Tex-Mex News
Family-owned Mexican restaurant in Plano opens with irresistible lure
Since its quiet opening in January, Alexander's Mex Cuisine in Plano has taken a savvy and singular route to success: a generous happy hour.
The restaurant, located in the former Latin Deli at 2237 W. 15th St., boasts all-day happy hour, which means $5.50 house margaritas, $6 flavored margaritas, and $4 on all beer.
"It’s very popular, especially on weekends," says owner Bernardo Garduño. “You don’t find many happy hours on weekends."
This is not to dismiss the food, featuring recipes from Garduño's hometown of Mexico City.
The family-run restaurant includes a team led by Garduño and his wife Claudia, but also various in-laws — and Garduño’s mother, when she is in town. It's named for Garduño's son.
"This is our first restaurant,” Garduño says. “We put our life’s savings into this."
Mexican street food makes up most of Alexander’s menu. Garduño does the cooking.
“I love to cook and while I’ve worked as a server and bartender, I learned to cook just watching,” he says. “I cooked at home using Mexican recipes for my family, watching my mother and other family members cooking."
His path to eatery owner is a familiar one: spend years working in the service industry to learn the trade, then find the right spot. Garduño did just that, then finished a stint on a cruise ship and came to Dallas in 2015, again working in restaurants.
He crafted his menu relying mostly on his experience in restaurants, using his mom’s recipes. Brisket tacos, crispy beef tacos, and brisket enchiladas are part of a blend of Tex-Mex and Mexico City street food.
Pambazo, featuring a savory Mexican bread dipped in chili sauce, filled with potatoes, chorizo and queso and fried, is a favorite. Also of note is alambre, which is steak, ham, bacon with onion, peppers, and cheese.
“It’s the traditional food of Mexico,” Garduño says.
Not so traditional Mexican are vegetarian dishes such as veggie fajitas and spinach enchiladas, which are drawing praise on review sites.
Patrons also receive black bean dip along with salsa for the chips, which is not a common accoutrement in the DFW Tex-Mex scene.
And lest we forget: happy hour, which runs Monday-Friday 11 am-6 pm, Saturday 11 am-4 pm, and Sunday: all day.