Settling on the best Mexican restaurants in America is a daunting task to say the least.

“Where are the best tacos?” “Where can I find legit tacos?” As a writer who spends his time traveling across the country in search of tacos near and far -- and I’m based in Texas, so many excellent tacos are nearby -- I get those questions all the time, and the response is trickier than you might think.

You don’t just like tacos.

To hear Austinites tell it, they damn near invented the taco.

Texas is taco country.

"This is Taco Country!" Those four words -- painted on the burnt orange façade of San Antonio's legendary breakfast taco haunt, Taco Haven -- are carried in every Texan’s heart and stomach.

Barbacoa: the Texan and Mexican delicacy that made Elizabeth Taylor faint into the arms of Rock Hudson; the food that gave barbecue its name ("barbecue" is the English word for barbacoa); the meat treat that has been traditionally prepared in in-ground brick-lined pits wrapped in maguey, burlap, or heavy-duty aluminum foil; the dish that Texas Monthly’s food critic declared was not barbecue.

Tacos: they're what's for dinner.