Quesadillas Chipotle-Style
Dillas Quesadillas stacks tortillas with panache in Plano
There are tacos tacos everywhere, but where is the love for quesadillas? At Dillas Quesadillas in northwest Plano.
This polished mom-and-pop, which took over an old Jack in the Box at Midway and Park, has a menu dedicated almost entirely to quesadillas, with a dozen options, plus just two sides: French fries and an elotes riff called citrus-corn salad.
There are pralines for dessert, and they're about to roll out an appetizer of chips and green chile-white queso.
Named for a line in Napoleon Dynamite, Dillas' spin on quesadillas features American-style fillings.
Named for a line in the movie Napoleon Dynamite, Dillas' spin on quesadillas features American-style fillings. One comes with Hatch chile peppers and bacon; another has Buffalo-style chicken, bacon and blue cheese and another with pulled pork and cole slaw.
A vegetarian quesadilla has portabella mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, peppers and onions. And like Chipotle, Dilla offers a salad version in which you can dispense with the tortilla entirely.
The owners are husband-and-wife Kyle and Maggie Gordon. Kyle dreamed up the idea while still a student at the University of Texas. He paid his dues for six years at Raising Cane's, where he worked his way up through management and learned the restaurant ropes first-hand.
Maggie, who oversees the marketing component, says that they pride themselves on making everything in-house, including the brisket on their most popular quesadilla, the Lone Star.
"It has smoked brisket with barbecue sauce, and we smoke our brisket in-house," she says. "We make all of our sauces and we make the pralines from scratch. Nothing is frozen except for the French fries."
They "go local" for tortillas by obtaining them from Rudy's right down the street, and they use flour tortillas only.
There have been others who've tried a similar idea, including the short-lived Quesa-D-Ya's on Greenville Avenue.
"They had a different model, they were based on delivery, and maybe that didn't help them," Maggie says. "We're more of an American take on the quesadilla. One of quesadillas has a cheeseburger and French fries all inside of it. We feel like our competition is Chipotle and FreeBird's, as well as sandwich shops."
