Lubbock has food missions.

There is no distance too far, no gas price too high, and no construction zone too obnoxious to keep us from a very specific tortilla at a very specific place.

Sure, there are tortillas all over town. Dozens upon dozens of places to get them. But, try telling that to someone who has spent the last 20 years ordering from the exact same place.

Photo by <a href=Alimentos Fotogénicos on Unsplash" loading="lazy" onload="this.parentNode.parentNode.classList.add('frame-loaded');" onerror="this.parentNode.parentNode.classList.add('broken-image');" fetchpriority="low" width="3869" height="2579"/>
Photo by Alimentos Fotogénicos on Unsplash
Photo by Alimentos Fotogénicos on Unsplash

To them, all other tortillas are cruddy imitations.

Nobody can ever really explain why their designated tortilla spot is better than another. It just is. They'll take a little bite, and then lean back, closing their eyes, while they describe things the way fancy folk do at a wine tasting event.

"They are the softest."

"The texture is perfect."

"There's a grandma back there making these. I just know it."

It's Not Just About Tortillas...

Tortillas are just one small example of what people in town are willing to do to get the local flavors they crave the most. Favorite salsas, favorite breakfast burritos, favorite Thai food joints, favorite chicken-fried steaks, and so forth, we've all got that one place we just won't go without.

You can ask a dozen people where to get the best Mexican food, and you'll come up with a dozen different answers.

What's kind of amazing about it all is the effort people are willing to invest in getting their faves. We complain about driving 10 minutes to work, but we'll happily drive 20 minutes if it means eating at our favorite place.

Read More: Where To Eat In Levelland: Local Favorites Revealed

It's About Loyalty

It's less about convenience and more about tradition. You know exactly what you're getting, and you've ordered it a million times the same way from a place that has never let you down. It's introducing your family from New York to "the best place in Lubbock" like you're showing them buried treasure.

Every city has local restaurants, but Lubbock seems to turn them into part of people's identities, and that's why the debates never end.

Somewhere in town, right now, two people are arguing over who has the best tortillas. Neither of them will ever change their mind, but they're both willing to drive across town to prove the other wrong.

Shout out to all the wonderful local businesses and restaurants that keep us coming back for more, and arguing until we're blue in the face.

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