Image Courtesy of Mercado Jaurez
You can get steaks anywhere, barbecue anywhere, burgers anywhere. But Tex-Mex? Out of these essential Fort Worth food groups, it’s the one that Fort Worth, and Texas as a whole, can rightfully claim as its own. Go beyond Texas’ borders hunting for authentic Tex-Mex, you’ll be disappointed in what you’ll find.
That’s not just because the roots of the cuisine are embedded in Texas soil. It’s also because our city, in particular, possesses such a profound affinity for Tex-Mex that its restaurants have become masters of the craft. Decades after The Original, Joe T’s, and Mexican Inn introduced Tex-Mex to Fort Worth’s masses, thousands of other restaurants have followed, each offering their own takes and twists, shaping the city’s culinary landscape.
The sheer volume of Tex-Mex restaurants across Fort Worth means that for many of us, especially those who grew up here, the cuisine holds a uniquely personal significance. For me, and I’m sure a lot of Fort Worth lifers, Tex-Mex was the first bite of food I took outside of school, home, and McDonald’s. We were a blue-collar family, making barely enough to pay our mortgage, so fine dining was never an option. Going out to eat, for a sit-down meal, meant Tex-Mex. It meant Pulido’s, Fiesta, El Rancho Grande, restaurants where the food was cheap and good and filling.
These restaurants became such an important part — such a normal part — of our lives that a lot of heart-to-hearts, come-to-Jesus talks in my family took place over chimichangas and margaritas, seasoned with a tear or two.
Which brings us to this story, my highly subjective, incredibly opinionated love letter to Fort Worth’s Tex-Mex joints. In this story, there will be no elevated Mexican food. No sea bass tacos, no lobster elote, no duck quesadillas.
No Mex Mex restaurants, either. We see you, we love you, we’ll continue to write about you — just not today.
Benito’s Mexican Restaurant
Long before the Near Southside became the hip area it is today, Benito’s was serving stylish riffs on Mexican fare to a mix of day laborers, hospital workers, area residents, and nightcrawlers like me, who hung out there before and after shows at the old Mad Hatters punk club down the street. It’s one of the oldest restaurants on Magnolia, open since 1981, and it has barely changed since then. Servers still don flowery Mexican dresses, Mexican music still fills the air, and the decor is adamantly old-school, like the old Mexican food haunts we all grew up in.
The food, though, has undergone a significant change. Along with its signature interior Mexican dishes, the restaurant now serves several Tex-Mex staples, such as traditional enchiladas, tacos, and chips and salsa. Hard to believe there was a time when you couldn’t get chips and salsa at Benito’s, only a big bowl of pico de gallo, which we all gladly wolfed down.
What to get: The Fort Worth Weekly once proclaimed Benito’s to have the best chile rellenos in Fort Worth, and for once, I won’t argue with them. Served two per order, the sizable poblano peppers are stuffed with your choice of beef, chicken, or cheese, then blanketed in a spicy ranchero sauce that ranks as one of the city’s best. Shrimp fajitas are a good go-to, as well, along with tortilla soup and so much else; good breakfast, too.
Info: 1450 W. Magnolia Ave., benitosmexican.com
Fiesta Mexican Restaurant
The name is indicative of what you’ll find inside: a light, bright, festively decorated dining room, friendly servers, and an easy-going vibe. The menu is expansive, several pages long, filled with just about every Tex-Mex staple you can think of, plus breakfast dishes, some American favorites, and a ton of seafood plates.
What to get: When you walk in, you’ll see a yellowing Star-Telegram article proclaiming Fiesta serves some of the best nachos in the city. That article ran in 1982, but to this day, it’s still true — every table needs a serving of its nachos; they’re vehemently old school, smothered in refried beans, cheese with jalapenos on the side. It’s quintessential Tex-Mex, quintessential Fort Worth.
Fiesta’s corn tortillas are another must. Made to order, they’re thick, served piping hot and absolutely huge; they come rolled in foil with a plastic ramekin of house butter, not the packaged stuff.
Elsewhere on the menu, the chicken chimichangas are excellent, their fried, flour tortilla shells full of bumps and imperfections that let you know they were just made a few minutes ago, by hand. My wife always gets the chile relleno, with its blanket of chunky red salsa, and I always leave wondering why I didn’t.
Info: 3233 Hemphill St., 817-923-6941
Dos Molina’s
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Beef tips
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Chicken enchiladas with chips and dip at Dos Molina’s
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Beef fajita tacos al carbon at Dos Molina’s
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Gloria and Randy Molina, owners of Dos Molina’s.
A hidden gem in Fort Worth’s crowded Tex-Mex scene, the 30-year-old Dos Molina’s is run by Randy Molina and his mother, Gloria, who’ve created a neighborhood restaurant in the truest sense of the phrase: It rubs up against a residential area just west of the Stockyards. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was someone’s house.
That goes for the inside, too, which has a homey, neighborhood feel. Most of the people who eat here live here in the neighborhood that surrounds the low-key restaurant. From its chill vibe to cordial service, Molinas is a far cry from the noise and bombast of the Stockyards, although mariachis will sometimes drop by, lighting the place up with music and energy.
What to get: Everything I’ve had here has been great — the cheese enchiladas loaded with chile con carne, the sinfully rich refried beans, even the rice is good, light and airy, not burned and boring like most. My favorite dish is the steak fajita tacos al carbon, made with bite-size bits of skirt steak, as fork-tender as they are well-seasoned. Always ask for a side of the housemade flour tortillas, which strike a perfect balance between thick and thin; they’re among the best in the city.
Info: 404 NW 25th St., 817-626-9394
Esperanza’s
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I really dig this spinoff of Joe T. Garcia’s, specifically the Park Place location, which is open from dawn to dusk. When we lived close by, my wife and I became regulars, there nearly every Sunday for excellent breakfast tacos stuffed with spicy chorizo and eggs, freshly made agua frescas, and conversations with people we knew. You always run into people you know there.
On the weekends, it’s a lively place, full of see-and-be-seeners yet also a lot of locals who walk or bike over from Fairmount and Mistletoe Heights. There’s an attached bakery next door if you want to grab a freshly made sweet bread, cookie, or other sweet treat.
What to get: Esperanza’s serves very good breakfast tacos, made with housemade corn tortillas. A nice plus about breakfast: It’s served all day. Elsewhere on the menu, there are great chicken enchiladas, coated in the usual sour cream sauce or a much better green tomatillo sauce. The cheese enchiladas are real cheese enchiladas, in that they’re stuffed with cheese, then coated in a cheese sauce (some restaurants call those soft cheese tacos). All that cheese — those’ll do you in for the day.
Info: 1601 Park Place Ave., esperanzasfw.com
Pulido’s Kitchen & Cantina
Darrell Byers
Puffy Taco Dinner at Pulido's Kitchen & Cantina
I was first introduced to Pulido’s via its location on East Felix Street in far south Fort Worth, located behind a Howard Johnson’s. We went there a few times when I was a kid. But Fiesta was more my family’s jam. It wasn’t until later in life, when I started working downtown, that I caught onto the original Pulido’s, situated on the street that bears its name. It was there the Pulido family made a name for themselves, serving blue-collar, working-class Fort Worthians enchiladas with a special red sauce, puffy tacos, and other Tex-Mex faves. Several locations in North Texas and beyond would come and go over the years, and as we’ve documented in this magazine, there was a change in ownership that resulted in the recent resurrection of two locations, with another in the works.
What to get: The “old-fashioned enchiladas,” coated with a spicy red sauce, remain mandatory eats here, as do the cheese enchiladas with chile con carne. Pulido’s is one of the few Fort Worth restaurants to serve puffy tacos, so you gotta try those, at least once; they make excellent horchata now, too.
Info: 2900 Pulido St., pulidostx.com
La Tortilandia
Long-running south side spot owned by husband-wife team Juan and Gudelia takes me back to a time when it was a cinch to find a good lunch for $10. Not fast food. But a hearty, filling lunch. La Tortilandia always does the trick, with options such as bean and cheese nachos for $5.50, tacos for $3, gorditas for $5, and a cheese enchilada dinner for $12. The menu veers into Mex Mex territory here and there, but most of the dishes adhere to Tex-Mex traditions: nachos, burritos, chile rellenos, quesadillas, and fajitas, all moderately priced. Festively decorated, it’s a fun, family-friendly spot with mariachis, fruit-based milkshakes for kids, and friendly service that makes everyone feel at home.
What to get: While most restaurants treat flautas like a toss-off, here the beef flautas are presented beautifully, on a bed of fresh lettuce and tomatoes and topped with crema and sliced avocados. Other faves include very large and very filling torta sandwiches along with another dish you don’t see that much anymore: chalupas.
Info: 1112 W. Berry St., latortilandia.com
Los Asaderos
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Shrimp, beef and chicken fajitas at Los Asaderos
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Enchiladas in all their cheesy gloria at Los Asaderos
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Los Asaderos owner Carlos Villarreal
Opened initially as El Asadero, this landmark joint has been a part of the North Side’s thriving Mexican food scene since opening in 1983. Owner Carlos Villarreal, who inherited the restaurant from his mother, Angie, tweaked the name but for the most part has left the recipes untouched, letting four decades’ worth of tradition carry on. Oddly, they charge for chips and salsa, but the small charge is worth it; the salsa ranks as some of Fort Worth’s best. It’s a tiny spot, full of lively chatter and the occasional celebrity; Laura Bush used to hang here.
What to get: Their fajitas are hard to beat. They’re not served in sizzling skillets. Instead, meat is piled high, high, high on regular plates; the sizzling is sometimes just for show, anyway. Be it chicken or beef, the meat tastes of outdoor grills — smoky, tender, boundless flavor.
Info: 1535 N. Main St., instagram.com/asaderosfw
Jesus Family Restaurant
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Jesus’ fantastic chicken-fried steak
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Combo plate with enchiladas, tostadas, rice and beans at Jesus Family Restaurant.
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The Borja family carries on the culinary traditions started by Jesus Borja (above), who passed away in 2023.
For years, signs outside Jesus Borja’s restaurant advertised “BBQ” but as any savvy diner in Fort Worth knows, Borja’s tiny spot on South Main is also a hub for old-fashioned Tex-Mex. Since opening his namesake restaurant in 1969, the Fort Worth native has always mixed and matched cuisines, serving huge plates of barbecue brisket and ribs alongside chicken-fried steaks, fried chicken dinners, and enchiladas and tacos. His food has won numerous awards, from our publication and others; in 2020, Fort Worth Magazine readers named it Best Tex-Mex. How cool: This little place besting Tex-Mex giants like Joe T’s and so, so many others. Over the years, the restaurant has narrowed its focus, zeroing in on Tex-Mex and American fare. Take the restaurant’s name literally: Most of Borja’s family members, at some point or another, have worked here — his wife, grandchildren, even great-grandchildren. Today, two years after Borja passed away at age 93, the restaurant is run by his daughter Maria Martinez and her daughter Luisa. Martinez closed Jesus’ for several weeks this year while she recuperated from a health issue; it recently reopened.
What to get: Most go for the beef or cheese enchiladas, which come drenched in grated cheese and a wildly addicting chile con carne. But don’t sleep on the tostadas, crisp, flat corn tortillas topped with your protein of choice, along with a mountain of fresh vegetables. We gotta say, their chicken-fried steak is damn good, too.
Info: 810 S. Main Street, facebook.com/JesusBBQ/
Enchiladas Ole
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The 3:13 Burrito at Enchiladas Olé
In 2013, when she opened her first Enchiladas Ole on the East Side, owner Mary Patino Perez found her culinary calling and has been mastering it since then, all the while moving her restaurant from one location to the next, trying to find the perfect place for it. Judging from the sizable crowds, she seems to have found her home on Camp Bowie Boulevard, where she serves an array of enchiladas, along with Tex-Mex standards such as nachos, tacos, and quesadillas.
What to get: Made with beef she smokes herself in an old smoker put together decades ago by her barbecue-loving father, her brisket enchiladas are absolutely dynamite.
Info: 6473 Camp Bowie Blvd., enchiladasole.com
Chuy’s
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Fort Worth’s Adame family started Chuy’s in 1982.
I didn’t discover Fort Worth-bred Chuy’s, birthed by restaurateur Jesus “Chuy” Adame in 1982, until a buddy of mine recommended we stop there on the way to a show at Billy Bob’s, back when I was a music critic at the Star-Telegram. It was a meal I’ll always remember: My friend Doug ate his entire dinner without a fork, knife, or spoon; he used the restaurant’s unimaginably thick flour tortillas to sop up all the meat and juices and rice and beans and guacamole in his carne guisada; I was hooked. That location, on North Main, would eventually close, but we just migrated to the location on Boat Club Road (there’s also one in Haltom City).
What to get: The carne guisada is perfect, just perfect: bite-size bits of tender beef bathed in a spicy brown gravy, served with rich, old-school refried beans. There’s not a better carne guisada in the city. But they do mostly everything well, from their simple bean and cheese nachos to their huge breakfast plates to their lunch and dinner platters filled with enchiladas and tacos. This is the Chuy’s you should be eating at.
Info: 9120 Boat Club Road, chuysftw.com
Mercado Juarez
Mercado Juarez has long been a beloved Fort Worth institution, serving up classic Tex-Mex dishes in a friendly, vibrant atmosphere; you’d never guess this place used to be a big, cold warehouse. To keep guests from realizing that, the restaurant’s original owner, Don Bowden, decorated it with lavish chandeliers, life-size murals, and enough greenery to fill a nursery — or small town. Despite its size, around 12,000 square feet or so, there’s a certain warmth to the place, amplified by the friendly staff who effortlessly navigate the always-bustling floor. In 2023, Fort Worth restaurant group From Scratch Hospitality acquired the restaurants (there’s also a location in Arlington), but instead of making drastic changes, they’ve instead preserved the essence of what has made Mercado Juarez a Fort Worth staple for over 40 years.
What to get: The menu encompasses most Tex-Mex favorites, from sizzling fajitas served with housemade flour tortillas to hearty enchiladas to fork-tender carne asada.
Info: 1651 E. Northside Drive, mercadojuarez.com
La Rueda
Hard to miss in its bright yellow, converted 1920s ranch house, La Rueda has been serving East Side Tex-Mex aficionados since the Villagomez family opened it in 2012. It’s open for breakfast and lunch only, and the lines start early, especially on the weekends, when people pile in for menudo, huge pancakes, and big, inexpensive plates of Tex-Mex classics, such as fajitas, chimichangas, nachos, and flautas. The restaurant may have dive vibes, but the food is nicely presented and often decorated with cheffy touches — streaks of sour cream, fanning avocado slices, sprinkles of chopped cilantro. It’s a cut above, way, way above, the Tex-Mex norm.
What to get: Among the must-get dishes: chicken enchiladas, which come stuffed with a mix of shredded meat, both white and dark. In addition to the creamy sour cream sauce, they come bathed in a mild tomatillo sauce, making them a bit different from typical chicken enchiladas. We like the chile relleno, too, with its light batter and heavy, thick ranchero sauce, and pork chimichanga — a dish you don’t see very often. There’s a huge breakfast menu, too, with dishes such as chilaquiles, migas, and omelets, all cooked to order. Get a side of the housemade corn tortillas; they’re fantastic.
Info: 2317 Oakland Blvd., 817-535-3792
Los Molcajetes
What to get: One of the restaurant’s most popular dishes is a combination of two dishes: fajitas and enchiladas. Its signature fajita enchiladas feature three cheese enchiladas topped with a sizable serving of beef or chicken fajita meat. Served with freshly made guacamole, grated cheddar cheese, rice and beans, it’s a huge meal for a good price — under $20. It’s a lot more filling than a regular order of fajitas, and cheaper.
Info: 4320 Western Center Blvd., losmolcajetes.com
Mexican Inn Cafe
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The Mexican Inns you and I grew up going to — downtown, East Lancaster, and Henderson — are long gone, but the Eighth Avenue location is a pretty close reminder of what the historic restaurants, whose roots date to 1936, were like before they were purchased by a major restaurant group. Founder Tiffin Hall may have been a notoriously sketchy character who ran a local gambling business, but we have him to thank for the city’s best chips and dip: corn chips that look like Fritos but are bigger and thicker and a thick, red salsa as memorable as your first date. Freshly made corn tortillas, served between two plates, are also a culinary time warp, as good as they were the first time you had them; if only they were still served with individual pats of butter, not the packaged stuff. Can’t say that I’ve spent much time at the new Mexican Inns, but Eighth Avenue has retained its old-school charm, another reason to revisit this Tex-Mex warhorse.
What to get: The cheese enchiladas with chili con carne are still my favorite enchiladas in Fort Worth. The chile con carne’s deeply savory ground beef marries perfectly with the molten, gooey cheese — a simple combination that no other Tex-Mex restaurant in Fort Worth has been able to topple, even though they’ve had nearly a century to do so.
Info: 1625 Eighth Ave., mexicaninncafe.com
Today is all about plain and simple enchiladas and tacos and burritos, stuffed, smothered and covered in cheese, chili con carne, salsa, jalapenos, and all the other Tex-Mex fixin’s. Dig in, y’all.
