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    Tex Mex News

    Mexican restaurant in Irving adds chef spin to mom's authentic recipes

    Steve Miller
    Sep 12, 2023 | 10:39 am
    Cielito mole

    Mole: a Cielito specialty.

    dallas.culturemap.com

    At Cielito Mexican Flavors in Irving, you'll find carne asada, queso fundido, and cochinita pibil, but there is one thing you won't find: Tex-Mex.

    "Tex-Mex is the enemy," says general manager Brian James. "The idea of the menu is modern Mexican. Everything has to be made from scratch, from the food to the cocktails."

    This Mexican restaurant, which opened in June at 301 E. Las Colinas Blvd. in a clean, elegant space that once housed the sushi place Jinbeh, is a family affair from husband-and-wife Omar Rodriguez and Julieta Calderon, with Julieta's brother Antonio, who lives in Mexico but comes to Dallas to lend a hand.

    The family hails from the Mexican state of Pueblo, 80 miles southeast of Mexico City, but have lived in Dallas for two decades, pondering their dream of opening a restaurant. Their vision is realized: to feature authentic flavors from Mexico and spotlight the recipes of Antonio and Julieta's mom and their homeland.

    To help make her home-spun recipes "restaurant-ready," they recruited Armando Muñoz Vasconcelos, a pedigreed chef who owns a bakery in Mexico and has participated in gastronomic events around the world while also helping open a number of restaurants. Vasconcelos was hired to fine-tune the menu and assemble and train the staff.

    "My sister wanted to have a place that was truly authentic to the food we grew up with, and most of the recipes are our mom's," Antonio says. "Armando is from a state near Puebla, and he knew the cuisine. So we could say to him, 'my mom makes mole like this,' and he put it together in a way that, if we have a person in the kitchen unfamiliar with the dish, they can recreate it."

    If Puebla has a signature dish, it's mole poblano, the velvety rich dark sauce made from dried poblano peppers, ground nuts & seeds, and Mexican chocolate, which can be ladled over chicken or warm tortillas, made on premises, both corn and flour. Other favorites at Cielito include Puebla roasted quail and Mexican City street corn.

    Cielito also serves weekend brunch, on both Saturdays and Sundays with breakfast tacos, huevos rancheros, and chilaquiles. But here you’re in for a blue-collar surprise. Nestled on the menu along with their traditional Mexican dishes is a very un-Mexican stack of pancakes.

    “When we developed brunch, they told us that it's good to have something on the menu that is not Mexican like pancakes,” Antonio says. “Most of our brunch menu is Mexican…we know just to add pancakes.”

    Complementing the ambitious menu is a full bar with a menu of crafty cocktails, with happy hour daily from 4-6 pm.

    General manager Brian James, whose experience includes bartending at the Adolphus Hotel and managing Whiskey Cake Los Colinas, worked with Omar to create cocktails such as their jalapeno cucumber margarita, Mexpresso martini, and the carajillo, a hot drink of Spanish origin, made Mexican-style with espresso and Liqor 43.

    The house margarita is an ambitious effort with emulsified egg white shaken with tequila, agave, lime juice, and orange liqueur, strained to create a white foam on the top, with lime and orange zest as an aromatic garnish.

    Antonio says that "cielito" translates to "little piece of the sky."

    "My sister says when you are eating here, you are lifted to heaven," Antonio says.

    tex-mexopenings
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    Where to eat

    Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 best new restaurants for July

    Raven Jordan
    Jul 10, 2025 | 6:18 pm
    Frenchie
    Frenchie
    Natalie salad at Frenchie

    The July edition of Where to eat, CultureMap Dallas' monthly column of the hottest restaurants, has an exciting range of cuisines and locations: from a new bistro in McKinney to an impressive Indian restaurant in Coppell to a downtown Dallas cafe to a mom-and-pop taqueria in Oak Cliff.

    Here's where to eat in Dallas right now:

    Boxed and Brewed
    Downtown Dallas cafe from Boxwood Hospitality features boxed lunches, breakfast sandwiches, croissants, and breakfast tacos. They do it gourmet style with offerings such as a curried veggie goat cheese wrap, Mediterranean chicken sandwich, and Greek salad. They're open in the U.S. Post Office at 400 N. Ervay St. during classic downtown worker hours: Monday-Friday for breakfast and lunch.

    Centro on the Square
    Italian bistro from acclaimed restaurateurs George Stergios (Knife Steakhouse Plano) and Brian Dunne (Mexican Bar Company) has made its long-awaited debut on McKinney’s downtown square in the former Harvest space (which relocated in 2023). The menu features hearty Italian-American dishes like chicken meatballs, mussels, cacio e pepe pasta, short rib ravioli, chicken marsala, soups, and salads. They also served grilled items including salmon, red fish, and chicken.

    Donde los Tacos
    Small taco shop in Oak Cliff in a former gas station is a mom-and-pop from first-time restaurant owners Martin and Jennifer Reyes who are putting lots of love into this small, cozy spot. Their tacos include trompo marinated pork, chicken, chorizo, fried shrimp, a slow-simmered beef called suadero, a ribeye taco, and a vegetarian taco made with plant-based protein. Appetizers include guacamole & chips, queso, and Mexican street corn. The majority of their tacos are $3 but on Tuesdays, they offer a $2 taco deal.

    Ella
    American bistro in the old Chido Taco Lounge space brings elevated eats to Preston Hollow Village. The concept is from Chido Taco Lounge founder Blaine McGowan and executive chef Kyle Farr, with Michelin-awarded Julian Shaffer leading the bar program. Their menu features shrimp and masa dumplings, pork cheeks, steak frites, and sides like broccolini and truffle fries.

    Flamant
    European cocktail bar and bistro that cooks over an open flame is now open at the Boardwalk at Granite Park in Plano. The restaurant is from acclaimed restaurant team Tanner Agar and Taylor Rause, and is a sibling restaurant to award-winning restaurants Rye and Apothecary. The menu features flavors from Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy with dishes such as faux gras, pasta, wood fired Wagyu burger, and pepperoncini chicken. They also offer weekend brunch with frittata and cannoli French toast.

    Frenchie
    French concept from Travis Street Hospitality (Le PasSage, Georgie) recently opened in the former Corner Bakery at Preston Center Plaza, which closed after 23 years in 2022. The restaurant is a French brasserie, serving casual lunch and dinner. There are dishes such as crepes, quiches, oysters, steak frites, and onion soup.

     Silk Road Indian Silk Road IndianSilk Road 

    Mas Chingon
    Sports bar and restaurant with a lively atmosphere recently opened in Bishop Arts dishing out Latin vibes and a Mexican-Latin menu. Standout dishes include tacos, Mexican burger, al pastor burger with both a beef patty and al pastor, elote coated in Hot Cheetos dust, and ceviche. They also do bar food such as a burger, chicken wings, and an over-the-top $350 Cowboy steak.

    The PoBoy Shop
    Sandwich shop obsessed with po’boys is a spin-off of Evan’s Meat Market now open in Preston Center. Founder Evan Meagher is drawing on his Louisiana roots on po’boys and sandwiches such as fried shrimp, fried bologna, turkey, and pastrami, available in 4-inch and 8 inch sizes with Cajun sides such as dirty curly fries topped with grilled boudin or Zapp’s Potato Chips.

    Ruthie's Cafe
    Do-gooder cafe that started out as a food truck is bringing new life to South Dallas. They serve grilled cheese sandwiches — solo or with tomato tomato soup — including one stuffed with brisket. There's also breakfast including sandiwches, a power bowl, and a chicken sausage & bacon wrap. They just added a coffee bar, in response to customer demand, with creative espresso drinks such as Nutella latte, Horchata, and Matcha latte.

    Silk Road Indian
    Indian concept from a hospitality trio recently opened in Coppell. The restaurant comes from Prinu Prasannan, Sushil Kumar, and Sreekumar Madolil, who have roots in the Kerala state in India but met in Dallas. They serve a range of vegetarian dishes such as vegetable samosas and tikka masala. They also have non vegetarian and Indo Chinese dishes including biryani, butter chicken, fish curry, and egg curry.

    bestslistswhere-to-eat
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