The Witte Museum’s new exhibition compresses more than 1,300 years of Texas food history into a 5,500-square-foot gallery that opened in September 2026 and runs through February 7, 2027. Gather ‘Round the Table: Texas Food Traditions begins with the Caddo tribe cultivating corn in East Texas around 700 A.D. and concludes with modern San Antonio chefs Rico Torres and Diego Galicia of the Michelin-starred Mixtli restaurant. A team of 80 museum staffers spent nearly five months assembling the show, which grew from an earlier concept and incorporates input from Texans sharing their food memories.
Houston Public Media reported that six food fights scattered throughout the exhibit let visitors weigh in on longstanding debates by dropping chips into acrylic tubes to register preferences for red or green salsa, corn or flour tortillas and chili with or without beans. The tallies create a visual record of popular opinion among those who pass through the space. These interactive stations sit alongside artifacts and photographs that illustrate how Indigenous knowledge, migration and agriculture shaped regional cooking.
Sections devoted to regional ingredients guide guests across the state, highlighting Hill Country peaches, Rio Grande Valley citrus, Gulf Coast oysters and South Texas peanuts along with pecans. One station features a mortar and pestle for grinding corn while connecting the summer harvest to Mesoamerican roots that appear in everything from roasted ears to handmade masa used in tortillas and tamales. The San Antonio Express-News noted additional artifacts on display, including an early 1900s shadow box containing samples of more than 1,000 pecan varieties collected by naturalist H.P. Attwater and a 1911 chuck wagon from the XIT Ranch that once served the windmill crew in the Panhandle.
An interactive table invites guests to build their own Texas plate from options such as breakfast tacos, barbecue or potluck dishes before comparing selections with other visitors to reveal preferences tied to background and tradition. A separate display lets participants smell eight spices linked to cultural groups that cook in Texas today, with a map showing their global origins. The exhibition also traces food preservation techniques from drying, salting and canning through the arrival of refrigerated railcars, frozen products and the modern supermarket.
The show forms part of the Witte Museum’s centennial programming, marking 100 years since the institution opened in 1926 with a focus on Texas natural history, science and culture. Daily specials offer live demonstrations of food traditions, and the museum has scheduled the Conference on Texas: Our Culinary Roots for November 12-13, 2026, with keynotes by Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn and taco editor José R. Ralat. That event will include panels, tastings and cooking demonstrations by San Antonio chefs tied to themes in the exhibition.
Artifacts from the museum’s own collection and historic photographs supplement the contemporary video and hands-on components that encourage reflection on how Texas landscapes and diverse communities continue to influence its tables. The exhibition description on the museum’s website states that the displayed items explore ingredients, people and cultural exchanges behind familiar foods. Organizers have programmed special appearances by community partners during the run to expand on the stories presented.
