While I started checking out taquerias and other taco joints as a personal goal to find the best tacos in DFW about a year ago, it’s actually turned into an official mission now. Josh Hough and I have teamed up and we make it a point to travel DFW once a month or so to find the best tacos (and maybe pie) in DFW. More on the pie later. On this trip we had a couple other friends tag along for the ride. During trip two I personally consumed 10 tacos and a piece of pie. I don’t suggest this, my afternoon included a nap and the next day was interesting to say the least. Anyway, enough of the build up, lets get to the tacos. On this trip we decided to check out some suggestions people made in the comments about our last trip.
Our first stop of the day was our favorite of the day, or it was my favorite atleast. Pretty sure it was everyone else’s too. I should confirm this stuff before I write articles. Anyway, we decided to visit Tacos Mariachi first. This was an interesting place because as you stroll up it looks like it’s little to be desired, which is excellent in the taqueria world, but when we walked in it was a pretty cool vibe inside, which is also excellent. Tacos Mariachi is one of the nicer taquerias we have been too and I’d actually like to check his place out on a Friday or Saturday night. Inside they have more seating than most taquerias we have been to and it was very colorful and inviting. While they offered authentic taco selections like al pastor and barbacoa, they also offered creative selections with shrimp, salmon, and octopus as well. On top of that, they sell margaritas and beer.
We tried an array of tacos including the Pulpo (Octopus), Shrimp, Smoked Salmon, Barbacoa, and Pollo Al Pastor. To compliment our tacos they had three salsas available including Serrano Tomatillo, Mango Habanero, and Chile De Arbol. I was the only one to get the Octopus but I asked the lady at the register what her favorite tacos were and it was the first one she named. Believe it or not, I really liked it. Yes, you can tell it’s octopus with the texture and it did have a bit of a fishy taste to it. I mean, it is from the ocean. But, it was tender and not chewy at all and the flavor was excellent. Next, if there is ever al pastor on the menu I get it. It is my favorite taco flavor. But, his was the first of two al pastor tacos I had during our trip that were made with chicken instead of pork. My thoughts on that so far are stop it with the chicken. Make my al pastor with pork or don’t make it! That said, it was good, but not great like a traditional al pastor taco can very well be. I had the barbacoa last. I found this taco to be quite good but I have had many barbacoa tacos that are superior. Josh really liked the smoked salmon taco a lot and he said the shrimp taco was just OK. We all sampled the salsas and while they were all good, the Mango Habanero really stole the show. Again, this was our favorite stop of the day (I’m pretty sure) and it’s definitely worth going back! I’d give Tacos Mariachi an 8/10. http://www.tacosmariachi.com/
For our next stop we decided to check out Taquero right up the street from our first stop. Taquero also has a pretty cool setup. There’s no inside seating but they have a nice outside area to hang out and eat tacos. Otherwise you can walk up, order, and take them to go if you’d like. You can sit at the little bar against the building or at a table with an umbrella with plenty of shade. Surrounding the building is mostly commerecial but there is also a neighborhood on one side. The house about 50 steps from the order window had me jealous of it’s convenient location. Anyway, I ordered Chicken Pastor, Lengua, and Carnitas. To our surprise a small noodle soup made with what appeared to be a tomato broth was complimentary with our order. A couple of salsa variations were also served with our tacos. The soup was flavorful and a nice warm up for the tacos. My favorite of the three tacos was the lengua. It was quite flavorful, tender, and the texture didn’t scream lengua. The Chicken Pastor was similar to the one I had at Tacos Mariachi, it just shouldn’t be chicken! It wasn’t a bad taco, but as I said before I prefer al pastor with pork. Lastly, the carnitas taco was quite good. I would prefer that the carnitas were chopped up and not sliced but maybe I am being picky. It was flavored well though and I’d order it again. The salsas paired well with the tacos but we were wishing we would’ve brought some of the Mango Habanero salsa from our previous stop. All in all this was another cool stop, another I’d be curious about on a Friday or Saturday night. I give Taquero a 7/10. https://www.facebook.com/TaqueroDallas/
Our second to last taco stop of the day was Taqueria Carmelita’s. the layout of this taqueria was kind of interesting because it had two buildings. One of the buildings included the kitchen and minimal inside seating. The second building had outdoor but covered seating and this building had the Carmelita’s sign on it but there was also a for sale sign on it. Seemed weird but part of the fun of traveling around and trying different places is experiencing some of the oddities they provide at times. I was dead set on only getting two tacos and my initial order only included two, then I talked myself into another one because I want to make sure I try my favorite flavors from all of our stops if possible. So, I ended up with Bistec, Barbacoa, and Pastor. While the tacos were all good and their salsas paired well with them, none of them really stood out in the crowd. This turned out to be our least favorite stop of the day. I would give Taqueria Carmelita’s a 6.5/10. https://www.facebook.com/taqueriascarmelita
At this point we pulled out of Taqueria Carmelita’s gorged and borderline miserable. But, the group decided to go back to El Si Hay to get tacos to take home. El Si Hay is still our number one rated spot so this wasn’t surprising. However, after having nine tacos and some soup I was set on not ordering anything, then I remembered last time we went the barbacoa wasn’t quite ready. So, you guessed it, I ordered a barbacoa taco. It was also a good taco but it didn’t compare to their Bistec taco which puts this place on the map for us. From here we started to stroll home, dreaming of a nap and Mylanta. But wait, there’s more! The path home led us through the Bishop Arts District where Emporium Pies is located. I don’t remember who’s idea it was, and I’m pretty sure I asked them what was wrong with them, but someone suggested pie. So, pie it was. Even though I stated that there was no way I was eating pie, or anything else for that matter, we parked and strolled over to Emporium Pies. By the way, if you haven’t been to Emporium Pies, you simply haven’t lived. Go now! As the others were ordering I read the menu out of curiosity to see what was new and I came to The Nannerz. Banana cream pie with rich custard, layered with sliced bananas, vanilla, and house made maple caramel. Crap…………Then I hear Josh say “hey, this is my cheat day!” Exact thought that entered my head…..”You know what?! It’s mine too!” (knowing most other days are too). So, I ordered the pie and as per the norm it was absolutely amazing!
So, trip two down, many more to go. Maybe we add pie to the list but that remains to be seen. Really I foresee this turning into an all out best of DFW but for now tacos are the focus with a little pie in our peripheral. Give us more suggestions on where we should go, we would love to hear them!
