8/19/2023 0 Comments Tacos y mas dallas observer![]() The four park tables add to the ambiance and were enjoyed by us on the sunny spring day. In & Out Taco has plenty of chracter: its chipping paint, over the window menu, and a hand lettered sign directing us to “Order Here”. Forget what I said about a girl coming along. But we had serious business to attend to…and ‘A’ hates (HATES!) sitting around a guitar shop. I was tempted to drop in just for old times sake. The thought of driving down Garland Road gave us pause but we managed to suffer the 35 minute drive to In & Out Tacos.īack when gas was $.99 a gallon, me, a few friends, maybe even a girl, and my newly laminated Texas drivers license would trek out to this same intersection to noodle on guitars worth more than my pathetic teenage life over at Larry Morgan’s (something else then) and Zoo Music. After a volley of emails we found out the super secret time and location (had to keep it hush hush because of, you know, terrorists). It was a Thursday night and through some stroke of luck we had just found out about an impending meetup with a few of Dallas’ most influential taco writers. and four other locations.Before we get to the answer, let’s travel back in time, a few hours before this question was asked. It’s also a Texas story, a Dallas tale of one taco stand’s coming of age. Whether or not you’re a Tacos Y Mas fan - there are a dozen taco spots in the area that are serving far more spectacular dishes for little more cash - the story of this spot's quiet rise is something to behold. Local carnivores often asked for carnitas and barbacoa, so Zaman added them to the menu. The menu grew after years of homing in on what customers wanted. Zaman says there's buzzing interest around franchising his business, but for now, don’t expect many changes beyond the evolving menu. Still, they’re $1.99, a price that negotiates with the part of your brain that cares whether it’s good. Tortillas are greasy, providing a hangover cure but little else. ![]() The salsa is bright and fresh, but it doesn’t save the powder-dry steak. It’s served all day, and it satisfies down to the socks. The Big “D” taco ($5.29) is bacon, sausage, chorizo, ham, potato, pico de gallo and scrambled eggs on a corn tortilla. On a recent trip to Tacos Y Mas, the air as cold as steel knives, the Tacos Y Mas patio is empty. Zaman must have felt the force: Tacos are strong in Dallas. Who among us hasn't felt primordial cells cry out in surrender-joy at the unsheathing of a Crunchy Taco Supreme? When sour cream fills out that crispy shell, loaded with mysterious ground sort-of-meat, we all turn into I Am Legend bloodthirsties. One great secret of humans, from chefs to Olympians, around the world: We, the people, have a deep, stupid love of Taco Bell. Nick Rallo The taco stand was a different story. I didn’t know enough about the grocery business,” he says with a chuckle. “I thought I could run operations," he says. He felt like he had a firm grasp on the numbers side of running a business. One idea was to open a grocery store: the Texas Foodland at 2730 Samuell Blvd. “So I went from the field - meaning operating Taco Bell restaurants - to the corporate world, and that didn’t really sweep me that much. There, he helped Pizza Huts, KFCs and Taco Bells become the fast-food machines that they are in every city in the world. He moved up from assistant manager to a multi-unit manager at the Bell and 10 years later was promoted within PepsiCo (Taco Bell’s owner at the time). He’d traveled to Texas as a student in the early '80s from Bangladesh and found himself clocked into work in the melty, sour-creamy halls of Taco Bell corporate. In 1989, Zaman graduated from the University of North Texas, focusing on finance and banking. What started as one grill and one umbrella is now five locations with a growing franchise interest from third parties. ![]() The patio's vinyl whips in the chilly wind, the TV is blaring morning shows, and it’s all evidence: Tacos Y Mas is grown up. The car wash and Zaman’s flagship joint sit in the shadow of a modernized, sleek McDonald’s. Signs surround the brick-and-mortar, announcing burritos and awards from such papers as this one. Your steak tacos got bagged up in a styrofoam container for $1.19 each.Įighteen years later, a heated patio with seating has replaced the umbrella. Steak, bathing in marinade for 24 hours, sizzled and covered with cilantro and chopped onion, slid onto hot corn tortillas. The car wash next door buzzed with traffic, so Zaman took a chance on a tiny food stand. Just after Y2K, Mahbub Zaman’s taco stand was a solo makeshift umbrella and a portable grill at the beehive intersection of Ross and Greenville avenues. All-American is a series that looks at beloved, longstanding North Texas eateries and examines their histories while exploring how the food has changed - for the good or bad - over the years. ![]()
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