Tacos To Come
2 new concepts from Chilangos Tacos team headed to Dallas' Greenville Ave
Tacos Richy is coming from the team that brought Chilango Tacos to town.
Signage in the windows points to a new stop along Greenville Avenue’s taco trail: Tacos Richy is preparing to open at 3606 Greenville Ave., near Martel Avenue in East Dallas, across from LG Cafe.
The new street taco shop comes from EMPWR, a hospitality group whose concepts include Chilangos Tacos and Dulce Churro.
The group is also poised to open Brazamar, a Mexican restaurant, in the adjacent space in Lowest Greenville. Brazamar will be a Mexican restaurant centered on “fire dining.” The name combines brasa, Spanish for ember or grill, and mar, meaning sea, offering a clue to its focus on grilled meats and seafood.
The more casual Tacos Richy is expected to serve Mexico City-inspired street food, including gringas — similar to quesadillas but folded like oversized tacos — and tacos al carbon, according to signage posted on Tacos Richy’s Instagram page.
Involved in both restaurants is EMPWR director Jon Garay, a Mexico City native and Southern Methodist University graduate who co-founded Chilangos Tacos in 2019. The concept now boasts half a dozen locations, including shops in Plano, East Dallas, at the AT&T Discovery District, and outposts in Nashville and Las Vegas.
Garay moved to Dallas from Mexico City, as did his Chilangos Tacos partner, chef Joel Mendoza. (Chilango is slang for a resident of Mexico City.) Garay got his start in Dallas in 2018 with La Botana Taco Bar, an Uptown food truck where he and Mendoza developed recipes, including birria tacos.
Garay has not responded to a request for an interview about the new Greenville Avenue restaurants.
The Chilangos menu may offer an idea of what to expect at Tacos Richy. It features tacos and quesadillas with a choice of carne asada, pastor, pollo, barbacoa, or caramelized mushrooms. Prepared in the Mexico City style, they're topped simply with onions, cilantro, and salsa.
Tacos Richy says on Instagram that sauce will be an important component of the menu. “Color. Heat. Flavor. Every taco needs a signature salsa. The brushstroke that finishes the masterpiece,” they say.
They also note that "every masterpiece begins with a base," and that theirs is maíz (corn). "It begins with masa, ground, pressed, warmed by hand.
"Tacos Richy has offered only a few hints about its plans on Instagram. In a recent post, the restaurant wrote in Spanish, “Lo que comenzó como una idea se está convirtiendo en algo que llevamos tiempo preparando. Por ahora no podemos contarle mucho, pero vaya preparándose, porque lo que se viene está muy, muy Richy."
That translates loosely to “What started as an idea is turning into something we've spent some time preparing. For now we can't tell you much, but get ready, because what's coming is very, very Richy.”
Another post teases, “You’ve seen the name, you’ve seen the signs, but you still have no idea what’s coming.”
In other words, stay tuned.
EMPWR describes itself as a hospitality group that celebrates Mexican Heritage. It aims to “create spaces that feel honest, inclusive, and alive.”
Neither restaurant has announced an opening date, but updates are being posted on Instagram.
