Crushin' on Tacos
Dallas steakhouse chef fills need for gourmet taqueria in the ’burbs
A chef with a steakhouse background is opening his own taqueria in Dallas' most popular suburb. Called Crush Taco, it's from chef Mo Assi, who's worked in Dallas' food and beverage world for a decade. It'll open in Frisco at El Dorado Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway, in the same shopping center as SuperTarget, in fall 2016.
At Crush, he'll combine his fine-dining experience with a food format he loves: the taco.
"Frisco is growing, but so far, there's not a lot of taco places, and especially not gourmet tacos," says Assi, who previously worked for Perry's Steakhouse, Dallas Chop House, Capitol Grille, and Lawry's Prime Rib.
"My background is all steakhouse," he says. "But I've always envisioned serving great food while keeping price down."
Construction is still going on, and Assi is still formulating his menu. But his must-have list includes standouts like tacos with cornflake-crusted shrimp, and he'll do a couple of fun sides such as chili-cheese fries with beer-battered fries. He also has a strong interest in doing an innovative vegetarian taco.
"With vegetarian tacos, you can go somewhere and all they do is sauté vegetables and put them in a tortilla," he says. "We want to put more thought into it. One of my favorite vegetables is cauliflower. It's becoming increasingly popular. People are using it as rice or a steak. I love to caramelize and roast it. It has a unique flavor, almost mushroom-like."
They'll do one dessert that's a fusion of American and Latin: tres leches bread pudding with cajeta caramel on top. They'll serve local beer, wine, and specialty sodas. They'll start out with limited lunch and dinner hours then add breakfast and late-night hours after they get on their feet.
