El Charrito El Charrito El Charrito is a brand of Tex-Mex TV dinners. The word is Spanish for "little cowboy". The brand was introduced in 1980 by the Campbell Taggart company, who owned the El Chico restaurant chain. Though its entrees included taquitos, queso, and beef enchiladas, it was also known for the uniquely named Saltillo Dinner, a three-compartment dinner consisting of two enchiladas (one each beef and cheese), Spanish rice and refried beans. In 1995 the parent company became Earthgrains and chose to focus on baked goods, selling the El Charrito brand to Don Miguel Mexican Foods, now a part of
Tex-Mex U.S. side. A 1968 "Los Angeles Times" feature wrote "[i]f the dish is a combination of Old World cooking, hush-my-mouth Southern cuisine and Tex-Mex, it's from the Texas Hill Country." In France, Paris's first Tex-Mex restaurant opened in March 1983. After the 1986 release of the film "Betty Blue", Tex-Mex cuisine's popularity in Paris increased. The "Oxford English Dictionary" supplies the first-known uses in print of "Tex-Mex" in reference to food, from a 1963 article in "The New York Times Magazine", and a 1966 item in the "Great Bend" (Kansas) "Tribune". Diana Kennedy, an influential food authority, explained the distinctions