Mi Cocina is a Tex-Mex restaurant.

History

Chef Michael "Mico" Rodriguez, with $77,500 in backing from Ray Washburne, Dick Washburne, Bob McNutt, opened the first location of Mi Cocina in the summer of 1991 at

Preston Road State Highway 289, known for most of its length as Preston Road, is a north–south Texas state highway. It begins at the intersection of Preston Road and Texas State Highway Loop 12, Loop 12/Northwest Highway in Dallas. The Preston Road ...

and Forest Lane in Dallas. It accepted

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

credit cards, uncommon for a restaurant at that time. The original restaurant was still operational as of 2021. The restaurant expanded to

Highland Park Village Highland Park Village is an upscale shopping plaza located at the southwest corner of Mockingbird Lane and Preston Road in Highland Park, Texas and was the first self-contained shopping center in America. The Highland Park Village was declared a ...

in 1993. By 1999, the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' called this location "the most popular 'see and be seen' Tex-Mex restaurant" in Texas, popular with celebrities such as

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

players. Rodriguez left under acrimonious terms in 2009 over accusations he stole from the company. Mi Cocina opened a new restaurant within

Klyde Warren Park Klyde Warren Park is a public park in Downtown Dallas, Texas. The park is over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, and opened in 2012. It is named for Klyde Warren, the young son of billionaire Kelcy Warren who donated $10 million to the developmen ...

in October 2021. In early 2022, its

Uptown Dallas Uptown is a PID (public improvement district) and a dense neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Uptown is north of and adjacent to downtown Dallas, and is bordered by U.S. Highway 75 (Texas), US 75 (Central Expressway (Dallas), Central Expressway) on t ...

location relocated to McKinney Avenue. Sales of parent company M Crowd Restaurant Group reached $120 million in 2023. The ''Dallas Morning News'' credits Mi Cocina with bringing attention to Tex-Mex food. The restaurant expanded to Houston in November 2023 with a new 10,000-square foot location in

River Oaks River Oaks is a residential community located in the center of Houston, Texas, United States. Located within the 610 Loop and between Downtown and Uptown, the community spans .Archive Established in the 1920s by brothers Will Hogg and Michael ...

, the largest of its 24 restaurants.

Cuisine

Mi Cocina serves

Tex-Mex cuisine Tex-Mex cuisine (derived from the words ''Texas'' and ''Mexico'') is a regional American cuisine that originates from the culinary creations of Tejano people. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United ...

, such as tacos, fajita plates, enchiladas, and margaritas.

Mambo Taxi

The restaurant is known for its signature "Mambo Taxi", a

frozen margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. Some margarita recipes include simple syrup as well and are often served with salt on the rim of the glass. Margaritas can be served either shaken with ice (on the rock ...

with a

sangria Sangria ( , ; ) is an alcoholic beverage originating in Spain and Portugal. A punch, sangria traditionally consists of red wine and chopped fruit, often with other ingredients or spirits. Under EU regulations only Spain and Portugal can ...

swirl. Mi Cocina and its sister restaurant Taco Diner served nearly 1.2 million Mambo Taxis in 2018. In a 2019 poll, ''

D Magazine ''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas. ''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first issue ...

'' readers named the Mambo Taxi as Dallas' favorite margarita. The margarita is associated with a famous saying, "With 1, you’re feeling good, with 2, you’re doing the Mambo and with 3, you need a taxi!" The drink was featured on an episode of

Conan Conan may refer to: People * Saint Conan (died 684), bishop of the Isle of Man * Conan of Cornwall (c. 930 – c. 950), bishop of Cornwall * Conan I of Rennes (died 992), duke of Brythonic Brittany * Conan II, Duke of Brittany (died 1066), duke ...

in 2014.

Taco Diner

In the late 1990s, Mi Cocina's parent company M Crowd Restaurant Group opened sibling restaurant Taco Diner, which served Mexico City-style tacos and Mambo Taxis in Dallas. It was known as a rare spot to eat sit-down tacos in Dallas. After most of its locations closed between 2019 and 2021, the last location shut its doors on January 13, 2024.

References

{{reflist Restaurants in Dallas Tex-Mex cuisine Tex-Mex restaurants 1991 establishments in Texas Restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1991

History

Cuisine

Mambo Taxi

Taco Diner

See also

References