To me tex-mex (my favorite food) is like BBQ. Easy to make serviceable food, and the difference between average and great is tough to overcome.

So many places are great at one or two things and mediocre or crap on others.

The most well balanced IMO is Mia's on Lemon. Love their cheese enchiladas w/chili con carne or queso, my favorite salsa (naturally Mi Cocina is basically a tie), love their sour cream sauce, and they have some steak dish cooked in a spicy tomato sauce that is good.

Their fajitas are just ok. They fail miserably with flour tortillas and I'd venture a guess they're store bought.

Uncle Julio's has hands down the best combo of beef fajitas, tortillas, and melted garlic butter for my money. Their enchiladas, queso, and salsa are pedestrian. Great margaritas too.

Cyclone Anaya's was mentioned earlier. It's much closer to mexican food and far from tex-mex, but even knowing that ahead of time we hated the one in Allen. Gave it several chances but always found the food overcooked and underspiced.

Mi Cocina's for obvious reasons is very similar to Mia's, but everything is just better at Mia's. Like the subtle difference between ok BBQ and very good BBQ. Subtle but at the same time drastically different.

Gabriela & Sofia's

Its in a pretty rough neighborhood, but I recently discovered Frida's Tacolandia in Oak Cliff.

Excellent Birria Tacos and maybe the best salsa I've ever eaten in my life. I've yet to have anything at this place that was not outstanding.

Check out their yelp reviews

https://www.yelp.com/biz/frida-s-tacolandia-dallas-2

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The location is quite sketchy. There were police vehicles in the parking lot and a few with its siren on in the neighboring houses. This is not normal where I live so I felt a little concerned but I didn't experience anything negative. This is truly a Mom and Pop shop to support.

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I'll give some recs in Fort Worth and west of Dallas.

- Mi Dia from Scratch in Grapevine, Flower Mound and Plano
- Salsa Limon for tacos in Fort Worth
- Maria's Mexican Kitchen off University Drive
- Meso Maya Comida y Copas off Hulen
- Enchiladas Ole off Forest Park and Park Hill in Fort Worth

FYI - wife informed that Mi Dia has a separate Santa Fe, NM menu. Intrigued. Going back just for that. Anyone had anything on it?

I love NM Mexican more than ours.

https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2022/01/13/taco-revival-on-south-buckner-7-stops-on-one-of-dallas-most-underrated-food-streets/

Some decent places listed. New favorite place for us up in the 'burbs is Lupe Tortilla. Solid all the way around.

Having grown up in SA, I always lament not being able to find enchiladas with the red gravy (not chili con carne) nor legit carne guisada.

Is the Lupe Tortilla here in DFW as good as the one in Houston where it started?I remember back in the day that was the place to go to down there.

Anyone eaten at both?

YouBet said:

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Is the Lupe Tortilla here in DFW as good as the one in Houston where it started?I remember back in the day that was the place to go to down there.

Anyone eaten at both?

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Don't know. Never eaten at the one in Houston. I know it's a small franchise now so I would think the quality has dropped a little.

I've been to the one in Addison but I can't compare it to the Houston location since I've never been there. In my opinion it was a bit above average and worth going to.

Went to the one in Houston regularly from 2003-2007. The one up here is nearly as good. The beef fajitas and tortillas are very similar, maybe slight drop in quality, to what I was used to in Houston. That said, we have only done take out from the Addison location, so it may be better if you eat in the restaurant.

Thanks. We almost went there last weekend but went to Cantina Laredo instead because I wasn't confident on Lupe.

YouBet said:

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Is the Lupe Tortilla here in DFW as good as the one in Houston where it started?I remember back in the day that was the place to go to down there.

Anyone eaten at both?

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They are all still good, but not what it once was before they turned into a chain. Still worth going to.

They are all terrible in Sachse, but Urban Rio in downtown Plano is good. Gloria's is good for Skirt steak and Carne Asada. Both have good margaritas. About to open Manny's by us (will check back in once we've tried it).

Urban Rio's steak fajita nachos are fantastic. It is also a hell of a lot of food for the price.

It might seem odd to call out fajita nachos but they're far and away my favorite thing I've tried at UR.

Avila's (off Maple)
Mia's (off Lemmon)
Herrera's (off Sylvan)
Rafa's (off Lovers)
Mena's (Carrolton)

MW03 said:

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Avila's (off Maple)
Mia's (off Lemmon)
Herrera's (off Sylvan)
Rafa's (off Lovers)
Mena's (Carrolton)

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This place is highly underrated and not well known outside of the locals that work and live around it.

Bonus points for the owner who will stand outside and tell you to park in spots that are marked for business next to him because it's illegal to reserve spots like that. Or at least it used to be; assume it still is.

YouBet said:

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MW03 said:

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Avila's (off Maple)
Mia's (off Lemmon)
Herrera's (off Sylvan)
Rafa's (off Lovers)
Mena's (Carrolton)

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This place is highly underrated and not well known outside of the locals that work and live around it.

Bonus points for the owner who will stand outside and tell you to park in spots that are marked for business next to him because it's illegal to reserve spots like that. Or at least it used to be; assume it still is.

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He still is, but Rafas is too crowded already. No one go there.

You think Urban Rio is good but not Frankie's or Jhonny's? Cmon man...

YouBet said:

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Is the Lupe Tortilla here in DFW as good as the one in Houston where it started?I remember back in the day that was the place to go to down there.

Anyone eaten at both?

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Haven't ever eaten at the one in Houston - but have been to the one in Las Colinas a few times - very pleased with the food and drinks there.

This is kind of more authentic Mexican than true Tex Mex, but some of y'all might like Taqueria Los Angeles in Plano. We've only been once but it's really good. The al pastor tacos/quesadillas are legit if you like al pastor (my fav). Also your food gets delivered to your table by robots and they accept bitcoin, so there's that.

I also really enjoy Petra up in McKinney off 380 and Tucker Hill. Probably a little more Mex than Tex, but really solid. Doesnt hurt that its right down the street from us. great drinks, good heat on the salsa and the al pastor is pretty tasty.

YouBet said:

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Tex-Mex:

99% of it tastes exactly the same regardless of which city or restaurant you are in. There are only a handful of places that could arguably separate themselves from the pack and most of those actually do food that is beyond Tex-Mex.

Change my mind.

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Exactly.

We always had our little league end of the season lunch at Bobby V's. Haven't been back since, I guess it's time!

Chepa's Mexican Grill - Allen

I really like their Al Pastor enchiladas. Like the mango margarita also.

TecRecAg said:

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You think Urban Rio is good but not Frankie's or Jhonny's? Cmon man...

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I haven't tried Jhonny's, but Frankie's is horrible. We tried it several times (REALLY wanted to find a good place here). Hoping Manny's will solve that for us.

nm

Finally got to try Lupe Tortilla's fajitas and wow those are good. So pricey we can't do it often, but I shall return.

There's a new place in Richardson called Sueño that's pretty good. I went there on a weekend recently and it was packed. The bar was impressive too.

I'll go ahead and throw in our favorite: El Norte in Plano. (Custer and Parker). Such a fun neighborhood joint, quick service, and great food. Queso is fantastic and carne asada tacos are awesome. Their Summer Salad is also top notch.

Used to live in that general area but never went to El Norte. Need to give it a try next time I'm in the area.

I'm a fan of Lupe Tortilla fajitas and tortilla soup but it's a drive to get there and not in the budget at the moment.

Angelina's in The Colony is top notch.
Salsas in Frisco is close behind.
Los Jalapeños in Little Elm comes in third.

This place is great too. Definitely recommend

Lalo's. Preston Rd in Dallas. Never been to the Plano Pkwy location so can't vouch for it. **It's not Tex-Mex but more 'Authentic Mexican.' Great food & Staff.