The two diners in the booth behind me at Taqueria El Novillo , in Houston, didn’t order from the menu. They weren’t given menus. “We’re already cooking your dishes,” their server told them. “Those two have been customers since I can remember,” says the third-generation owner, 28-year-old Guadalupe “Lupita” Padron. “They’re in every weekend.” As I sat there and scooped up tender bone-in costillas in a bright salsa verde with wide, house-made corn tortillas, she excused herself to welcome a family that had just been seated with hands on shoulders and kisses on cheeks. This kind of thing happens every day at Taqueria El Novillo, and it’s just as much a reason to visit as the food.

On another day, Padron’s mother, Catalina Juarez, is holding court while enjoying a bowl of burnt orange posol

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