Christopher Baccus loves cars and gas station tacos. We find that very attractive.

Christopher Baccus is  a taco junkie and blogger. Not just any kind of taco, primarily those found in or near gas stations. Last time, he took you there. This week he takes you here.

Under a red awning with white lettering reading “El Tacaso”, a red metal curtain covered what looked like an outside order window. Walking up to the Shell mini mart I wasn’t certain the taco stand still existed, but that thought was soon whisked away as I entered and noticed three small tables and a decent line of regulars ordering gorditas, tostadas, and of course tacos.

The place is quite nice inside with an exposed kitchen directly behind the cashier.  Everything was very neat and a wire rack stood with several fresh ingredients including stacks of tortillas and large bags of onions.  Customers kept pouring in too. Besides Fuel City, this is by far the busiest gas station taqueria I have been to in Dallas.

With a steady stream of semi-trucks, Ram trucks and Ford 150s El Tacaso is in a great location active with a bustling customer base who appreciates a great tasting, quick and easy lunch destination. It was quite apparent how many regulars come here daily. For example, as I was placing my order the cashier also took the orders of two people behind me with barely a word exchanged other than a hello and smile as the men proceeded to pay, undoubtedly with exact change.

You might as well jump.

My order of 2 steak fajita, 2 pastor, 1 chicken and 1 barbaco tacos arrived in about 3 minutes placed into a plastic grocery bag.

Opening the Styrofoam container wasn’t a pretty sight as the barbacoa taco meat had a grayish hue and the onions and cilantro pile was mostly absent of cilantro.  There also sat two small salsa roja containers and one of my steak fajita tacos was awaiting toppings. Why some places prefer to put the onions and cilantro to the side is beyond me. This is fast food meant to be devoured quickly and with little hassle; instead, the customer now has to use their hand to fill each taco without utensils – first world problems…

Clearing some of the fatty chunks of meat from the barbacoa I took my first bite. It might have been the 15 minute ride back to my office, but the tortilla was very dry and a bit tough. It was lightly charred. After the third taco, my appreciation for the tortillas improved. The charred tacos made for a more rounded flavor and I started to get why El Tacaso has a regular clientele.

The grayish hue aside, the barbacoa meat was quite good. Next the chicken was all lean white meat with some grilled onions mixed in. The two pastor tacos also had grilled onions and except for a couple small pieces of gristle they had a good, though mild, flavor that went best with the charred tortillas.

My favorite were the beef fajita tacos. The meat was diced, perfectly cooked and free of fat.  Again they too went nicely with the tortillas and with some generous dunks in the salsa roja I ended my meal on a positive.

El Tacaso offers something a little different than most gas station taquerias. Their approach to tortillas, while nothing revolutionary or new, is different than the 20 plus places I’ve tried at gas stations.  The clean, inviting atmosphere inside and the smile welcoming the place’s regulars shows the pride one can find at a restaurant tucked into the corner of a Shell station mini-market.

Gas Station: Shell

Address: 2439 Walnut Hill Ln. Dallas, TX 75229

Rating (4 out of 5 oil drops):

Christopher Baccus loves cars and gas station tacos. We find that very attractive.

Dishers, Christopher Baccus is  a taco junkie and blogger. Not just any kind of taco, primarily those found in or near gas stations. Last week he took you there. This week he takes you here.

I walked into the Flash Mart convenience store located on Walnut Hill at I-35 and turned to my right. I walked over to a purple wall with a door.  I wasn’t sure what was going on. I  exited the mart and walked across the store front passing a small wine section that must have been what the door inside was all about and then came to a glass door leading into Taqueria el Guache.

There were two high tables with stools, two smaller tables with wooden chairs and an order window crowded into a very small space. It’s definitely minimalist dining, but then again it is a gas station taqueria.

I went with my usual selection of starters, one of each: beef fajita, pastor, and barbacoa. I also added a picadillo taco since I had read a good review of this place on Yelp, which is how I learned about Taqueria el Guache.

The cook was making homemade flour tortillas when I arrived and I should have tried at least one taco with flour, but I prefer my tacos on corn tortillas. The container included a pile of grilled onions with a small handful of raw onions added to the the top of the picadillo taco. There was also just a small amount of cilantro with a few tacos containing a few scant cilantro stems.

My first bite of the pastor taco made me forget about the lack of cilantro as it was very flavorful and the meat was properly cooked. The flavor, while not intense, made for an above average pastor taco. I alternated dips into the salsa roja and salsa verde sauces.  The verde went better with the pastor and I was enjoying it so much I forgot to add a squeeze of fresh lime.

Next up was the beef fajita. There were a couple of fatty pieces that I discarded and there wasn’t much flavor to the meat resulting in a rather bland taco. It was average at best.

Barbacoa is the most difficult to get right in my experience. Taqueria el Guache falls apart on this choice. The meat was very fatty and a bit slimy without much flavor. After only a couple bites, I was ready to move to the finale – the picadillo.

Their picadillo taco was loaded with ground beef, small chunks of potato, small carrot cubes, and some corn kernels. It was okay, perhaps some more cumin or a dash of coriander would help . There are definitely some better options when it comes to picadillo around Dallas, as I’m sure any Fuel City fan will tell you.

Overall Taqueria el Guache wasn’t all that bad, but it wasn’t all that good either. If I was in a rush, I would still buy a few tacos from here, but I’d probably stick to the pastor or try some of their other options next time.

Gas Station: Valero
Address: 2410 Walnut Hill Ln. Dallas, TX 75229
Rating (3 out of 5 oil drops):

Christopher Baccus loves cars and gas station tacos. We find that very attractive.

Dishers, Christopher Baccus is  a taco junkie and blogger. Not just any kind of taco, primarily those found in or near gas stations. A few weeks ago he took you there. This week he takes you here.

Chorizo tacos are underrated. I love it when I find chorizo on a taqueria menu in a gas station and Taqueria Cholula has no shortage of chorizo and other options for the taco fanatic. You’ll find at least 14 types of tacos here: beef fajita, chicken, pastor, and barbacoa. The day of my visit they were out of two.

Taqueria Cholula, located in the Conoco Station at I-35E and Royal Lane, is the first place I’ve found that serves suadero, a thin cut of meat from the breast of a cow. Sorry, I didn’t try it. I really wanted to try the chorizo and I also ordered beef fajita, pastor, and barbacoa tacos on corn tortillas with chopped onions and cilantro. My carryout order also included some salsa roja, more orange than red, and salsa verde.

The two hot sauces are made in-house. I enjoyed them both, but the salsa verde had a bit too much lime in it making it too sour for my taste; though, I found it worked well with the beef fajita tacos. The chorizo didn’t need any salsa. The pastor and barbacoa tacos went very well with the spicy salsa roja that had a wonderfully potent kick to it.

To finish singing the praises of the chorizo, the taco comes with a heaping amount of crumbled Mexican sausage enveloped in two corn tortillas that have been lightly dipped in oil and heated. The sausage is spiced perfectly with red chilies and just the right amount of cumin and garlic making for a taco that needs nothing else to support it.

Taqueria Cholula does little to promote the wonderful tacos they sell inside. Look for two temporary banners reading “Breakfast” and “Tacos.” Once inside, a third of the gas station market is taken up by the taqueria with one of the largest cooking areas I’ve seen. They also have two tables and a couple stools for dine-in service.

I am often disappointed to find that  barbacoa tacos are too fatty or, worse, slimy. The barbacoa here is done to perfection with just a little fat. The flavor is balanced and the meat tastes like good quality shredded beef, not something that’s been sitting in a vat of oil for three days.

Chorizo tacos!

The pastor and fajita beef tacos are above average as well. Nothing outstanding, but the meat is lean and the spices are appropriately blended to make for some solid tacos.Every taco is served with double-ply corn tortillas, a decent helping of chopped onion and a scant amount of cilantro. My takeout container came with one container of salsa roja and one container of salsa verde plus three lime slices.

The better known taqueria at Flash Mart is less than a mile away from Taqueria Cholula and while I wasn’t expecting much out of this place, I have to admit Taqueria Cholula is the best in the area.  The chorizo and barbacoa tacos are standouts and definitely worth several more visits.  Perhaps next time I’ll get daring and try some suadero.

Gas Station: Conoco

Address: 11368 Emerald Street, Dallas, TX 75229

Rating (5 out of 5 oil drops):

Christopher Baccus loves cars and gas station tacos. We find that very attractive.

Dishers, Christopher Baccus is  a taco junkie and blogger. Not just any kind of taco, primarily those found in or near gas stations. Last week he took you there, this week he takes you here.

I live a food paradox. At home I cook using fresh, mostly organic and try to buy local as much as possible. We also p alurchase all of our meat from Burgundy Pasture Beef a ranch in Grandview, Texas that raises grass-fed animals. Our chicken comes from another local source, Windy Meadows Family Farm.

As part of our pursuit to eat local and to know where our food comes from, my wife recently heard about an unique Farmer’s Market. It’s called Eden’s Organic Farm and refers to itself as the “Home of DFW’s first All-Clean, Real Food, Real Farmer’s Market Day!” It’s located about 25 minutes from Dallas in Balch Springs. We hit the road.

As we exited the highway, I noticed not one but two gas stations, a Shell and a Fina, with taquerias at the corner of Pioneer Road and Seagoville Road, Balch Springs. After buying some local carrots, peaches, and other fruits and vegetables for home, we left the Farmer’s Market and decided to try Taqueria Los Delicious  at the Fina station.

They appeared to be closed at 9:30am on a Saturday morning, but I approached and noticed a cook and someone eating at a small table as I walked inside. I was asked what I’d like and asked for lunch tacos. No problem.

I ordered two pastor, two beef fajita, and one barbacoa all on corn tortillas. I waited for my order in the small restaurant and selected a Jarritos Tamarind from the cooler. The chef cut up a whole lime, chopped some cilantro and onions and placed each into separate baggies along with some salsa containers. I paid my $5 for the tacos plus tax and my soda.

Untying the baggies I spread the cilantro and onions into the tacos which were full of meat. Squeezed some lime-juice over them and went for a pastor taco first. I wasn’t too impressed with the presentation of the tacos, but the first bite of the pastor made me appreciate this little place. The meat had a rich flavor and wonderful red hue. Dipping the taco into the homemade salsa verde made for an even better experience.

Next was the beef fajita taco. The meat was a bit rubbery and lacked flavor though the intensive spiciness of the salsa roja improved the beef taco; though, it really was the weakest of the three and I’d pass on it next time.

I removed a few pieces of fat from the barbacoa taco. The meat wasn’t slimy like a lot of barbaco tacos I’ve had in gas stations. This was perfectly slow cooked and the meat had a good full flavor that also went well with the salsa roja.

Interior

It’s unfortunate the tortillas at Taqueria Los Delicious were reminiscent of those found at Tom Thumb.They had absolutely no flavor and that’s too bad because the filling for the pastor and barbacoa tacos here are quite good; they could have gone from a 4 to 5 rating if it wasn’t for the lackluster tortillas.

Would I drive 25 minutes just for the tacos?  No. I would however make a stop here after shopping at the Eden Organic Farm .But next time I’m making a stop to compare Taqueria Los Delicious against its cross-street rival – the Shell station.

Gas Station: Fina

Address: Corner of Pioneer Road and Seagoville Road, Balch Springs, TX 75180

Rating (4 out of 5 oil drops):