Phoenix Is for Tex-Mex Lovers

Before Mexicans kiss relatives, they kiss tacos—or so goes a popular saying. They must stop by their favorite taqueria before visiting home. “There’s no question about this,” a chilango (the demonym for a Mexico City resident) once told me. “A taqueria is like a Mexican’s home.” Phoenix isn’t my home, but I did make a beeline for MB Foodhouse, a Tex-Mex taco truck near the airport, before checking into my hotel.Owned by El Paso native Kristen Martinez—a tall Afro-Mexican trans woman with sharp features; long, wavy, frost-tipped brown hair; and, when I met her, a thin, lace-patterned choker around her neck—MB Foodhouse is an expression of Tex-Mex reenvisioned in Phoenix. Martinez has a commanding yet friendly presence, which I noticed while we were sitting across…

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