The Queso Connection

Ladybird Taco would be on the Queso Trail even if I had never met the people behind it. The queso is genuinely good, the tortillas are made with care, and the menu gives you three different ways to approach the bowl, including a Texas-style version with guacamole and pico and another served with a stack of tortillas instead of stopping at chips. Their tacos carry that same Texas spirit, and the coffee program is worth paying attention to too. But Ladybird also holds a very personal place in my story. In 2019, after my mom died and my divorce, the owners had me picked up and brought to their home before their first Nashville location opened so I could taste-test the queso, tortillas and Texas-style tacos they were developing. I still remember sitting there during one of the hardest chapters of my life while they were building something new of their own. She later bought one of my Queso Country shirts, which is why I’m using that photo here instead of another bowl-of-cheese shot. The queso stands completely on its own. The memory just happens to come with it.