The Queso Connection

Some queso dips become restaurant favorites. Others become Texas legends. Matt's El Rancho has been part of Austin's dining story since 1952, when Matt and Janie Martinez opened a ten-table restaurant built around Janie's scratch-made recipes. But the story actually begins in 1923, when six-year-old Matt was selling tamales from a wooden pushcart near the Texas Capitol. Decades later, another Capitol connection helped create one of Austin's most recognizable dishes. According to family lore, former Texas Land Commissioner Bob Armstrong wandered into the restaurant kitchen and challenged young Matt Martinez Jr. to make him something that wasn't on the menu. The resulting combination of chile con queso, taco meat, guacamole and sour cream was such a hit that other customers began asking for Bob's special dip. Eventually, it earned a permanent place on the menu and a name of its own. Today, the Martinez family continues serving generations of Austinites at the restaurant's South Lamar location, where handmade tortillas, classic Tex-Mex dishes and the famous Bob Armstrong Dip remain part of the tradition. This is exactly why we follow the cheese. Sometimes a bowl of queso is also a delicious little lesson in local history. And sometimes, its name is Bob.