Salsa – admit it, when you read that, visions of bowls of the red or green stuff just popped into your head, right? Salsa eclipsed ketchup two decades ago as America’s favorite condiment. And here in Fort Worth, we’ve got people making amazing salsa for you to enjoy at home or in restaurants!
Happy Tomato
Lauren Keefe, the Fort Worth mom behind Happy Tomato salsa, started making the stuff for her family when she couldn’t find a pre-made salsa she was even a little happy with. Six years later, she sells her product in Central Market and several other local stores.
Joe T. Garcia
This Fort Worth institution sells their salsa picante (mild or hot) or their yummy tomatillo salsa verde on their website or at several local retailers. The salsa alone isn’t as fabulous as sitting on the gloriously shaded patio with a margarita, but then, you have to wear pants at the restaurant.
Mrs. Renfro’s
Mrs. Renfro's salsas (all 20 of them) range from traditional to spicy (Carolina Reaper or Ghost Pepper salsa, anyone?) to fruity (peach, pumpkin, pineapple or raspberry)! They’re available at most supermarkets.
If you’re looking for the best salsa to sit and eat with chips, here are eight of our favorites.
- La Playa Maya’s red salsa is extremely traditional (somewhere between pleasantly warm and ouch) and plentiful. The restaurant even uses a version of the salsa in their shrimp cocktail.
- Los Paisano’s zesty salsa verde blends the traditional onions, jalapeños, garlic and cilantro into a sauce that makes everything taste amazing.
- Meso Maya makes their chips (and their corn torillas) fresh every day. So that begets the question: is the slightly smoky salsa good because it’s fresh made several times daily, or is it good because the corn chips are the bomb?
- Mexican Inn Café’s warm, straight-up plain red salsa comes with homemade corn chips that are more like Fritos. It’s probably the oldest recipe in town.
- Salsa Limon’s spicy, creamy avocado salsa is packed with jalapeño, but isn’t so spicy that your eyes water.
