If you’ve watched David Chang’s mouthwatering Netflix series, Ugly Delicious, then you’ll remember the stunning diversity of cuisine on display in the Houston episode, from Viet-Cajun crawfish to Texas barbecue. But more than telling us about what the city loves to eat, the biggest thing it revealed was how much food connects people across the Houston — and even more so during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
“It was devastating for the community, and really hard for all of us to experience,” Sharon Haynes, co-owner of Houston’s Tacos A Go Go, told DoorDash. “We were very lucky that out of seven businesses, not one of them flooded.”
In the days and weeks immediately after Harvey, she said, the restaurant cooked up whatever food they had in their (powerless) refrigerators and served it up to first responders, hospitals, fire stations and the HPD. “People were so grateful to have the food,” said Sharon. “It was wonderful to see how when something like that happens, it brings communities together, and becomes the definition of community and food.”
We sat down with Haynes and head chef Marivel Gomez of Tacos A Go Go to talk all things Tex-Mex, breakfast tacos, and the only way you should ever consider eating them (hint: it can get messy).
Tell us a little bit about your background. Where are you both from, and how did you end up in Houston?
Sharon: I am a Jersey Girl who married a guy who had family here in Houston. After we took a long trip traveling abroad in a VW Camper Van, we decided to come to come explore the southwest and haven’t left since then!
Marivel: I came from Mexico and moved to Houston in 1991. I first started working as a babysitter and I was doing some other jobs, but I didn’t like it. When I started working in a restaurant, I liked it. I love to cook. I like having happy customers, and I like what we’re doing here.
Have you always cooked Mexican-inspired dishes?
Marivel: Yes, always. My mom died when I was four, so we had to cook. I learned a lot from my father. He taught me how to make tortillas, rice, beans, and lamb barbacoa. That’s very popular where I’m from in Hidalgo.
Have you taught anyone your cooking secrets, like to anyone in your family?
Marivel: Oh, yeah, I will! I tell my kids look, these are the recipes and this is all you’re going to get from me. Here — good luck! That’s my legacy.
That’s a pretty great legacy!
Marivel: I’m doing what I love. When you make everything from love, it makes a huge difference. You can tell. You can taste it.
Has the definition of Tex-Mex changed over time?
Sharon: Yes, it has. First of all, it has morphed to so many food cultures and cuisines — certainly tacos. But the whole restaurant landscape has changed so much in the time I’ve been in Houston. It is finally a mature food town with tons of great options — Tex, Mex and otherwise.
What makes a good breakfast taco?
Sharon: Fresh ingredients — and ingredients that YOU want in your taco! We have over a million combinations of our breakfast taco and each one is made to order.
So in San Francisco, we have a special way to eat a burrito. You’ve got the foil and you unwrap it bit by bit. Is there a special way to eat a breakfast taco when you’re on the go?
Marivel: No forks, no knives. Like an empanada.
Sharon: Usually by the end, you’re grabbing that last bit of tortilla and egg, and it’s messy, but that’s how you do it. You don’t get a fork and knife. You just don’t.
Marivel: It will taste different if you use a fork and knife — it’s not the same flavor!
In a battle of Texas tacos vs. San Francisco burritos, who would win?
Sharon: Texas. Hands down. I would say New Mexico might put up a fight with their burritos topped with green or red chilis!
How did you come up with the name Tacos A Go Go?
Sharon: My husband claims he came up with it…and I say it was all me! We loved the Whiskey A Go Go theme [in L.A.] and thought it would work well with a taco take-out joint. It’s fun and has some depth with history and pop culture.
Where does the fun rockabilly decor stem from?
Sharon: We wanted to create a space that transported you through the food, and also through the environment. When we opened this place, the idea was to have a vibe that was accessible to a broad range of people. People knew Tex-Mex, but we wanted to bring in Mexican street culture, which has such an amazing vibe, and look and feel to it. And then after that, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison, sort of bring fun, funky Texas twist to that. It just made it very interesting, that mashup.
Marivel: In Mexico, we have restaurants that look a lot like this, called fondas.
Sharon: People walk in here and they don’t feel like they’re in Houston.
What’s it like having a restaurant in Houston’s Midtown neighborhood?
This area is interesting. When we first came here, it was, and it still is, a neighborhood in transition. And 13 years later, it’s definitely more “transitioned” than it was when we first got here. The clientele that comes here is awesome. You have a homeless guy who’s scrapped together enough to buy a breakfast taco next to a businessman who has taken the light rail to lunch. There are kids in flip flops to University of Houston students, you name it. It’s an amazing crowd, and anything goes. Everyone’s urban, everyone’s open-minded. It’s really a wonderful cross-section of Houston.
Everyone loves a taco. It’s like the ultimate unifying kind of food.
Sharon: Absolutely. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. You really can’t beat it. On the go, you can sit down and enjoy it. It’s the perfect food.
At Tacos A Go Go in Houston, Breakfast Tacos Reign Supreme was originally published in DoorDash on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.