Walk-Up Tacos

Upscale food stand S&M Eats hitches its wagon to Grapevine Bar

A cute little food stand called S&M Eats opened this week right next to Grapevine Bar on Maple Avenue, where it is serving upscale-yet-cheap tacos, arepas and boleo sandwiches.

It comes from Sean Ewell, who previously co-owned a catering/food vendor company called Longboat Key Tacos, and chef Kellie Doyle, who has worked for a number of restaurants including BreadWinners.

They've landed a most unusual location: Basically, they've taken over what was an unused kitchen at the Grapevine and transformed it into a charming little stand, painted a friendly aqua-blue, where you can grab a taco and belly up to the counter on site, or take it to go.

S&M came into being with a fair amount of serendipity, and has emerged as a perfect partnership.

It also serves as in-house restaurant of sorts for the Grapevine, with its own dedicated window into the bar. They're open for lunch and dinner every day except for Mondays, and they open until midnight on weekend nights.

"It comes from a love for tacos and brisket and trying to make good food," Ewell says.

"I got into this because I wanted to perfect brisket. I always found brisket to be overly salty, and began to work on a recipe where the meat was the star. Kellie is an executive chef who had the ambition but never the capacity or availability to do something on her own."

S&M came into being with a fair amount of serendipity, and has emerged as a perfect partnership.

"Kellie is good friends with the owner of the Grapevine, who owned a kitchen that was not occupied," he says. "That's when we got the idea of, 'Let's pull this together.' I could keep my regular job and we could start this up. Kellie does a lot of the legwork in the kitchen, and I do the marketing."

They also split up the menu, which features arepas, tacos and boleos topped with brisket, pork, chicken-fried cod, caramelized pork belly, green chili burger and grilled vegetables. They also do loaded fries, topped with brisket, bourbon queso and jalapenos.

"I bring the fresh sauces and brisket and the tequila-agave pork," Ewell says. "She brings the vegetables and chicken and caramelized pork belly. She also has an executive chef background from multiple restaurants and corporate kitchens so she understands the flow of the kitchen and is able to execute everything consistently across the board."

They get the bread for their boleos from a local bakery, and they're trying out various vendors for tortillas; the arepas, they make themselves. Their slaw is a house-made jicama slaw, and the chicken-fried fish is cod – "no GMO tilapia," Ewell says. The burger is a patty they cut in half so it'll fit into a taco nicely, and they top it with queso and pico de gallo. Their loaded fries come topped with their signature brisket, although you can get your fries topped with cheese or just straight.

"It's just two people with a love of food who want to provide something that is not snooty," Ewell says.

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New and Noteworthy

Dallas Mexican hot spot makes The Infatuation list of best new restaurants

Photo by Dan Padgett

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Three new Texas restaurants have charmed restaurant review platform The Infatuation and ended up on its Best New Restaurants of 2026 list. One Dallas restaurant, Olōyō, is among the 25 selected across the United States.

In addition to Olōyō, Roya in Austin and Zaranda in Houston made the list. The Infatuation has a presence in each of those cities plus more across Texas. The platform specializes in themed lists and also posts reviews of single businesses to add context for readers.

The Infatuation team ate at more than 2,600 new restaurants in 2026, the introduction to the list explains. It doesn't list criteria or points for consideration, except that there was much debate over favorites and they would "recommend them to pretty much anyone."

The expandable list lays out some key notes such as price, cuisine, neighborhood, a tagline, dish recommendations, and other unique highlights. Users can then click through to see a longform review with a numerical rating.

Olōyō's fixation on heirloom masa had its intended effect on The Infatuation's Kevin Gray, who wrote, "Olōyō will give you a new appreciation for corn." The East Dallas Mexican eatery that made its list began with two people — that is, acclaimed chef Olivia López and partner Jonathan Percival — "building a following through their pop-ups, turning heirloom corn into incredible tortillas and tamales," Gray notes. "Now they have a permanent spot in East Dallas, where they're serving upscale Mexican food in a homey room packed with Mexican art and jugs carved into animal shapes."

Gray recommended a number of dishes, including the barbacoa huarache and any mole on the menu.

Known in its pop-up days as Molino Olōyō, Olōyō restaurant opened in May, after nearly yearlong wait, and also was included in Texas Monthly's 2026 Top 50 Tacos list.

Olōyō received the highest rating of the three Texas restaurants, though the others weren't far off. At a 9.3, it should be well worth the price, which falls in the highest possible category.

Like Olōyō, Austin's Roya was also a pop-up first, serving beautiful Persian food for holidays and special events. It was so popular, it was only a matter of time before Chef Amir Hajimaleki opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant, and it's just as ornate as the food. That was in February.

Zaranda has a Mexican hyperfocus similar to Olōyō, but on fish rather than corn. James Beard Award-winning chef Hugo Ortega and his wife, Tracy Vaught, opened it in October of 2025, imagining an alternate history in which California remained united across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Like Zaranda itself, reviewer Brooke Viggiano mostly kept the focus on the fish, breaking down the different ways to eat it: with tortillas, salsas, and really "whatever you throw at it." She also broadened her scope to recommend the ribeye with bone marrow butter.

True to the Best New Restaurants list intro, Viggiano basically recommended Zaranda to everyone, including diners celebrating special occasions, going on a date, and having a casual meal. "It’s also great for impressing out-of-towners who want the full Houston picture in one meal," Viggiano wrote.

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