The Nine Best Tex-Mex Restaurants In Dallas

Categories: Best Of Dallas

Pepe's parrot.jpg
Hang onto your pants. It's time to lay out or favorite Tex-Mex restaurants -- an endeavor that consistently draws as passionate a comment stream as any burger post.

Pepe & Mito's (Pictured above)
This Deep Ellum mainstay won last year's award for Best Tex-Mex in Dallas with homemade tortillas, great Margaritas, tacos and tamales. With a warmer than normal winter expected you should hit up the patio before a night out on Elm Street, or come back in the morning for a serious brunch-based remedy to all that ails you.

*****

Urban Rio Bar.jpg
Lori Bandi
Urban Rio
Urban Rio broke out on the scene this year with hand-crafted ingredients, clean tasting food, and a massive dining room that's packed on weekend evenings with Plano locals. For the amount of work the kitchen puts into their dishes, from the hand-made tortillas to the fresh salsas, the menu provides a great value.

*****

Herraras Combo.jpg
Herrera's
The old Herrera's on Maple Avenue will always have a place in my heart. I wish the new dining room had half the romance as the old space that was memorialized in National Geographic, but I suppose it's nice I don't have to endure an hour-long wait for my sour cream enchiladas.

*****

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Lori Bandi
Soleo
This north Dallas restaurant is new to the scene and bills itself as an authentic Mexican restaurant, but there's excellent chips and salsa on every table, queso and guacamole if you order it, and fajitas, enchiladas and tacos too. Don't sleep on the earthy pazole -- it's one of the best renditions in Dallas.

Location Info

Venue

Map

Urban Rio Cantina & Grill

1000 14th St., Plano, TX

Category: Restaurant

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Herrera's Mexican Restaurant

4024 Maple Ave., Dallas, TX

Category: Restaurant

Urban Rio Cantina & Grill

1000 14th St., Plano, TX

Category: Restaurant

Avila's Mexican Restaurant

4714 Maple, Dallas, TX

Category: Restaurant

Cuquita's Restaurant

13260 Josey Lane, Farmers Branch, TX

Category: Restaurant

Pepe's & Mito's Mexican Cafe

2911 Elm St., Dallas, TX

Category: Restaurant

Manny's Uptown Restaurante

3521 Oak Grove Ave., Dallas, TX

Category: Restaurant

Mr. Mesero

4444 McKinney Ave., Dallas, TX

Category: Restaurant

El Ranchito Cafe & Club

610 W. Jefferson Blvd., Dallas, TX

Category: Restaurant

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67 comments
choderus
choderus

I love El Ranchito, first tried it about twenty years ago and it's been consistently great.  It's also a perfect place to take out-of-towners on the weekend, gets quite lively inside!

Dan Pettit
Dan Pettit

I tried Pepe y Mito's based upon this list today and I was disappointed. I went simple and got the chicken fajita nachos. Not enough chicken. The chips that are used should not have. Why is there such a difference between the chips that are used with the salsa in the beginning and the chips used for nachos? I go to Fuzzy's Taco Shop and the chips used for salsa, queso, guacamole, and nachos are the same and they are awesome. Even though they are small, they stay crunchy.

lizbuddie
lizbuddie

@ncjks Not anymore. Back in the day, I made some pretty decent carne guisada.. ;) @romanflute

G_David
G_David

I can't argue with any of these.  Although my all-time favorite is Pepe's & Mito's for overall awesomeness, Manny's does indeed have the best brisket tacos.  And the tortillas at Cuquita's melt in your mouth.  

espinozajoni.je
espinozajoni.je

Congratulations to Mr. Mesero.

But I wouldn't call it Tex-Mex!

Daniel Sibley
Daniel Sibley

Mr. Mesero...anything north of NWHwy doesn't count

romeolipschitz
romeolipschitz

Casa Milagro, as great as it is, is much more Mexican than Tex-Mex. I gather the purpose of the article was to highlight Tex-Mex establishments. Unless the writer is from... uh, New York and ill informed.

Twinwillow
Twinwillow

@romeolipschitz I don't deny they have quite a few authentic Mexican dishes  but, have a look at their online menu. In my opinion, there's more than enough Tex-Mex dishes to still consider it a Tex-Mex restaurant.

http://www.casamilagrorestaurant.com/

markzero
markzero

@Twinwillow @romeolipschitz Had their rellenos multiple times. Yum. BTW, used to eat at the Mexican place in the strip on the SW corner for lunch a lot, but it closed :( Too bad, they had multiple grandmas in the kitchen, including one making tortillas.

Dave Ybanez
Dave Ybanez

Once I saw Pepe & Mito's and Herrera's I knew this wasn't worth my time. And desperados???? lol. Taco cabana has better food.

G_David
G_David

@Dave Ybanez Yet it was worth your time to make an idiotic comment?  Must suck to be you.

Tim Smathers
Tim Smathers

I love the old El Fenix downtown, because I ate there as a child.

Twinwillow
Twinwillow

I love Casa Milagro on Campbell at Plano Road in Richardson.

Also, Restaurant Gonzalez on W. Jefferson in Oak Cliff.

Both have outstanding Tex-Mex food!

Krystal Nacole Garcia
Krystal Nacole Garcia

How does Mia's on Lemmon Avenue NOT make the list???? One margarita will knock you out and their food has never been bad. This list is kind of a joke. Might as well add El Chico and On the Border.

Kami Fuller
Kami Fuller

Mia's Tex-Mex isn't on the list? SHAAAAAAAAAME. Best in town, period.

Russell Jonas
Russell Jonas

I'm skeptical of this list, but I now feel compelled to try all these restaurants.

Angie Parker
Angie Parker

What about Matt's?

xmantx
xmantx

@Angie Parker Matts is like ratt poison, truly awful food

Brad Stutzman
Brad Stutzman

This list is horrible. The so called "number 1" spot on here is a terrible restaurant.

Rojo
Rojo

Herrera's, Mannie's really guys? Geezuz....

Julia Ann Shockley
Julia Ann Shockley

This is a crock. Desperados is 5000x better than the places on this list.

Roger Smith
Roger Smith

The absence of Ojeda's invalidates this list. There are some good restaurants on there, but Ojeda's is as good as any of them. And can we please get over Herrera's? I've never seen such an average place so over-hyped.

acidshock1
acidshock1

No El Taquito? No Mexicali?  No Cafe Maya & Cantina?  

julie.clemens
julie.clemens like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

Congrats on including the wonderful El Ranchito here in Oak Cliff - superb food, and a colorful, lively atmosphere without being too loud or overwhelming. But where is Desperado's on Greenville? Their tacos alone are worth the trip, best salsa verde around, and the margaritas are to die for. Try/beware of the spicy margarita martini - YUM! 

Twinwillow
Twinwillow like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

The food at Pepe & Mito's is excellent. They're a real sleeper. I never realized they existed until I saw them featured on Triple D.

I have only one complaint. They use way too much salt!

Mike Fitzpatrick
Mike Fitzpatrick

Tim, theres several Presidents that have eaten there over the years. It is a favorite of ours and every time we go into Dallas we have to make a stop. Still great food at Ojeda's.

Chris Chairez
Chris Chairez

The food is cooked in the kitchen not the bathroom... grow up people. There is no mention of El Taquito Est 1974. Or Mexacali's? both of those are epic good.

Tim Smathers
Tim Smathers

Mike Fitzpatrick, Ojeda's was good enough for Bill Clinton and I think it's great!

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