Taco Diner ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Aug 2014 (Southlake - closed)

First visit: Nov 2006 (Las Colinas - closed)

Last location closed in Jan 2024.

It feels kind of funny to label Taco Diner as a "taqueria", as this is about as far away as possible to the classic little humble street vendor as you can get. But essentially Taco Diner is in fact a taqueria. A high end, upscale taco truck. With chairs... and frozen margaritas. The diners' themselves are laid out in the classic 60's Googie architecture style mixed with a tres hip late 90s ambiance. So if you feel so compelled, wander in alone with a newspaper tucked under your arm and instead of waffles, order up a taco la parilla... and a frozen margarita. Speaking of which, actually don't order a frozen margarita. They're average at best, and at $8 for a small glass, a ripoff to boot. And there ends my complaints about Taco Diner.

Because the food is quite good, and perhaps a bit surprising given the relative blandness of their flagship Mi Cocina tex-mex franchise. Taco Diner is yet another wing of the "M Crowd" (to me this sounds like a late 90s electronica group - which definitely fits their persona). The chips are homemade tortillas, hand broken, and comes with two mild salsas (one green, one red). If you ask for more a spicy alternative, you will be brought a creamy green serrano and an orange-ish chile de arbol sauce. The latter is pretty hot, but lacks flavor. The former is the winner of the group, with the same level of spice, and a fantastic pepper flavor. I tried 4 tacos on this visit: chicken and pork al pastor, bistec, and fish. Funny enough I had trouble discerning between the pork and the chicken, but the pastor is very good - though not as yummy as Tres Casas in Keller. The carne had a fine grilled meat flavor. And the tilapia featured the most seasoning, though the achiote citrus marinade was a bit too sweet for my liking. All and all a fine selection - and priced well at $10 for the 4 (you'll pay more at Yucatan). Mrs. RJG settled on the Tacos Cancun, and I think her tacos were even better than mine. Excellent shrimp and spices.

Our first experience with Taco Diner was at the Las Colinas location (~2006), but shortly thereafter they opened the one in Southlake Town Square. Along with Five Guys and Snuffers, this is your best bet for lunch if shopping in the area.

11/04/06; 11/18/11 (new entry); 8/29/14

Tex's Star Grill ~ Watauga, Texas

Latest visit: Aug 2014

First visit: Mar 2005

I had originally posted about Tex's in a longer Burger update, but it really should have its own write-up. And since that time, Tex's has really played up their Chicago roots - adding many more regional delicacies such as beef and sausage sandwiches, Vienna hot dogs and "Polishes". With that has come a "sub-name" as it were: Tex's Chicago Connection. The RJG, along with many others I'm sure, had called out some confusion about the original name. And the owner wrote in to tell me that he knew he missed out on the name game. Tex's is run by a very conscientious owner, and there's a reason why he's ranked # 4 in ALL of DFW. As for my own designations, you'll see I put Chicago Deli and Greek Diner. Well it's not really a diner, since you do order up at the counter and they even have a drive-through. But the food is very much like the Greek diners found throughout the Midwest. And on this visit, I tried the beef and sausage sandwich - definitely the best one I've had since my last visit to Chicago!

Northeast Tarrant has made a few tries for the Chicago tastebud, but other than Weinberger's in Grapevine (and Westlake), none have managed to stay in business. But Tex's is here for the long run, and is one of the most popular places in town. Funny enough, Tex's isn't even the #1 place (according to Urbanspoon) in Watauga - that designation goes to Chef Pointe Cafe (which is #1 overall in DFW - and a place we hope to try soon). For such a small, humble, out of the way suburb like Watauga, it is indeed very odd they have two of the most popular restaurants in DFW. Something I hope their chamber of commerce is all too willing to exploit. "Come to Watauga - DFW's #1 Destination for Foodies". It doesn't even seem possible.

--- Original review

Perhaps the most misnamed place in DFW. When I first saw the place as we were driving down Rufe Snow some 4+ years ago, I thought it was a new burrito place, or perhaps a fast food Tex-Mex joint. Well it's really none of those, but rather a good old fashioned Greek diner or, in this case, fast food establishment. So why is it in the Burger section you ask? Those who've spent more than 15 minutes in Chicago already know the answer - the Greeks make some of the tastiest hamburgers in America. And you can get a Greek Salad with that too! And gyros. And souvlaki. And Baklava. You get the idea. I personally love the Golden Burger with pastrami on top! Places like this exist in every village, hamlet, burb, or mafia center in Chicago, which is why it's America's greatest eating town. And now we have one in NE Tarrant too!

The owner made a comment on the original post, which I will include here: "RJG,I'm honored that you have added Tex's Star Grill to your long list of restaurants reviewed. You're right, we missed out on the name game. When I moved to this great state from Chicago, my buddies back home gave me the nickname Tex - and it stuck. Oh well...we're just glad that our customers have done a super job of spreading the word on what we are all about."

3/25/05; 11/24/09 (new entry); 8/22/14

El Gallo de Oro ~ Granbury, Texas

Hi everyone! We're back from an extended break, and hope to update the blog and catch up soon. In the meantime, Mr. Music just sent this one in to get us rolling again.

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The Music's spent the day in Granbury over the weekend.  With a herd of 10+, a round at the local disc golf course, a stop at Revolver Brewery (another great experience in itself) and then some lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. What else could one want in life?

El Gallo de Oro is a cute little place right off the Brazos River.  It is a small, free standing building serving authentic Mexican dishes.  They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was originally attracted to it by the name - recalling one of my long gone favorite little places in Dallas on Maple just off Wycliffe owned by a couple from Guatemala.  No relation, but the food here is great.  They serve a wide variety of dishes including enchiladas, quesadillas and street tacos!  Nothing else needed to be said, when I saw it on the menu - and when I saw the picture of the spit aka trompo, I was sold!  Our friends had quesadillas to their delight. Music Junior had chicken tacos with crema and loved them. Ms. Music opted for fresh made (yes, that’s what I said) corn and flour tortillas with fresh made guacamole.  Yeah, she loved it.  Baby Music ate her weight in handmade tortillas (“heche a mano”) with mantequilla (butter). Of course I had the Al Pastor with rice and beans as did 2 of my other buds.  Their Al Pastor was a little different than what I’ve had before, something I can’t quite put my finger on, but they were excellent! The meat was well seasoned and tender.  Oh, did I forget to talk about the chips and salsa?  Well well, they have 4 salsas served with warm, yummy chips. The main salsa they serve is a warm red salsa containing green chilies and had a decent amount of heat although I can tell it is toned down for the masses. The flavor is very good although we all agreed it needed some salt.  Upon request, we received a tomatillo salsa (also warm), and 2 squirt bottle salsas (verde and rojo) much like many of the other good taco places I’ve been to.  My only complaint is they all lacked a little salt (but was easily remedied). The verde in the squirt bottle was a tomatillo avocado salsa which was my favorite and also the fave of a few of the others.  The warm, red (rojo) originally served came in 2^nd for me.   Of course I’d like them a bit hotter too. All in all it was a great experience and I WILL be back.  I heard the breakfasts there are great and they are just about to start serving alcohol. I saw a sign that said free margaritas will be available in August.

- Mr. Music