Which San Antonio restaurant is credited with popularizing the puffy taco?

Ray’s Drive Inn in San Antonio is credited with popularizing the puffy taco.

A puffy taco is made by frying uncooked masa dough until it inflates into a light, crisp shell. The shell is then shaped while warm and filled with ingredients such as seasoned meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. This differs from the familiar hard taco shell, which is usually formed before frying.

Ray’s Drive Inn has long been associated with the dish’s development and popularity in San Antonio. The restaurant’s version helped make puffy tacos a distinctive local specialty rather than simply another variation of a fried tortilla.

Henry’s Puffy Tacos, another San Antonio institution, is also strongly associated with the food. That connection can cause confusion, but Ray’s Drive Inn is the establishment commonly credited with popularizing it.