A heaping helping of news & reviews from DFW’s dining scene.
Cachitos Taqueria
THE CONCEPT: Taqueria with expanded menu that includes soups and specialties like chile rellenos.
THE STORY: In this small, family-owned operation, owners Efren and Norma Cacho do the cooking, while daughter Norma Solano keeps the front running smoothly. The Cacho family had catered when they lived in California and always dreamed of owning their own restaurant; their dream came true when they opened Cachitos about 16 months ago.
THE FOOD: Using many family recipes and making most everything from scratch (they even fry their own chips for nachos), the food here was fresh, simple and very good during our two visits.
At breakfast, we enjoyed simple, substantial breakfast tacos ($1.50-$1.75 each) stuffed with eggs plus chorizo and potatoes. The fresh fruit waters, called aguas frescas (four sizes, ranging from $1-$2.50), were a great way to start the morning; we especially enjoyed the orange-pineapple, full of pulp and natural sweetness, and one of the flavors that’s available every day. (Others, like watermelon, mango, and strawberry, rotate in and out of the lineup.)
For an early dinner, we sampled several of the taco varieties, each served in a pair of small corn tortillas, to better contain the fillings. A single taco is $1.50; a plate of three, plus beans and rice, is $6.25. There’s a choice of nearly a dozen meats, including such taqueria standards as tongue and tripe, but our favorites were the richly flavored carnitas (a type of roasted pork) and the carne asada, or grilled beef. The flavors brightened even more when seasoned with a squirt of fresh lime and a dollop of a homemade green salsa from the serve-yourself salsa bar.
The best dish, though, was a deep-fried burrito plate ($6.25); our filling was chipotle chicken, shredded and moist, with a spicy, smoky kick from chipotle peppers.
Sadly, we were too full to even think about adding a soup, ($4 or $4.99) but we’ve heard good things about the pozole, the pork-and-hominy stew that’s the special on Fridays, and we may also have to return on a Wednesday, when soup with albondigas, or meatballs, is on the menu.
THE SETTING: Simple but cheerful; tables have chile-pepper tablecloths, and Mexican folk art is on the walls.
THE SERVICE: Order at the counter, gather your flatware and napkins, and take a seat. Your food will be delivered to your table as it’s ready, which will not necessarily be all at once (this is a small mom-and-pop place.) There’s a help-yourself condiment bar with several types of homemade salsa, sliced limes, pico de gallo and other fixings.
THE DETAILS: Open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday. Accepts Visa, Mastercard. Wheelchair-accessible. No smoking. BYOB.
This review originally appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Friday, Sept. 14, 2007.
