By Rachel Hergett EBS COLUMNIST
I had one thing on my mind as I headed to Tres Toros Tacos & Tequila in Big Sky’s Town Center this week: a birria taco.
The taco is nothing short of cravable, and each time my thoughts landed on it, I went full Pavlovian—mouth watering and stomach growling over the idea of the tender, spiced stewed beef, folded into a tortilla and crusted with crispy cheese.
Birria is a stew that was born out of necessity in the 16th century, when Spanish conquistadors brought goats to what is now the Mexican state of Jalisco. When the goats got out of control and other food became scarce, the indigenous people learned how to stew the meat with vinegar, garlic, spices and chilies to tenderize it and add flavor. Despite their efforts and the general deliciousness that ensued, the Spanish scoffed at the use of this meat. Goat was “birria,” a word used to describe something of low quality or little value. “Birria” was essentially “worthless.”
Now, most birria found in the U.S. is birria de res—stewed beef as popularized in Tijuana, rather than goat. And it’s certainly not worthless. In 2022, consumer research company Datassential reported that birria had found a place on 1.3% of U.S. restaurant menus, up 144% in four years. That number has only grown, especially as larger chains adopt birria for their menus. Qdoba introduced brisket birria to its menu in October 2022. Del Taco added a variety of birria-based options in November 2023, after Datassential named birria one of their emerging flavors of the year. Last year, Datassential reported that birria’s presence on menus surged by 412% from 2020 to 2024.
Some of this was spawned by creators on TikTok, who found creative ways to incorporate the stewed meat into other dishes like birra pizza or birria ramen. While some of the early social media hype has died down, birria has made an impact on U.S.-based Mexican cuisine.
That was a whole lot of build up only for me to tell you that I did not order a birria taco at Tres Toros (gasp!).
As the mission was two-fold and about this column as well as my stomach, I polled the staff as I walked in as to their favorites on the menu. The bartender pointed me toward the flautas, which are essentially large, rolled taquitos with either chicken or steak and served with salsa roja and verde—both made in house and both fire in terms of flavor. If you want fire in terms of spice, Tres Toros has a hot sauce wall with a huge selection sourced from El Mercadito in Four Corners.
The bartender also recommended a couple tacos—the pork belly and mahi mahi—and I added a pork belly taco to my order. The crispy pork was wrapped inside one of the best tortillas of my life, one I’m told comes from a mom and pop operation in Los Angeles. The tortilla reminds me of the stories I’ve heard from when mom’s family lived in El Paso, Texas, and my Japanese grandmother learned to make tortillas from a neighbor. Much lard was involved, but most of the family swears they have never had better.
Tres Toros fills those tortillas in a variety of taco options that include dishes more adventurous to U.S. palates like mango habanero-spiced crispy crickets and huitlacoche, a fungus that grows on corn and is sometimes called corn smut—but is nicely referred to as “black corn mushroom” on the menu.
As a note, Tres Toros will be closed for the off season from April 21 to May 23. When it reopens, I’m told the watermelon jalapeño gazpacho will be back on the menu and I’m hoping they keep a table ready for me.
I appreciate the attention to the food here, the obvious quality and freshness to the ingredients and the commitment to bringing a variety of authentic Mexican flavors to Big Sky. Yes, I want my salsas made in house. Yes, I want pork shoulder and steak slow roasted for 16 hours. And yes, I want birria.
Because I was basing my order on trust in the staff, I did not get the taco, instead ordering a quesabirria off the quesadilla section of the menu. Quesabirria is very similar, though much larger than the taco that had been haunting me. The crispy Chihuahua cheese on the outside is complemented and contrasted by the gooey melted cheese on the inside. My only complaint is that I really want more of the consommé left over from the stewing process for dipping. One ramekin was not enough!
When Carly Hendrix, wife of owner and executive chef Brandon Blanchard, walked by, she confirmed my choices. These, she said, are also many of her go-to menu items. But above all, is the birria.
“I could eat it every day of my life,” Hendrix tells me, and if she ever finds herself on death row—not that such a scenario feels like a remote possibility—it would be what she would want as her final meal.
Rachel Hergett is a foodie and cook from Montana. She is arts editor emeritus at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and has written for publications such as Food Network Magazine and Montana Quarterly. Rachel is also the host of the Magic Monday Show on KGLT-FM and teaches at Montana State University.
