Articles about Tex-Mex
Margarita Ranch at Mockingbird Station Will Close. Herrera’s Will Open
Margarita Ranch is slated to be out of their space on June 18. Herrera’s will open in the fall.
Cinco De Mayo in Dallas: Where to Down Those Tequila Shots and Don Those Sombreros
Cinco de Mayo at Mattito's. photography by Jerry McClure
It’s that time of year again. Time to load up your amigos and head to the local Mexican watering holes for mariachi music, discount drinks, and too much tequila. Check out our list of 10 best bets for getting in the spirit of the annual fiesta.
CHUY’S
11 am to 11 pm
Drink This: All day happy hour with $3.95 house margaritas, $7.25 house Texas martinis, and $2.75 domestics along with Corona specials and onsite alcohol promotions
Festivities: Tune in to the sounds of a mariachi band at 7 pm.
HACIENDA ON HENDERSON
11 am to 11 pm
Drink This: $5 margaritas
Festivities: It’s a whole block party full of live music, mariachis, and DJs. If you get bored, head to the dunk tank, onsite photo booth, or giant Jenga. Bring a receipt and prove you caught a cab there, and the $5 cover is waived.
Restaurant Review: Mr. Mesero in Dallas
Nachos Conocidos. (Photography by Kevin Marple)
Veteran Tex-Mex restaurateur Mico Rodriguez is back doing what he does best: turning out high-quality food and providing stellar service. The co-founder of Mi Cocina, Taco Diner, and The Mercury bottomed out in 2008 when he lost control of his company, M Crowd. He is no longer involved in the popular Tex-Mex chain, but he is happy to start over slowly. “I started out with 12 tables and hit it big,” Rodriguez says. “I’m in here waiting tables and watching everything going on.” If Rodriguez keeps doing what he has been doing at Mr. Mesero over the last five months, he will have another shot at stardom.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW AND THE BIT ABOUT THE QUESO!
The Texas Rangers Will Win the World Series and The James Beard Award for Best New Restaurants
Executive Chef Cris "No H" Vasquez holds a Champion Dog. D.J. Pridemore eats the whole thing. (Photography by Micah Nunley)
I’ve already outlined how the Rangers will win the World Series. I’m now prepared to tell you how to plan your caloric intake when you attend a game. The Yu-Darvish moment of late yesterday took place as the Rangers food service management team—Shawn Mattox, Casey Rapp, Philip Wheatley, execuchef Cris Vazquez—revealed their heavy hitter: The Champion Dog ($26.00 with fries). It’s a 2-foot-long-all-beef hot dog topped with shredded cheese, sauteed onions, and chili. The Champion Dog, also sold as the Boomstick (Hi! Nellie!) in the general concessions area, is meant to satisfy four people. However, I watched an eating competition where D.J. Pridemore, a producer for 105.3-FM The Fan, ate a whole one all by himself. He smoked his opponent, the DMN’s Brandon Formby, who never saw the bun (made by Empire Baking Company) coming. Mr. Formby learned that baseball food, like baseball, is a now game of inches.
So Ranger food fans, here’s is news: Vandergriff Plaza (behind centerfield) has been renovated into a food court with FOUR new restaurants, Ryan’s Express 34, Smokehouse 557, Taqueria, and American Dog. They surround the bronze statute of Nolan Ryan. They’ve also added two smoking hot lounges, the Captain Morgan Club and the Batter’s Eye Club). The Kid’s Zone has been moved indoors (thank you) to the south end of the first floor. And the press box will feature sushi for the Japanese media.
Jump for Food Facts and Fun Pictures For Rangers Fans.
5 Comments »Jack Perkins’ ocaTaco is Finally Open
Brisket taco with cheese, pico, salsa, cilantro, sour cream
The Palindrome (pronounced oh-ka-taco) by Maple and Motor’s Jack Perkins officially opened last Thursday for lunch. Even though the menu is short, it’s good for people like me who can’t really decide what to order. Three meat options – tender brisket, pulled pork, and chicken – are plenty enough, thank you. And, of course, I’ll take mine with a side order of chips and salsa.
Jump for more ocaTacocaTacocaTaco.
Continue reading "Jack Perkins’ ocaTaco is Finally Open"
12 Comments »Lisa Galvan is Back in Business With Lunada Tex-Mex Grill
Nobody will really say what happened between Luna de Noche and Lisa Galvan. She was one the founders and owners of the small Tex-Mex spot in Garland that eventually spread across Dallas. Seems like it’s been about two years since she “left” the corporate office so I am assuming she has fulfilled her non-compete clause. Today comes word Galvan is back with Lunada Tex-Mex Grill at 2560 King Arthur Blvd. in the Castle Hills community.
Galvan’s partner in Lunada is Gerald Walker (former president of the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association), Arnold Nitishin (partner and principal in CT Restaurant Management Services Group), and Galvan’s son, Vance, who has managed several full service restaurants. They plan to open “in December.”
UPPITY DATE: Note from Galvan: “ The last two years I have spent concentrating on the passing of HB 240 which involves legislation on the maintenance and installation of Septic Tanks. I lost my only Granddaughter Alisandra who had just recently turned three to drowning in one. The Bill was signed by The Governor on 06-17-2011 and became effective 9-1-11. That day was bittersweet.”
1 Comment »Somebody Help This Poor Girl: Tex-Mex Caterer in Dallas
Listen up, this one SHOULD be easy.
I am hosting an engagement party for a friend, and we need full-service Tex-Mex catering for 90-100 people. I have estimates from some of the larger restaurants (El Fenix, Uncle Julio’s, Mariano’s), but I would like to find another option that would be more flexible, perhaps family-owned and not a chain. I have tried Manny’s, but their catering person is a disaster – it took me 6 phone calls to get her on the phone and within two minutes she put me on hold and never returned. So far in my experience, it seems like the bigger restaurants are more efficient at this sort of business, but if any SideDish readers have had a great catering experience with a smaller Mexican restaurant, I would love some more options.
Speak now. (I used Herrera’s once for a Christmas party.)
31 Comments »Restaurant Review: New Herrera’s Café on Maple Avenue
New Herrera's on Maple. (photo by Kevin Marple)
In 1971, I spent most of my Sunday mornings in a line around the original Herrera’s on Maple Avenue. My friends and I would sit under a dripping window AC unit for hours, waiting for our turn at one of the nine tables inside the tiny, lard-based Tex-Mex restaurant. Once seated, you popped open the six-pack of Coors you brought with you and watched founder Amelia Herrera hand-pat flour tortillas by the front door. The food was such a religious experience for me that, 17 years later, I got married at Herrera’s, which by then had moved into a bigger building across the street and expanded into more locations all over Dallas. Recently, they moved into a newer building down Maple.
3 Comments »Getting to Know You: The Story and Flavors Behind Jorge’s in One Arts Plaza
Guests are greeted by a collage of young Jorge (left); La Otra Rita jalapeno cocktail provides a kick (right) (photos by Kelsy McCraw)
Jorge’s Tex Mex Café opened its One Arts Plaza doors in 2008 to give Dallas a Western take on some traditional tastes. But, this modern, upscale restaurant highlighted by energetic greens, lively lilacs, and warm browns got a humble start as a family side-job in Midland.
No one in the family remembers exactly where family patriarchs Manuel and Feliz Veloz moved to Midland from, only that it was a small farm town outside of Monterrey. The matriarch and patriarch of what would become the Jorge’s brand started with a small burrito stand between the barrio and country club. Years after their small shop proved successful, their son Jorge Veloz Sr., then 19 years old, followed in their footsteps to continue offering his ancestors’ recipes to west Texas. He opened the first Jorge’s in 1981, and since, his family has spread the brand all over Texas. Cousin Jesse Lopez owns and operates a second location in Midland, son Jorge Jr. runs Jorge’s Tacos Garcia out of Amarillo, daughters Diana and Sylvia branched a Tacos Garcia down in Austin, and stepdaughter Michelle Mireles helped dad open the newest location in Dallas.
All locations serve up a western-style Tex Mex that flavors its recipes with salsas and peppers rather than cumin. And the menus, like the members of the Jorge clan, are all very different.
jump for Kelsy’s tasty picks… Continue reading "Getting to Know You: The Story and Flavors Behind Jorge’s in One Arts Plaza"
Ate it for $8: El Ranchito in Oak Cliff
Kristy Alpert’s latest report on where you can find great food for less than eight dollars.
This week I headed to Oak Cliff to find one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants. I can’t even remember its name but I knew where to go. I’ve been living out of Dallas for a while but that didn’t soften the blow when I looked up to find my beloved dive is now another location of Ojedas. We decided to turn around and hit El Ranchito, the lively Tex-Mex with a touch of Monterrey restaurant run by owners Oscar and Laura Sanchez who also operate two locations of Calle Doce.
Jump for cheap lunch.
Continue reading "Ate it for $8: El Ranchito in Oak Cliff"
1 Comment »The Dallas Must-Do List: The Bob Armstrong Dip
Could this be the food of the gods?
For my 12th stop on the list of Things Every Dallasite Must Do, I went to Mattito’s for some of their Bob Armstrong dip. Armed with insider knowledge, I planned to impress the waiter with my Dallas savvy when ordering the off-menu dip.
As soon as we were seated, our waiter offered to get us drinks and asked if we would like to order some Bob Armstrong dip. My bubble was burst. I convinced myself that merely saying, “yes please,” instead of asking what it was still gave me an aura of being in the know, but it was far less satisfying.
All of my disappointment melted away when he came back with a bowl of queso, guacamole, ground beef taco meat, and a dollop of sour cream, ready to be thoroughly mixed with the accompanying spoon. Though probably not the most original mixture of ingredients, it is delightful, and much better than just plain queso. I had to remind myself to eat it with tortilla chips instead of digging in with a spoon.
I’m not sure how Teresa Pullen managed to eat 2 pounds and 14 ounces of the mixture in last year’s Bob-eating contest on Cinco de Mayo. Today’s happens at 5 p.m. After sharing a bowl — along with more than a few baskets of tortilla chips and one of Mattito’s unsettlingly bright blue Rumbaritas — I could not bring myself to order an entrée.
I did, however, finish by ordering a plate of two sopapillas dusted in cinnamon sugar with a dish of honey to dip them in. Sounds like a balanced meal to me.
Lisa Collins is a D Magazine intern.
Where to Eat, Drink, and Make Merry
for Cinco de Mayo in Dallas
photography by Matthew Shelley
Yep, it’s that time of year again: time to celebrate the Mexican army’s glorious victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862.
Now, how about a margarita? Here are your best bets for making the day a grand fiesta.
Brackets
Booze: $2 Dos XX, Coronas, margaritas, tequila shots
Food: $2 street tacos, Mexican pizzas, and nachos
Tunes: Live DJ music
When: 7 pm to 2 am
El Ranchito
Booze: $5 El Jimado tequila shots, $3.50 regular margaritas, $4.50 large margaritas, $2 drafts, $2.50 domestic bottles, $3.50 imports
Food: $5 choriqueso, cheese enchilada dinner, or half orders of nachos
Tunes: Mariachi music starts at 7:30 pm
Extras: all day happy hour
When: 11 am to 10 pm
La Calle Doce
Booze: $3 margaritas and draft beers, $5 El Jimador tequila shots
Food: $5 food specials like shrimp cocktail, cheese enchilada platters, and half orders of nachos
When: 11 am to 10 pm
Urban Taco
Booze: $5 house margaritas, Sangria, Bloody Maria, Limonada Corrupta, Tequila Slammer, and Silver Azul Blanco tequila shots and half-priced drafts
Extras: all day happy hour
When: 10 am to 11 pm Continue reading "Where to Eat, Drink, and Make Merry
for Cinco de Mayo in Dallas"
Matt’s Rancho Martinez To Be Replaced by Mi Cocina
There’s been some chatter about what will happen to Matt’s Rancho Martinez when its lease expires in February 2012. Whether the restaurant will reopen in another location remains to be seen. But we can tell you what will go into the space. Ray Washburne of MCrowd confirms that Lakewood will get a Mi Cocina next year. All due respect to Matt’s, which I know many people consider an institution. But that’s an upgrade in my book.
67 Comments »Dallas Must-Do List: Mariano’s Frozen Margarita
Lisa raises her glass.
I’m not sure if living in Texas for more than 10 years makes me qualified enough to be considered a Texan, but I do know I have acquired quite a few Texan traits over the years, especially having to do with my palate. I now understand what queso means, stomach jalapenos, crave tacos, and every now and then I need a good margarita. Typically I satisfy my Tex-Mex and tequila cravings by making the rounds between Mi Cocina, Mattito’s, Javier’s, and Taco Diner.
When reading that every Dallasite must drink a frozen margarita from Mariano’s Hacienda, I knew I was up for the job. It would be my 11th stop towards completing the Things Every Dallasite Must Do. I headed to Skillman Avenue, not knowing if I should expect a small family-run operation or a busy restaurant. What I found was surprisingly large and festive, though quite empty.
Continue reading "Dallas Must-Do List: Mariano’s Frozen Margarita"
Taco Cabana Introduces Seasonal Shrimp Tampicos
Taco Cabana's Shrimp Tampico Quesadilla
Taco Cabana just reintroduced a seasonal favorite, Shrimp Tampico. The recipe involves marinating shrimp with chipotle and ancho spices and then grilling it with garlic lime and cilantro. They serve it three ways: as the filling of a quesadilla, as one of the ingredients in their cabana bowls, and in enchiladas. They plied me with some and this is what I found.
Here is the Shrimp Tampico Quesadilla ($7.29). The Shrimp Tampico is combined with cheese, tomato and TC’s pineapple salsa. Having tried a couple now I can confirm that these are addictive, and an A-category narcotic if you goose the pineapple with extra salsa from the TC salsa bar. This was my favorite dish out of the three. It also travels. They package it in a pizza box, which means you can take it home, even on City of Dallas streets, and it arrives in pretty much the same shape it started. In fact, I am writing to NASA to suggest that the next time they put together one of those lists of things to put in the hold of a space probe, they leave out the Natalie Imbruglia single (you know the one. There is only one) and replace it with one of these. Won’t the Martians be surprised? Continue reading "Taco Cabana Introduces Seasonal Shrimp Tampicos"
1 Comment »Is Taco Mundo Opening Again?
There seems to be some movement going on at Taco Mundo, the restaurant opened by Carolina Galvan-Rodriguez. It has already opened and closed twice. A loyal Disher just drove past and noticed “Now Hiring” signs in the window. We know the food was good and they did a nice lunch business. I don’t know who is behind the opening and the former restaurant number is disconnected. Developing.
UPDATE: Teresa Gubbins @PegNews says she knows what’s going on but she won’t tell until tomorrow. Not Taco Mundo.
UPPITY DATE: She breaks like a little girl.
4 Comments »El Tizoncito Succeeding on Forest Lane in Dallas
El Tizoncito, the Oak Cliff taqueria I reviewed previously and was favorably received by the participants in the 2010 Dallas Taco Tour, expanded north to Forest Lane and Webbs Chapel last September.
Recently, they invited me to a press dinner. Since I wasn’t anonymous or paying for the meal, and this is based on just one visit, don’t regard it as a review. Rather, it is a description of the new place.
The new location is at once both familiar and different. Same museum flat ocher walls, same menu, and same friendly and capable staff. However the centerpiece trompo is tucked away to the side, behind a splash barrier, and you won’t find a circular floor griddle or a dramatic bar (just a few seats at one end of a counter). Indeed, the emphasis here seems less on the show and more on rapid delivery of food to the clientele. And clientele they have.
Jump for more. Continue reading "El Tizoncito Succeeding on Forest Lane in Dallas"
9 Comments »Emeril Lagasse Kicks It Up a Notch Filming New TV Show at El Fenix in Downtown Dallas
Mike Karns, Alfred Martinez, and Emeril Lagasse
Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse is in Dallas this week—not for Super Bowl XLV, but to film episodes for his new show, The Originals, which will air this spring on the Cooking Channel. He spent Tuesday and Wednesday at El Fenix (first, at the restaurant’s tortilla chip factory on Harry Hines Boulevard, then at its longtime spot downtown). Today and tomorrow, Lagasse and his crew will be at the original Sonny Bryan’s and The Mecca.
“These days, everyone is trying to do everything new,” says the celebrity chef, who took a break from filming to talk with me. “I wanted to do something old. So I’m going around the country to visit older, established restaurants that have had a significant impact not just on the food scene but also on American culture.”
Taco Cabana Introduces 4 Cabana Bowls Under 400 Calories
Anti-gravity food. That’s my long-term solution to the obesity crisis. It will probably be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and cooked by an indigenous tribe that can’t drive a stick shift. Some people say that they already have the solution to obesity and send me daily e-mails about it. They also assure me that I have won $3 million in a lottery I didn’t enter, and they see me as having the right qualities of character to help them get $20 million out of some country that is so oppressive that it makes theft illegal.
Stay with me here.
Continue reading "Taco Cabana Introduces 4 Cabana Bowls Under 400 Calories"
Subscribe
SideDish is a food-related discussion among editors at D Magazine about the Dallas-Fort Worth dining scene -- everything from good meals to bad service, kitchen gossip to restaurant news, chefs' secrets to culinary trends. Bon appetit.
- FrontBurner Blog
- SideDish Food Blog
- FrontRow Arts Blog
- D Home Blog
- ShopTalk Fashion & Beauty Blog
- BridalBuzz Weddings Blog
- Park Cities People Blog
- Preston Hollow People Blog
- Oak Cliff People Blog
- Party Pics
- DAILY
- Al Dia
- Daily Commercial Record
- D Home Blog
- Dallas Morning News
- Denton Record Chronicle
- Diario la Estrella
- The Herald Democrat (Sherman)
- McKinney Courier Gazette
- Pegasus News
- Quick
- Star-Telegram (Fort Worth)
- ALMOST DAILY
- Allen American
- Carrollton Leader
- Celina Record
- Colony Courier Leader
- Coppell Gazette
- Frisco Enterprise
- Flower Mound Leader
- Garland Morning News
- Hood County News
- Lewisville Leader
- Little Elm Journal
- Mesquite Morning News
- The Mesquite News
- Plano Star Courier
- Richardson Morning News
- Rowlett Lakeshore Times
- Southlake Times
- Waxahachie Daily Light
- WEEKLY
- Cedar Creek Pilot
- Cedar Hill Today
- Dallas Business Journal
- Dallas Examiner
- Dallas Observer
- Dallas Post Tribune
- Dallas Voice
- DeSoto Today
- Duncanville Today
- Ellis County Press
- El Heraldo News
- Fort Worth Weekly
- Fort Worth Business Press
- Oak Cliff People
- Park Cities People
- Preston Hollow People
- The Sports Page Weekly
- Texas Lawyer
- Wylie News
- MONTHLY
- Advocate Magazines
- Avid Golfer
- CliffDweller
- Cowboys and Indians Magazine
- Cross Timbers Gazette
- Dallas CEO
- Dallas Child
- Key Magazine
- PaperCity
- Texas Technology Magazine
- Texas Monthly
- BI-MONTHLY
- D Home
- SEMI-YEARLY
- D Weddings
- COLLEGE NEWSPAPERS
- SMU Daily Campus
- TCU Daily Skiff
- North Texas Daily
- UTA Shorthorn
- TELEVISION
- Dallas Community Television
- The CW Channel 33
- KDFW FOX Channel 4
- KERA PBS Channel 13
- KTVT CBS Channel 11
- KTXA TXA Channel 21
- KXAS NBC Channel 5
- TXCN.com
- WFAA ABC Channel 8
- RADIO
- KERA 90.1 FM
- KLIF 570 AM
- WBAP 820 AM
- KXEB 910 AM
- Texas Talk Radio 990 AM
- KRLD 1080 AM
- The Ticket 1310 AM
Home |
Masthead |
News from D |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Subscribe |
Advertise |
Privacy Policy |
Customer Service |
Awards | Archives | Reprints | d custom | Jobs | Advertiser's Index
Awards | Archives | Reprints | d custom | Jobs | Advertiser's Index