Mansfield’s growing restaurant scene now includes one of the state’s most popular cuisines: craft barbecue.
Of course, barbecue has been a part of Mansfield’s restaurant vernacular for years, but mostly via chain restaurants, where quality can be hit or miss. Craft barbecue, as its many aficionados will tell you, is inspired by the great barbecue joints in Central Texas: brisket comes with fat still intact; meats are slow-smoked for hours; and side dishes — like veggies, desserts and sometimes even bread — are made in-house, by hand.
That’s why Del Toro BBQ is such a welcome addition to Mansfield; a restaurant like this simply hasn’t existed in Mansfield, until now.
It’s the latest concept from Local Favorite Restaurants, a North Texas restaurant group whose concepts include Meso Maya and Tulum. The group has also made a number of local acquisitions, purchasing Twisted Root, Village Burger Bar, and others.
Del Toro’s menu features all of your ’cue essentials: prime brisket, custom cut fatty or lean, spareribs, turkey, pulled pork, and jalapeño-cheddar sausage. Sides include stewed cabbage, macaroni and cheese, green beans, fries, and coleslaw. Beef ribs and smoked quail are among the rotating specials.
Similar to Hurtado BBQ in Arlington and Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth, Del Toro’s menu has a Tex-Mex slant to it, with dishes such as birria tacos and tostadas, brisket enchiladas, and elote. The restaurant’s chef, Nico Sanchez, a native of Guanajuato, Mexico, describes his menu as “Mex-Cue.”
The full bar includes some nice surprises, drinks you don’t usually see at ’cue joints, such as a pineapple margarita and weekend-only Bloody Mary.
Opened mid-February, Del Toro shares the same space — an old gas station with the pumps still intact — as By the Horns Brewery. The two entities are planning on developing several brews that will be served at both establishments.
Del Toro BBQ, 109 S. Main St., Mansfield, deltorobbq.com
