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Best Reason to Shovel Cheese Into Your Mouth With Your Hands

Queso Fundido at ATX Cocina

click to enlarge Best Reason to Shovel Cheese Into Your Mouth With Your Hands
photo by David Brendan Hall

Around these parts, Tex-Mex queso is life, and whether straight-up, vegan, or Velveeta, everybody has their go-to style. Then there’s queso fundido, repping the upper echelon of flambéed cheese, and this Downtown modern Mexican restaurant has perfected their version. Made with bubbled queso Oaxaca and queso Chihuahua, chef Kevin Taylor (whose parents owned Mexican restaurants) adds bonus rajas and smoked tomatoes, and changes the proteins regularly – maybe a venison picadillo or chorizo rojo – to take this dish up approximately 47 notches. Even better, the cheese delivery vehicles are fresh heirloom corn tortillas made from in-house nixtamalized masa. If you're really bold, add a fruity Paloma and consider it a full meal.