Tacodeli, an Austin favorite, to open Fort Worth shop
Tacodeli, an Austin cult favorite taco shop, will open its first Fort Worth location, bringing South Hulen Street more than 30 scratch-made tacos and its fabled creamy jalapeno Salsa Doña.
Tacodeli will open this fall in a former real estate office at 4500 Hartwood Drive, partners Roberto Espinosa and Eric Wilkerson said Tuesday.
The location on the corner at South Hulen Street, near Local Foods Kitchen in Tanglewood Village, will include a large dining patio around the sprawling tree outside, they said.
Tacodeli is a traditional taco shop and margarita bar with exacting ingredients and a contemporary menu and design.
In other words, it’s a real taco shop. It’s not some fad place with odd combinations or weird food.
Wilkerson and Espinosa founded Tacodeli in 1999 in Austin. Both said they have spent a lot of time in Fort Worth and had been looking for a good location.
As a child, Wilkerson said, “we went to the zoo, to Will Rogers Coliseum wrestling with the Von Erichs [brothers of “The Iron Claw” movie fame] and the Great Kabuki, to shows at the Caravan of Dreams,” a former nationally known downtown jazz club.
Espinosa, born in Mexico City but a product of Harlingen and Austin, said he spent more time in college hanging out with friends off Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth than with his own family. He remembers dinners at Angelo’s Barbecue.
He went on to cook in Cancun hotels and Yucatan, and brought chefs from Mexico to Tacodeli, including Veracruz chef Bertha Gonzales and her Salsa Doña.
For less than $5, the restaurant serves classic Austin breakfast tacos like the Otto, with double bacon, avocado, black beans and Jack cheese. A migas plate costs less than $10.
Popular all-day tacos include the beef tenderloin Cowboy, the
Picosito or Shrimposito with beef or shrimp in jalapeno-serrano sauce, a chicken mole sauce taco and the chicken-mushroom-Jack “Happy Taco.”
The debate is always between Tacodeli and That Other Austin Taco Chain.
But “we’re not at all like Torchy’s,” Wilkerson said.
“We’ve been in business 25 years,” Espinosa said. “We do everything on site. ... Everything is produced right there in that kitchen, every day.”
The meats, veggies, eggs and tortillas come from carefully chosen providers, many regional.
On South Hulen Street, Espinosa and Wilkerson chose a location near California-based Chipotle Mexican Grill but far from other chain taco shops.
The location is near Le Margot, a high-rated French restaurant, and the busy Delucca Gaucho Pizza & Wine along with Meso Maya, an interior Mexico restaurant from the owners of Dallasbased El Fenix.
The Shops at Clearfork restaurants are about a mile west. TCU is 2 miles away.
The closest genuine old-fashioned neighborhood taqueria is Melis, a favorite and a mainstay at 4304 W. Vickery Blvd.