Dishers, Christopher Baccus is a taco junkie and blogger. Not just any kind of taco, primarily those found in or near gas stations. A few weeks ago he took you there. This week he takes you here.
Chorizo tacos are underrated. I love it when I find chorizo on a taqueria menu in a gas station and Taqueria Cholula has no shortage of chorizo and other options for the taco fanatic. You’ll find at least 14 types of tacos here: beef fajita, chicken, pastor, and barbacoa. The day of my visit they were out of two.
Taqueria Cholula, located in the Conoco Station at I-35E and Royal Lane, is the first place I’ve found that serves suadero, a thin cut of meat from the breast of a cow. Sorry, I didn’t try it. I really wanted to try the chorizo and I also ordered beef fajita, pastor, and barbacoa tacos on corn tortillas with chopped onions and cilantro. My carryout order also included some salsa roja, more orange than red, and salsa verde.
The two hot sauces are made in-house. I enjoyed them both, but the salsa verde had a bit too much lime in it making it too sour for my taste; though, I found it worked well with the beef fajita tacos. The chorizo didn’t need any salsa. The pastor and barbacoa tacos went very well with the spicy salsa roja that had a wonderfully potent kick to it.
To finish singing the praises of the chorizo, the taco comes with a heaping amount of crumbled Mexican sausage enveloped in two corn tortillas that have been lightly dipped in oil and heated. The sausage is spiced perfectly with red chilies and just the right amount of cumin and garlic making for a taco that needs nothing else to support it.
Taqueria Cholula does little to promote the wonderful tacos they sell inside. Look for two temporary banners reading “Breakfast” and “Tacos.” Once inside, a third of the gas station market is taken up by the taqueria with one of the largest cooking areas I’ve seen. They also have two tables and a couple stools for dine-in service.
I am often disappointed to find that barbacoa tacos are too fatty or, worse, slimy. The barbacoa here is done to perfection with just a little fat. The flavor is balanced and the meat tastes like good quality shredded beef, not something that’s been sitting in a vat of oil for three days.
The pastor and fajita beef tacos are above average as well. Nothing outstanding, but the meat is lean and the spices are appropriately blended to make for some solid tacos.Every taco is served with double-ply corn tortillas, a decent helping of chopped onion and a scant amount of cilantro. My takeout container came with one container of salsa roja and one container of salsa verde plus three lime slices.
The better known taqueria at Flash Mart is less than a mile away from Taqueria Cholula and while I wasn’t expecting much out of this place, I have to admit Taqueria Cholula is the best in the area. The chorizo and barbacoa tacos are standouts and definitely worth several more visits. Perhaps next time I’ll get daring and try some suadero.
Gas Station: Conoco
Address: 11368 Emerald Street, Dallas, TX 75229
Rating (5 out of 5 oil drops):
