Yesterday I was chatting with Juan Herrera of Escondido. The family-owned restaurant has been serving the same Tex-Mex combination plates since 1975. The small restaurant is on Butler Street which runs through the light industrial area between Harry Hines and Maple Avenue. When I asked him how he was doing he said “terrible.” He went on to tell me how his night business has suffered ever since The Salvation Army Carr P. Collins Social Service Center opened across from Parkland Hospital on Harry Hines Boulevard. The 161,000 square foot center, which houses up to 600 homeless people a night, backs up to Escondido. “We have people walking all over the neighborhood and begging our customers for food,” Herrera said. “The 7-11 was getting robbed and they closed. So I had to close my restaurant at night. I just had to let employees go.”
This is a gem of a restaurant. They serve a mean enchilada and have some of the best chips and salsa in Dallas. And it has purple walls. Escondido is open Monday through Saturday from 11AM to 2PM. They brave the world on Friday nights from 6PM to 9PM. Go. Eat. Support and report.
