Taco Wars

Dallas sets stage for taco battle with new Tacodeli opening in Plano

There are still many more tacos to come.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Marple

A new location of Tacodeli, the Austin-born taqueria by chef/founder Roberto Espinosa and partner Eric Wilkerson, is coming to Dallas-Fort Worth. This will be the third Tacodeli, and it's opening in Plano at Parkwood Village, at Highway 121 and Parkwood Boulevard, on February 22.

Tacodeli observes a fast-casual format, with a menu of more than 40 tacos using fresh ingredients. According to a release, many of those ingredients are organic and locally sourced, which is easier said than proven; however, top-notch ingredients has always been a Tacodeli thing.

That includes HeartBrand Ranch Akaushi beef, no antibiotics, and chicken that are fed an all-vegetarian diet. An all-vegetarian diet is often said to be good for humans, too.

They're open daily for breakfast and lunch, then close at 3 pm to allow for employees to spend more time with family and pursue outside interests, be that bingo, yoga, or a second job.

Espinosa launched Tacodeli in Austin in 1999. The first Dallas-area Tacodeli opened at Sylvan Thirty in 2015, followed by a location at The Hill, at 8031 Walnut Hill Ln. in 2017.

Dallas-Fort Worth is enjoying a spree of upscale/gourmet taqueria openings with more to come.

Fellow Austin chain Torchy's Tacos has opened locations in Arlington and Fort Worth, while Dallas-based Velvet Taco is in expansion mode with a location that opened in 2017 on SMU Boulevard, and another coming to North Dallas in summer 2018. Dallas-based OMG Tacos in Richardson is opening locations in Uptown Dallas and Fort Worth.

Tacodeli is opening still another Plano location at 2401 Preston Rd., at the corner of Park Boulevard in 2018.

tacos

Tiffany Derry News

Dallas chef Tiffany Derry and celeb pals cooked up first food festival

Mia Valdez

Suchanan Aksornnan, Dawn Burrell, Michael Voltaggio, Tiffany Derry.

A new foodie festival in Dallas made its debut: It was the Shef Food + Wine Festival, launched by Chef Tiffany Derry and Tom Foley, who own DFW restaurants Roots Chicken Shack and Radici Wood-Fired Grill, and it turned the Epic Central in Grand Prairie into a celebrity chef affair.

Derry drafted some of her TV chef friends to come in from out of town including fellow Top Chef contestants Michael Voltaggio, Carla Hall, and more, for the 3-day event from November 8-10 with panels, tastings, and more tastings.

Perhaps in an even more impressive feat, she lured Dallasites into leaving Dallas for faraway ports like Grand Prairie and Farmers Branch — home of Radici, her Italian restaurant, where she hosted a sold-out dinner on Friday night featured a multi-course tasting menu prepared by Derry with Michael Voltaggio, Suchanan Aksornnan, and Dawn Burrell, plus wine pairings from McBride Sisters Winery, the largest Black-owned wine company in the U.S.

Tiffany Derry and guests at the Shef Food + Wine Festival.Mia Valdez

There was also a pickleball tournament — coincidentally the same weekend that the Major League Pickleball world championship was culminating at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas. But this tournament was played by chefs including Derry, Voltaggio, Burrell, Arnold Mynt, Tim Hollingsworth, and Silvia Barban.

A Grand Tasting on Sunday featured bites from chefs from around the country including the above names along with Kwame Onwuachi, Fitzgerald Dodd, Kelsey Barnard-Clark, Kevin Bludso, and Marcus Davis.

Organizer estimated the total attendance for the event at 1,000 people, including the dinner at Radici which drew approximately 80 diners.

The weekend ended with a performance by chef and personality Carla Hall of excerpts from her One Woman Show — a comedic take on her life as a chef and TV personality.

T2D also announced its first Roots Chicken Shack franchisees: Corey Epperson and Marian Fielding, who will open their first location in Addison next year, and Robert and Tamika Barkers, who are scouting locations in North Texas for their first location.

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