked away in a parking lot near Menchaca Dr (and Stassney) is Autenticos Michoacanos, offering up an extensive menu of just about everything you could imagine inside a tortilla. We’re certainly fans of a lot of things here—including their excellent machete—but their quesabirria tacos are some of our favorite. Dunk, bite, gasp, and repeat until finished, then bottoms-up the rich cup of consome so that you don’t miss a drop.
Taqueria Los Jalicienses
At Taqueria Los Jaliscienses on Airport Boulevard, you can get birria de chivo, a goat stew that also has chickpeas. The broth is rich and vivid with chiles, and while the stew is certainly higher on the gamey funkometer scale of things than others we’ve tried, a quick squeeze of limes brightens everything up. Both their flour and corn tortillas are homemade (and very good).
Taco More
Taco More has been around for over a decade—now with multiple locations in the Austin area—and in that time, they’ve developed a bit of a following for their goat stew. So when they recently added quesabirria tacos with consomé to their menu, it wasn’t a huge surprise—though certainly a welcome one. Taco More is one of the few places we’ve seen in Austin making quesabirria with goat—something we really enjoyed and hope to see more of. The consomé here is served as just that, with no onions or cilantro—though they are included on the side.
CM Smokehouse in south Austin serves an eclectic mix of creative barbecue, including things like a brisket Philly cheesesteak, baby back rib “wings,” and a Taco Bell-inspired brisket crunchwrap. There’s also the very good barbacoa quesabirria tacos, made with smoked beef cheeks and served with a consome for dipping as well as a bright and lively salsa verde. It’s not technically 100% birria, but the tacos are a fun and creative pitmaster-made riff on the style, and everything you’d want: smoky, crispy, cheesy, and utterly delicious.
Taquito Aviles, on the corner of North Lamar and Braker, makes very good tacos and breakfast tacos, and they’re perhaps most well-known for the consomé de chivo, their bright red goat stew. The goat is tender, the broth is rich and spicy, and the corn tortillas that come with the consomé are handmade. You can also get birria tacos that are crisped up on a griddle, and here they're made with a Tex-Mex cheddar cheese blend.
Pepe’s is a bit of an Austin newcomer, with a food trailer near 7th and Lamar. The menu here is small, but focused—birria tacos, quesabirria, birria quesadillas, tortas, and consomé. We enjoyed the birria tacos and quesabirria here—the meat was tender and well-spiced, and the tortillas were crispy. The salsas here were not our favorite, but then again, we don’t usually find ourselves needing a whole lot of salsa on a taco that’s just been through a warm consomé bath.
The newish food truck Los Danzantes in the backyard of the Far Out Lounge and Stage on South Congress has a short, focused menu, and it includes an absolutely excellent beef quesabirria plate that comes with three tacos and a cup of rich and spicy consome. The slow-cooked birria is tender and juicy, with the edges of the cheese expertly caramelized and super-crispy.
Tejas Birria in Buda is sorta committed to birria—it’s in their name after all—so there’s an expansive menu that includes birria ramen, birria tortas, birria flautas, and a double stacked birria quesadilla. Sometimes there’s even a birria grilled cheese sandwich on Texas toast. The quesabirria tacos here are some of the best we’ve had, just a perfectly balanced combination of beef birria, melted cheese, onions, and cilantro.
Jamie’s Barbecue And Mini Tacos is a newish trailer in a dusty lot in South Austin, and as the name implies, they do in fact make mini tacos and barbecue, including brisket and enormous smoked turkey legs. They also have delicious quesabirria tacos made with beef, and crisped up on a flattop. The consomé is bright and rich, and you’ll want to tell anyone who will listen how good it is.
