Gas station tacos, right this way.
Large highway gas stations can offer surprising treats. One of them is tacos. Maybe there is a trompo from which is shaved dark red marinated pork in the Mexico City al pastor style with chiles, achiote and citrus or the Monterrey trompo rendition of sticky smoked paprika. The Fox Gas Station on Marvin D. Love Freeway (Highway 67) in Oak Cliff serves the latter.
My first visit, in early 2014, yielded charred nubs of pork from a tired trompo and soggy tortillas. A return visit a year later, though, had a happier ending.
Trompo like a fox.
The tacos bore a filling of thick-sliced magenta pork, crispy at the edges and soft and moist where it needed to be and came with a char stacked as heavy as BBQ brisket bark. They were quick—and quickly gone—earthy, slightly greasy packages made enjoying while waiting for darks to finish in the laundromat connected to the gas station.
Taco de trompo and taco supreme
For those who want to amp up their order, there is the Taco Supreme, a semi-deluxe beast of trompo, cheese, crema and onions. It was essentially a gringa. It could have been much more. Nopales, matchstick fries, cubed potatoes, another meat—any of these would have edge the specialty taco closer to deserving its name. A second meat—perhaps beef or chorizo—would be what I do next time I visit. Because, while trompo joints are myriad in Oak Cliff—thanks to a significant Monterreyan population—few of them are good. The ones that are good deserve repeat visits, especially when the coolers are stocked with local craft beer like the lot at Fox Gas Station.
Fox Gas Station 3603 Marvin D. Love Fwy. Dallas, TX 75224 214-912-9398
The Taco Trail 