“In Dallas, Tex-Mex is like steakhouses,” Omar Flores is saying. “We tapped out! We got too many, man! But here I am. There are too many, but even the bad ones are busy and from a business standpoint …”
Well, from a business standpoint they are hard to resist. And now Flores ― two-time James Beard award semifinalist, onetime Dallas rising-star chef, Culinary Institute of America graduate ― has opened Muchacho, a high-caliber Tex-Mex spot in a prime corner of the Plaza at Preston Center.
Outside, there’s an inviting heated patio with herbs and greenery overflowing the planter boxes, and the kind of outdoor furniture you might covet for your own backyard. The interior, designed by Tyler Duncan, is like high times on the old hacienda, with a rich tooled-leather bar, soaring beamed ceilings, dark wood furniture. a snug lounge and an impressively taxidermied longhorn overlooking it all.
The lunch and dinner menu, as Flores says, “hits all the Tex-Mex feelings,” with guac and queso, nachos and tostadas, combination plates, five different enchilada dinners, tacos, flautas, fajitas and a HyPlains Heritage Farms rib eye called The Bad Hombre.
The six margaritas range from classic to horchata, and there are more agave-based cocktails and a short beer list. The wine list runs to Rombauer, Justin and Wente ― but who orders wine with nachos, anyway?
“I grew up with that kind of food and always enjoyed it and always wanted to showcase it here in Dallas,” says Flores, who is from El Paso. His parents moved to Texas from different regions in Mexico ― Durango for his mother, and a town near Monterrey for his father. “Muchacho was something I always heard growing up. An elder always called a child muchacho. You call your buddies muchacho. My father always called me muchacho, but he called everybody muchacho, so …”
On the menu, Flores aims to represent both Tex-Mex and regional Mexican, mostly sticking with classic preparations. Among the few exceptions are his sopes, which get a Texas spin from a filling of smoked brisket, black beans and habanero salsa. And pork belly tacos, with cured belly cooked in lard then crisped on a plancha, glazed with guava and achiote, and served with grilled pineapple and pickled red onion, in a preparation based on tacos al pastor.
Of the classic dishes, one of Flores’ favorites is the Mexican shrimp cocktail, a tall fountain glass filled with shrimp, crab, octopus, avocado and jicama, all swimming in a spicy-savory Clamato dressing.
Enchiladas might be filled with traditional chile con carne, made with guajillos, ground beef, beers and spice, or chicken and a poblano tomatillo sauce. There are eight different types of queso on the menu, four types of queso fundido, and four “yellow cheese” variations on Queso Muchacho.
Flour tortillas are made in house; corn tortillas are from Tortilleria la Norteña in Oak Cliff.
Flores also owns Whistle Britches, a fried chicken spot in Far North Dallas that earned three out of five stars in a 2016 Dallas Morning News review, and a second Whistle Britches in Plano.
But he began his career in some of Dallas’ noteworthy fine-dining establishments, spending his first eight years in the business at Abacus in Knox-Henderson, including three as executive sous chef, and then earning four stars (out of five) as executive chef at Driftwood. He went on to open his first restaurant, Casa Rubia in Trinity Groves, which also earned four stars for its tapas and modern Spanish cooking before it closed in 2017.
Now he is focusing on more casual, and reproduceable, restaurants.
If Muchacho does well, “I’d like to open another one,” Flores says. He’s already working on two additional locations of Whistle Britches: a kiosk in AT&T Stadium and a third restaurant in Southlake Town Square, planned to open late next year.
And he and his wife are expecting a second child in about two weeks. “It is,” he says laughing, “perfect timing for a new restaurant.”
Muchacho, 4011 Villanova Street, Dallas; 469-513-2944; muchachotexmex.com.
