Southside Barbacoa featured in Texas Monthly for carne guisada taco

Texas Monthly recently selected the 50 best tacos found in Texas from local restaurants, and only one Corpus Christi location made the list.

Southside Barbacoa in The Market on Everhart was featured in the article for its carne guisada taco.

Carne guisada is a beef stew with tender beef chuck and seasonings in a Mexican-style gravy.

Owners Manuel and Maria Aguilar said being the only Corpus Christi location to be highlighted says a lot about their service and quality.

Southside Barbacoa owners Maria and Manuel Aguilar pose for a photo outside of their business in Corpus Christi on Wednesday.

“I think we’re the only ones who makes a certain type of carne guisada,” Maria Aguilar said. “That’s what makes us special — we’re different. Our food is different. Our customers are different. Our location is different.”

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Manuel Aguilar echoed his wife’s words and said, “We’re not better than anyone else; we’re just different.”

“You sing a song, and I can sing the same song,” Manuel Aguilar said. “You put your style and I do mine. It’s the same with food. Carne guisada has salt, pepper, garlic and comino. Everyone can cook it with the same ingredients, but you have to put your own fire to it.”

This is the second time Southside Barbacoa has been featured in Texas Monthly. The first was in a December 2015 article about 120 tacos people should eat before they die.

“When I saw we made it again, I was taken back,” Maria Aguilar said.

The Aguilars took over Southside Barbacoa in 1997, back when it used to be stationed at The Boardwalk on Staples Street.

The restaurant eventually moved to its current location, 5894 Everhart Road, in 2004.

For the past 27 years, the couple has gained customers day after day. Some who they knew as children are now adults with young ones of their own enjoying their food.

But as the couple’s 30th anniversary of running the restaurant approaches, the possibility of retiring keep popping up in their minds.

“We’re getting older, and owning a business is not easy,” Manuel Aguilar said. “We are here every day. We’re the first ones here and the last ones to leave, but we’re happy. We love what we do. I put love into every dish I make.”

Maria Aguilar said closing is not an option for them, as business has always been strong and steady.

“Whenever it gets harder for us to come to work, that’ll be our cue,” Maria Aguilar said. “But we still get here every morning happy with smiles. People are waiting in their cars when we pull up to open. That shows we’re doing something right. It shows we’re loved.”