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Birria boom

From WikiTacos, the taco encyclopedia · Taco style
Also known as: Birria craze, Quesabirria trend

The birria boom is the rapid spread, from the mid-2010s onward, of Tijuana-style beef birria tacos across the United States: crisp, cheese-laden tacos of stewed beef dipped in a cup of red consomé. Popularized in Los Angeles and carried by Instagram and TikTok, the style became one of the most widely sold tacos in the country and spawned birria ramen, pizza and grilled cheese.

Contents
  1. Background
  2. Spread
  3. Spin-offs and criticism
  4. Recipe
  5. Where to try it
  6. Reviews
  7. See also
  8. References

Background

Birria is a western Mexican preparation rather than a single meat. Texas Monthly taco editor José R. Ralat traces it to pre-Hispanic cooks who stewed marinated small game in spicy broth; the modern dish is credited to Jalisco, where goats brought by the Spanish multiplied and were slow-cooked in chile rubs in earth ovens. Versions vary by state, with cabrito in Michoacán and pork in Colima. In Texas, birria appeared in print as early as 1925, when the El Paso Herald mentioned it in a report from Ciudad Juárez, and Dallas's Birrieria Aguiñaga has served lamb birria since 2006.

The beef birria taco that swept the United States developed in Tijuana. According to cookbook author Bill Esparza, as cited by Ralat, cooks there had been refining the format, with saucy shredded beef, melted cheese and broth for dipping, since at least the 1980s, before testing it in Southern California.

Spread

In Los Angeles, Teddy Vasquez, who drove for Uber to fund his business, opened Teddy's Red Tacos in 2016, and his Instagram photos of glossy red tacos made the business a viral hit, though he was not the first to sell them. By 2018 Instagram had turned birria de res into a must-have taco nationwide. Ralat compares its rise to that of Kogi's Korean taco a decade earlier, another hybrid spread by social media.

In Texas, El Remedio, a San Antonio trailer run by Joshua Palacios and Martha Sánchez, began selling beef birria in its current form in 2018 and drew hours-long lines. In Austin, La Tunita 512 found that goat birria did not sell but beef did, and Donelle Mendoza began selling Tijuana-style birria from her apartment in December 2018 under the name Birria Queen. During the COVID-19 pandemic many taquerías leaned on birria for survival; the owner of Maskaras Mexican Grill in Dallas credited it with saving his restaurant. Even chains joined in, with Taco Cabana adding a birria quesadilla in late 2021. By 2025 Ralat wrote that most taquerías and taco trucks offered some form of birria. Mendoza turned her marinade into dehydrated birria bombs, and her company won H-E-B's Quest for Texas Best competition.

Spin-offs and criticism

Cooks have adapted birria to ramen, pizza, grilled cheese, wontons and barbecue, including smoked brisket quesabirria. Ralat has called the boom both the greatest threat to taco culture and its potential savior: social media made birria highly profitable, but many commercial versions are dry, greasy or built for hype, while true birria takes many hours. He hopes the craze leads diners from quesabirria back to carefully made traditional birria.

Recipe

Makes About 20 tacos plus consomé · Time: 30 minutes active; 3 to 4 hours braising

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg beef chuck roast, cut in large chunks
  • 500 g beef shank or oxtail
  • 6 guajillo chiles, 3 ancho chiles and 2 chiles de árbol, stemmed and seeded
  • 2 Roma tomatoes and 1/2 white onion
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano, 1 tsp ground cumin, 4 whole cloves, 1 small cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves
  • Salt
  • 20 corn tortillas
  • 300 g Oaxaca cheese or mozzarella, shredded
  • Chopped onion, cilantro and lime wedges

Steps

  1. Toast the chiles briefly in a dry pan, then simmer with tomatoes, onion and garlic in water for 10 minutes.
  2. Blend the chile mixture with vinegar, oregano, cumin, cloves, cinnamon and 2 cups of the cooking water until smooth. Strain.
  3. Season the beef with salt, place in a heavy pot with the bay leaves and the adobo, and add water to just cover.
  4. Cover and simmer gently 3 to 4 hours, until the meat shreds easily.
  5. Lift out the meat and shred it. Skim the red fat from the broth into a bowl and season the broth to taste; this is the consomé.
  6. Dip a tortilla in the red fat and lay it on a hot griddle. Top half with cheese and meat, fold, and cook until crisp on both sides.
  7. Serve with a cup of hot consomé topped with onion and cilantro, and lime for squeezing.

Where to try it

  • Teddy's Red Tacos, Los Angeles, California: Opened in 2016; its Instagram fame helped launch the national birria craze.
  • El Remedio, San Antonio, Texas: Trailer credited by Texas Monthly as the first Texas taquería to sell beef birria in its current form, in 2018.

Reviews

Reviews and tips open at launch. Readers will be able to share where they found the best version of this and how they make it at home.

See also

References

  1. "Birria Is the Greatest Threat to Taco Culture—and Its Savior". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  2. "Three Great Birria Tacos to Try Now". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  3. "Meet the "Birria Queen" Who Caught H-E-B's Attention". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Categories: Beef tacos Food trends Tacos around the world Tacos in the United States Tijuana cuisine