Category Archives: News

Señor Locos Is Bringing San Antonio Puffy Tacos to DFW

Senor Locos Jan 23 2013 photo shoot 004

Courtesy Señor Locos

I’m fascinated by puffy tacos. So fascinated I went to San Antonio to eat my way through their history and plates of them. So, when I learned that a “San Antonio-style Tex-Mex icehouse” was open in Plano, I had to ask the owner if he/she plans to offer the iconic Alamo City dish at the establishment. The restaurant in question is Señor Locos and the owner, David Brian, whom I reached out to via Facebook and email yesterday says. In response to my wall post, he said, “Wow! Yes look for them to hit our Menu in April.”

And I see a lot of promise in the puffy tacos to come. First, Brian, who’s been in the Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurant world since he was 13 years old, has enlisted David Woodward as chef. Woodward resume includes working for Stephan Pyles in Las Vegas. But back to the puffy tacos. Brian says they’ve been tricky, a statement echoed by Tex-Mex masters. “The obstacle has been recreating the recipe, but we’re close to figuring it out.” Guests will have the ability to choose any protein as a puffy taco filling. Of course, there will be salsa options, too. “[Guests] can finish them off with our “Signature” Six Shooter salsas. These are six homemade salsas to dress any taco. In Mexico, a good taco is only great if topped with a good salsa.”

You can be sure as soon as puffy tacos earn a place on Señor Locos’ menu, I’ll be one of the first customers in line, primed not only for the airy, crunchy treats brimming with lettuce, tomato and cheese, but also for the carnitas, the Baja-style fish, the shrimp and what’s being advertised as a ceviche taco.

Señor Locos Tex-Mex Icehouse
701 W. Parker Road, Plano
214-501-4258

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Filed under DFW, News, North Texas, Plano, Tex-Mex, Texas

After Closing Its Bishop Arts District Location, El Padrino Is Moving to Pleasant Grove

elpadrino

Last August, Taco Trail brought you the news that El Padrino was ordered to vacate it’s Bishop Arts District. Well, there’s an update. This is just in from Juan Contreras, Jr., of El Padrino, in original press release form.

El Padrino Taqueria a casualty to the Bishop Arts District’s success

DALLAS, TX – El Padrino Taqueria, affectionately known as El Padrino (Mexican Godfather), a popular Mexican food stand in the Bishop Arts District since the 1990’s has lost their lease and has found a new home.  El Padrino was housed in an old original Jack in the Box shaped fast food stand located on 330 W. Davis St., and provided great Mexican fast food to N. Oak Cliff’s diverse clientele.

El Padrino lost their lease to Sarah Lombardi in May “We didn’t see this coming, but we were grateful that Ms. Lombardi let us operate through November. Which allowed us some time to look for a new location and for our employees to find jobs nearby.” says Juan Contreras Jr. El Padrino hoped to move to a new location in the Bishop Arts District or somewhere nearby, “Unfortunately it was harder than we thought. Our broker Charlie Perdue, from Perdue Equities worked with us to find us a home nearby, however, there were just no options to fit our needs.” says Juan C. Contreras Jr., Managing Partner.

The Contreras say that they decided to move to southeastern Dallas on 1215 S Buckner Blvd not only because they got a good deal in their new location but also because they also wanted to expand their locations: one in Oak Cliff and the other in Pleasant Grove. “One of our friends here in the community approached us with a deal we could not pass and well we decided to give it a try.” says Juan Contreras Jr.

The new Padrino’s expects to open May 3rd, 2013 serving the same type of original Mexican food items and more.

“We had a great run in the Bishop Arts District, and were surrounded by inspiring friends in the community and we expect to continue our success in our new location.” says Juan Contreras Jr.

El Padrino also has the original location located at 408 W. Jefferson Boulevard, which remains open.

Thank you,

Juan Contreras
El Padrino; Managing Partner

Twitter: ElPadrinoTejas

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The Best Tacos in Dallas, Give or Take

Dallas Observer Gives Some Taco Love in 2011 Best Of Issue

If you’ve picked up the February issue of D Magazine—and if you haven’t, you should—you’ve seen my feature, “The Top 20 Taquerias in Dallas.” Unfortunately, between press time and the newsstand date, two of the restaurants listed shut their doors for good, although both cited they have future projects in mind. Each cited lack of customer traffic. Taco Republic, which wowed me with the Thai Chihuahua and use of tortillas made from nixtamal, closed last month and was ranked number 7 on my list. Taco Republic didn’t make to its first anniversary. Owner Ron Guest placed the blame squarely on the fast-casual joint’s location. Taco Republic was a pain in the neck to get to. Café Maya, made it past the year mark before closing in January, but not by much. The loss of Café Maya hurt. When co-owner Sergio Pinto broke the bad news to me, it felt like someone had thrown hundreds of slap bracelet around my gut. It hurt. And not just because it meant I’d be missing the killer cochinita pibil. Café Maya was a family-owned joint that put it all out there. I hate seeing family restaurants shut down. We need more of them.

What follows are additional write-ups that could’ve been on the list for some reason. About the first: Had I visited the truck more than once before I filed my story, the mobile concern would’ve broken the top 10, as the best taco truck in the Dallas. The second, a Dallas institution owned by one of the standard-bearers of Mexican food and Tex-Mex in this city, was edged out by a late entry. Nevertheless, it’s worthy of an honorable mention, as are Birrieria Aguiñaga, Fito’s #3, La Tejanita and Taco Ocho (which I’ve reviewed in the past). Continue reading

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Chowing Down on Tesar’s Ipswich Clam Taco at Spoon Bar & Kitchen

Tesar and His Taco

Avocado, cream, salsa, dried corn, little bits of breading. These were on my fingers moments after I took a bite of the Ipswich clam taco on special last night at Spoon Bar & Kitchen. And it was pretty delicious. The heat from the jalapeño cream salsa and the pillowy but hefty clams laced the elements of John Tesar’s taco creation nestled in a flour tortilla that seconds earlier been removed from the grill. The result was a warm, papery tortilla. It was only then that I looked at my dining companion and driver for the excursion. He wasn’t nearly as messy but he was as thankful as I was for the opportunity that Tesar and his staff afforded us. I’m excited to try it again when the taco is added to the forthcoming lunch menu, which I was told would be rolled out sometime after Valentine’s Day. Until then, check out some of the photos I took.

Spoon Kitchen

Tesar Taco 1

Tesar Taco 2

Spoon Bar & Kitchen
8220 Westchester Dr.
214-368-8220

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John Tesar’s Taco Tuesday at Spoon Bar & Kitchen

Spoon logo

If you’ve been watching Top Chef Seattle, you know of the three Dallas chefs competing on the reality TV cooking show. Week before last, John Tesar, one of those toques, was voted off the show, but was given a chance at redemption through a text messaging and a social media campaign. The latter counted the number of times the #SaveChefJohn hashtag was mentioned on Twitter versus that of his opponent. During the popularity contest’s run, I tweeted to Tesar that he’d have my #SaveChefJohn vote if he agreed to offer a one-night-only seafood taco special at his Preston Center restaurant, Spoon Bar & Kitchen. He did agree, and will have the taco available tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 15.

Before I share the type of taco, I’d like to tell you. Tesar knows his way around a taco. The chef John helped develop the Wild Salsa menu and concept before handing it over to Kelly Hightower. I’m expecting a solid taco born of his familiarity with the food and his expertise with seafood. The man knows his stuff. Continue reading

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Mesa for the Holidays

Mesa Front

Mesa/Facebook

As part of my tireless quest to get some of my favorite restaurants to offer tacos, I offer you the special holiday three-course dinner from one of the best joints in town, Mesa Veracruz Coastal Cuisine. The Oak Cliff eatery, owned by chefs Raul and Olga Reyes, is a pioneer of regional Mexican food in Dallas—and it’s going to be open Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

See the full menu below.  Continue reading

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DFW Trucks for Tots: Happy Bellies and Happy Kids

DFW Truck for Tots — On Saturday December 8, 2012 from 11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m., 25 Dallas and Fort Worth food trucks are gathering at the corner of Elm Street and Gaston Avenue in Deep Ellum (2505 Elm Street, Dallas, TX) for a massive toy drive for the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of Toys for Tots. More than 20 United States Marines will be on hand to take toy donations and guests are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy for a needy child. Pictures with Santa will be available in addition to live music, bounce houses and more than 50 vendors for holiday shopping.

In partnership with local schools including W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy and Lincoln High School, students will be encouraged to collect toys and bring them to the event with their family. There will also be a performance by the Lincoln High School Tiger Marching Band. More than 25 confirmed food trucks will be on-site, including Rock & Roll Tacos, Rockstar Bakeshop, Easy Slider Truck, Ssahm BBQ, Gepetto’s Pizza, Three Lions, The Gastro Bomber and more.

Guests are encouraged to ride the DART Green Line and get off at the Deep Ellum Station, which is across the street from the event. Guests coming from North Dallas can ride any line into downtown and transfer to the Green Line without worrying about the hassle of parking. This event is brought to you by DFW Food Truck Group, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and other local sponsors. Continue reading

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Taco Ticker: The South, The Revamped & The Stolen

Another Friday, another Taco Internet roundup of the week’s news. Around these parts, I reviewed the Taco Pronto Cafe, a Tex-Mex diner in the Medical District, and El Pueblo Restaurant along East Jefferson Boulevard. The former trades in top-notch handmade flour tortillas, while the latter serves the best carnitas in Dallas. Alice Laussade, the Dallas Observer’s Cheap Bastard answers taco-related questions of considerable import (to me, anyway) in the latest installment of Lengua Sessions. She’ll be serving her pizza creations (mutations?) at Cane Rosso, Monday, Oct. 29, as part of the restaurant’s guest chef series. Proceeds will benefit the National MS Society.

Nearby, Teresa Gubbins shares her thoughts about Tacos & Avocados in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram review. She says the tacos at Jason Boso’s upscale taqueria concept are “generous without being unwieldy.” City of Ate, shows us photos of the Taco Cabana re-design. Central Track takes one for the team, spending an entire day at Fuel City and discovers with gas station tacos comes gas station fashion.

Elsewhere, we have the intersection of Mexican and Southern foodways, Brad Pitt and free tacos for everyone. Continue reading

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Taco Ticker: Exoticism (Sort of ), Stolen Bases and Tacos in the Desert

Another Friday, another Taco Internet roundup of the week’s news. Around these parts, I reviewed Taco Party—a Mexico City-influenced lonchera serving up a couple of gems, including fried potato tacos—and the fish tacos of new Oak Cliff sports bar PhD – Pour House Dallas, baby sister of the 17-year-old Pour House in Fort Worth, that finally secured its liquor license. While tacos as a whole were pretty good, they were oversauced but wrapped in terrific, locally-produced tortillas. James Scott of DallasVegan.com took time to chat with me about tacos and the third annual Texas State Veggie Fair, a free, outdoor festival he founded in part because even after going vegan, he pined for the State Fair of Texas’ fried food.

Nearby, Dallas Observer food critic Scott Reitz, stops into Monica’s Nueva Cocina and shares how to cut off hangovers at the pass (hint: it involves Velvet Taco’s breakfast tacos and crazy-good elotes). Teresa Gubbins calls out bully Tex-Mex-for-rich-people chain Mi Cocina for suing family-owned Honduran restaurant Mi Cocina Hondureña in Garland. Kim Pierce at the Dallas Morning News sings the praises of queso, while restaurant critic Leslie Brenner calls them awful. You know what’s not awful? The Arizona Taco Festival, going down this weekend. The producers are an inspiration who have lined up a wonderland of tacos, tequila and awesome for two days of required attendance for anyone in the vicinity of Scottsdale. And then there’s this: Continue reading

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Taco Ticker: Julia Child, Hangovers and Xoconostle

After taking last week off to let the big news about Dallas’ first bona fide taco festival sink in, Taco Ticker is back with a roundup of this week’s taco news. On the Taco Trail, I reviewed rare—for Dallas—tacos al vapor, steamed tacos hawked by myriad street-side taqueros in Mexico. Veletta Forsythe Lill, the outgoing executive director of the Dallas Arts District and driving force behind the success of food trucks in town, took time to answer taco-related questions. Finally, the week’s second review hit up Mi Fondita, a new restaurant owned and operated by natives of Michoacán state, Mexico. Yes, regional specialties are available. And, yes, it’s worth multiple visits.

Elsewhere, on the Taco Internet, we follow in Julia Child’s footsteps, put the entire Tacodeli to the test and oh so much more: Continue reading

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