The chili vendors who sold bowls in San Antonio’s plazas were known as the Chili Queens.
Beginning in the late nineteenth century, these women sold inexpensive bowls of chili con carne from stands and carts, especially around San Antonio’s Military Plaza and other public spaces. Their stalls often operated at night and became part of the city’s tourist image, attracting visitors with food, music, and lively street activity.
The Chili Queens helped popularize chili beyond its local setting. Travel writers and tourists described the experience, and chili became increasingly identified with San Antonio and Texas. The vendors prepared their own recipes, so the food was not completely standardized. Some versions included beef, dried chiles, spices, and other regional ingredients.
The tradition declined during the twentieth century as health regulations and changes in urban life affected open-air vending. The Chili Queens are still important to the history of Tex-Mex because they connected a local Mexican American food tradition with the broader American popularity of chili.