In March 2024, Aree Thao, the owner of a Milwaukee accounting firm, was restless and wanted to leave her home state. It didn’t matter where she ended up. Thao—four foot ten, with long, jet-black hair—felt stuck. She sent out lease applications for apartments in Arizona, Montana, Utah, and Texas (specifically El Paso). The last was where one of her applications was first approved. So a few months later, Thao, her two teenage children, and the family’s German shepherd puppy, Chief, drove 1,500 miles across the country to the Sun City. Thao had no connections in town—neither extended family nor a community of other Hmong Southeast Asians. Thao freely admits her ignorance. “I’ve never been to Texas,” she says. “I didn’t know anything about [El Paso] food…
The post A Few Months Ago, She Had Never Made a Taco. Now She Has a Thriving Asian-Inspired Taqueria. appeared first on Texas Monthly.
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