What does your favorite Texas food say about where you come from?
The foods Texans eat today have been shaped over generations by the land, the people who call Texas home, and the traditions they brought, shared, and adapted. Gather ‘Round the Table: Texas Food Traditions explores the ingredients, people, and cultural exchanges behind familiar Texas foods. See artifacts from the Witte’s collection, hear stories from across the state, and explore how Indigenous knowledge, agriculture, migration, trade, technology, and changing tastes have influenced what ends up on Texas tables.
Pull Up a Chair
Hungry for a breakfast taco? Corn or flour tortilla? Red or green salsa?
Gather around an interactive table with family and friends to build your own Texas plate, compare your choices, and find out what they reveal about your Texas tastes. Choose from breakfast tacos, potluck favorites, barbecue, and more while learning how geography, available ingredients, family traditions, and cultural influences shape what and how Texans eat.
Then weigh in on some of Texas’ enduring “food fights.” A seemingly simple choice between corn and flour tortillas or red and green salsa can reveal different crops, histories, regions, and culinary traditions.
Continue exploring these stories in the model icehouse with our Daily Specials, a live educational demonstration that delivers even more local food history.
Follow Food From the Land to the Table
How did Texans keep food fresh before the refrigerator? How did new technologies change what families could buy, cook, and eat?
Trace the ways Texans have grown, transported, prepared, and preserved food, from drying, salting, smoking, pickling, and canning to refrigerated railcars, frozen foods, and the modern supermarket.
Explore food traditions from across the state, too. Peaches in the Hill Country, citrus in the Rio Grande Valley, rice along the Gulf Coast, peanuts in South Texas, and other regional foods show how Texas’ landscapes continue to influence what communities grow, cook, and celebrate.
Come hungry for curiosity and leave with a new understanding of the history behind the foods Texans know and love.
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In conjunction with Gather ‘Round the Table: Texas Food Traditions, the 2026 Witte Museum Conference on Texas will explore Our Culinary Roots.
This year’s conference examines the cultures, cuisines, and culinary histories that have shaped what Texans eat today. Programming begins with the return of the Witte’s beloved La Tamalada program on Wednesday, November 11, followed by the Conference on Texas from November 12-13. Buy Tickets Now!
