Trudy’s queso is a shining star in Austin, where the queso especial is amped up with guacamole and spicy pico de gallo.

Of course the Mexican comfort food restaurant has queso. There’s the regular queso, and the amped-up supa queso, full of black beans, pico de gallo, and guacamole.

For classy queso, head to the iconic Mexican restaurant. The queso fundidos are served with tortillas, with options like poblano strips, chorizo verde, or both mixed together.

Austin loves Kerbey Lane’s all-hours quesos. First, the signature queso is covered in guacamole and pico de gallo. For a heartier take, try the cowboy queso, mixed with black beans. There’s also a vegan option with cashew cheese.

The chile con queso at one of Austin’s oldest Mexican restaurants offers the option to add ground beef, or go with Jaime’s queso which has guacamole, beef, and tomatoes.

The Tex-Mex restaurant offers classic chile con queso or a version with taco beef and pico de gallo (with the option to add guacamole).

This all-day cafe bucks the trend by offering queso with pastrami, avocado, crema, and beet powder. There’s also a standard cheesy version and a vegan option.

The Austin-born Tex-Mex chain offers two solid queso options: chile con queso (with green chile and ranchero sauces), and the queso compuesto (ground sirloin, guacamole, and pico de gallo).

The interior Mexican restaurant’s queso is great because all sorts of mix-ins can be added, from steak to avocado, or get the choriqueso with chorizo and poblanos.

The iconic meaty dish is an institution for good reason: the Bob Armstrong Dip, named after the late politician, comes with a mix of queso, guacamole, and taco meat, making it stand above the cheesy frey.

The all-hours Mag Mud works miracles at any hour of the day. The secret is black beans.

Everyone sure loves Torchy’s queso. One Eater reader called it the queso “the one I crave, all the time.” The green chili queso comes with guacamole, queso fresco, cilantro, and the taco chain’s diablo hot sauce.