Vegan Tacos

A Mexican bakery is turning out Dallas' best vegan tacos

Behold Dallas' best vegan tacos.

Photo by Marc Lee

The best new vegan food in Dallas is coming from a place you'd probably never expect: a Mexican bakery in southeast Dallas.

El Palote Panadería opened about six months ago in northeast Pleasant Grove, at 2537 S. Buckner Blvd., in what was once a barbecue and soul food joint. While it started out offering the prototypical Mexican pastries and breads, it has now begun serving a special menu on Thursday nights of tacos, flautas, and other Mexican classics, made with all-vegan ingredients.

There are guaraches and sopes — corn cakes topped with a "carne guisada" made from textured soy meat in a subtle, complex sauce, with iceberg lettuce, chopped tomato, and a vegan sour cream. They come with refried beans and rice, flecked with diced carrot.

There are tacos filled with "chicharrones" made from soy meat that's been marinated in a dark red chile sauce — intensely spicy and just the right amount of hot. And the meat is so meaty — caramelized, a little chewy — it's hard to believe it's not real.

Tamales, filled with beans and soy, are distinctive because the masa, dense yet delicate, is flavored with chile spices, along with the filling.

Everything is made in-house, including the corn tortillas. The tortillas' texture is tops: thicker than your standard supermarket tortilla, firm yet pliable, and nicely spongy.

There are two pastry cases. One takes up an entire wall, filled with excellent cookies, sweetbreads, and pastries that the neighbors come in to buy.

Another separate case is all vegan. It has cookies topped with a chocolate "cream cheese" icing made with tofu. You can get empanadas, filled with your choice of pumpkin or pineapple, and a standout pastry called the mangar pan dulce — a long, sweet yeast roll filled with tofu cream cheese and strawberry jam.

The skilled baking is by Lily Arais, the mom in this family operation, who really knows her way around yeast, no small feat in Dallas.

Her husband Aurelio, a native of General Teran, Mexico, was the first in the family to change to a vegan diet nine years ago when he began suffering problems with his heart and cholesterol levels. He's since been joined by the rest of his family, including their two sons, Aurelio Jr. and Aaron, who often man the cashier and help customers navigate the menu.

Since El Palote Panaderia's vegan menu was first shared on the Dallas Vegan Roundup Facebook page in July, the response has been so strong that they've recently begun doing vegan food on weekends, too. They now serve select items on Saturday and Sunday nights, from 5-9 pm.

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Celebrity Chef News

Knife steakhouse by chef John Tesar to close location at Dallas hotel

Photo courtesy of Knife

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A Dallas celebrity chef steakhouse is closing: Knife, the steakhouse at The Highland Dallas hotel at 5300 E. Mockingbird Ln. from John Tesar, is closing after more than a decade.

According to a release, Knife will be closing and moving to a new location "as it moves toward an exciting new evolution." Its final day is August 31.

According to a statement from Lennox Capital Partners, the private lodging investment and management firm that acquired the Highland Dallas in 2018, The Highland Dallas, Curio Collection by Hilton and Chef John Tesar and the Knife restaurant concept are concluding their partnership.

The hotel is in "interim talks" with a new hospitality group for a new concept that will replace Knife — which could also be implemented prior to the August 31 date.

"We are grateful for Chef Tesar’s partnership over the years and we wish him success in his future endeavors," their statement says.

An original plan between Tesar and Lennox Capital Partners, outlined in October 2024, called for the steakhouse to rebrand into a new expanded concept that would be called Knife Steak & Seafood, which would pull from Knife & Spoon, a sibling that Tesar opened at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes in 2020. The Highland Dallas hotel is also undertaking a $13 million renovation.

In addition to Knife & Spoon in Orlando, the Ritz-Carlton there also has a location of Knife Burger.

Tesar has two other Knife restaurants: Knife Italian Steak - The Ritz-Carlton Dallas, Las Colinas, and Knife & Spoon Knife Steakhouse - The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, in which he's partnered with restaurateur George Stergios.

The Knife Burger at Willow Bend in Plano is temporarily closed. And a Knife location in California, at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott, was dissolved in 2023.

Tesar is currently appearing on House of Knives, a cooking competition show on Food Network.

The release goes on to say that John Tesar Concepts, in collaboration with GBOD Hospitality Group (El Chingon) and 3ntourage Hospitality Group (Wade's Landing), has identified a "premier Dallas location" for a new expanded version of Knife that would feature Knife; plus a more intimate and experiential entity called Pocket Knife; and a new social concept called Switchblade, all under one roof. Where that roof will be, they cannot yet say.

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