Vegan Mexican is a cuisine trend that was basically founded in Dallas, and now there's a bright, chef-driven new purveyor: La Veganería, which offers a plant-based twist on Mexican food, has opened a ghost kitchen at Commerce Cooking Fork Co., the ghost kitchen facility in West Dallas at 921 Commerce St.

La Veganeria was founded in 2023 by Cinthia Hernández and Joel Medina, who both hail from Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, and yet met in Dallas.

They both worked in the restaurant industry and discovered a common goal: to own their own restaurant. Both are also vegan, and wanted to create another vegan dining option in Dallas.

After consulting with a private chef, they devised a plant-based menu that is chef-driven, consisting primarily of fresh foods, but buttressed by a small selection of faux animal and dairy products such as Just Egg, the plant-based egg substitute.

Vegan Mexican food has become a national trend that began in Dallas-Fort Worth when pioneering El Palote Panaderia opened in Pleasant Grove in 2016. DFW now has numerous options from Nunos Tacos & VegMex Grill to Casa del Vegano in Oak Cliff to Belenty's Love in Fort Worth.

La Veganeria stands out with a particularly authentic, upscale, and creative menu featuring dishes worth seeking out, such as:

• Cochinita Pibil tacos: Citrus-marinated oyster mushrooms in a corn tortilla, with black refried beans, cilantro, and green salsa, served with white rice, 4 for $17.
• Fish tacos: Beer-battered Lion's Mane mushrooms, on a bed of spring mix and coleslaw, with pineapple pico de gallo and tartar sauce, served with white rice, 4 for $17.
• Seitan Milanesa: Fried seitan "steak" on a bolillo bun with refried beans, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, and cotija cheese, served with French fries, for $18.
• Waffle sandwich: With sausage, Just Egg, cheddar cheese, and strawberry preserves, served with diced potatoes, for $14.
• Blue corn masa sopes: Crispy tortilla base topped with beans, chorizo, potatoes, lettuce, cream, and cotija cheese, 3 for $12.

Everything's made in house, even down to the skin-on French fries.

"Where we are from, the colonias have cenadurías (diners) where they sell antojitos (appetizers) and garnachas (street food) only known by locals," Cinthia says. "We want to replicate this and provide very different food from what’s expected as vegan, and original even for non-vegan places."

Orders can be placed via third party vendors UberEats, GrubHub and DoorDash or at www.commerceforkfoodco.com, and picked up in this location or delivered, from 10am to 10pm every day, and until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Their entire packaging has a bold distinct look, from their logo featuring a captivating calavera in the indigenous Huichol art style to their color palette to their menu design.

"Presentation is very important to us," Joel says. "We want to follow the way locals back home do it. We try to bring this to our customers, a bit of our culture."