Stephen Montoya
When asked to sum up the new Papi’s Tacos & More, located at 3520 Alta Mere Dr., in one word, co-owner Joshua Vasquez said, “Freestyle.” This newly opened taco spot on the West Side prides itself on making cuisine related to the San Diego street food scene, which Vasquez describes as very unique.
“They freestyle the food there,” he says. “Like, most people never think to put french fries with meat, guacamole, and sour cream inside a burrito. When I tell people here that we put all of that inside a burrito, they're like, what? There's french fries inside a burrito?”
Started as a food truck in 2020 by Vasquez and his wife Nayely Eillanuva in Kentucky, Papi’s Tacos has proven to be a successful concept, freestyle or not. In fact, the two original Papi’s Tacos that started it all are still thriving near the Fort Knox area where Vasquez was stationed while on active duty in the Army.
“While we were living there in Kentucky, Nayely had a craving for San Diego-style food, along the lines of the stuff her father made when she was growing up,” Vasquez says. It would be from this craving that a business concept was born, which gave way to the duo’s first food truck.
“We opened at the end of 2020, at our first location, during the height of the pandemic,” he says. “And once we opened our first location, six months later, we opened the second location in the town over.”
Stephen Montoya
With a groundswell of local support and a steady customer base at their two Kentucky spots, Vasquez, who grew up in Dallas, wanted to bring this taco concept home.
“I always wanted to come back to the DFW area and after doing some research on where we might want to open, Fort Worth proved to be a good spot,” he says. Now with Papi’s officially open at its third locale, Vasquez says he owes a great deal of thanks to his father-in-law, who is the eatery’s namesake.
“Most of our recipes came from him,” he says. “He’s a really good cook. Without him, we wouldn’t have the menu we have today.”
Some of the unique food offerings of note at Papi’s Tacos include a house-made birria that is served with everything from quesadillas to tacos, and even used as a base for a birria ramen. The ramen is topped with cheese, birria meat, cilantro, onions, and limes. Although the birria recipe itself is Papi’s, the ramen noodles part was created entirely by accident.
“One day, one of the cooks accidentally dropped some ramen noodles in the birria-base and it tasted good, so we kept it,” Vasquez says with a grin.
Papi's sits on the Benbrook Traffic Circle, the former home to Salsa Fuego and, more recently, The Dive Burger Bar, which initially opened as The Dive Oyster Bar before rebranding.
Another item on Papi’s menu that Vasquez says is a must-try is a burrito titled — well — Papi's. This juggernaut of a burrito includes steak, chicken, marinated pork, pico de gallo, refried beans and shredded cheese. I’m actually surprised they can even wrap all of this meat up without busting the tortilla. In addition to burritos and tacos, Papi’s also has tortas, gorditas, and house-made tostadas.
Have a craving for breakfast in the afternoon? No problem. Breakfast is served all day, which, in addition to breakfast burritos, also includes a machaca burrito, chilaquiles, or even a choice of three breakfast tacos. Not sure what to order? Papi’s also includes several combination plates along with fries, nachos, and various sides.
This new eatery also has a drive-thru if you are in a hurry or a sit-down patio with plenty of seating if you’re not. A fresh coat of paint adorns this one-time Kentucky Fried Chicken, with two murals, one of which shows off the name of our city in a brightly colored selfie-tempting spot.
“Fort Worth is a nice area, which is up and coming,” Vasquez says. “We are glad we found a spot that will work for us and look forward to sharing our unique take on California-inspired burritos with everyone here.”
