Almost 10 years after opening the original Revolver Taco Lounge in Fort Worth, Regino Rojas returns to his iconic restaurant’s roots.
And with significant style: His newest Revolver — his fifth opening — anchors one corner of Sundance Square Plaza with a renovated space formerly occupied by Taco Diner. The new interior comes from his super patron and landlord Sasha Bass, wife of Sundance founder Ed Bass. Along with sophisticated style comes an elevated level of service, thanks to noted front-of-house veteran Ben Reynolds, formerly of The Cowboys Club in Frisco and John Tesar’s Dallas restaurants.
Rojas (“Gino” to his friends) now reflects on his full-circle route back to Cowtown and a decade’s worth of highs and lows. Though thrice named a semifinalist for a coveted James Beard Award after moving his operation to Deep Ellum in 2017, Rojas points out that he didn’t set out to be a restaurateur or chef when he began, but nearly everything that followed was by thoughtful design.
“This is an example of Gino’s dogged determination and imagination. He’s not reinventing the wheel; he’s adding a different tread to the tire,” says his good friend José Ralat, Texas Monthly’s Taco Editor.
Rojas, a native of the western Mexican state of Michoacan, ran a construction business in Chicago for 20 years before moving to Fort Worth in 2010. “It was the perfect place to start a family. Opening a food business was the last thing I thought I’d do.”
Rojas brought his wife as well as his parents and other family members. He helped his dad, who was an accomplished gunsmith in Mexico, set up a gun shop close to the historic Stockyards district. Wanting something to keep his mom, Juanita, busy as well, Rojas leased a space on West 7th Street, close to downtown, and outfitted it with basic kitchen equipment.
“I wanted a commercial kitchen where I could cook with my mom,” he says. Juanita taught Gino, the youngest of her four children, to make tortillas when he was 8 years old. “She’s the kind of lady who’s always in the kitchen; that’s where she’s happy,” he says. “We just started cooking the way we knew, the way we do at home.”
To get permits to cook in the space, he needed to show a menu to officials. So they began serving meals in the evening, just sticking prices on tacos filled with charred octopus, sliced duck breast, calabacitas and carne asada. No sign appeared on the front at first; Rojas and family — with Juanita and aunts and sisters at work — just opened the door and put food on plates.
After five years and another Fort Worth location that didn’t work out, Rojas bid farewell to Funkytown upon finding a welcoming spot in Dallas.
In Deep Ellum, Revolver found an appreciative audience for his brand of tacos and for the prix-fixe, eight-course tasting menu he offered in an inner, intimate dining room called Purepecha. Dallas guests didn’t mind an extended dinner evening: “Everything is made to order, even the salsa. Some people are not used to waiting for that.”
Building on lessons learned in Fort Worth, Rojas says he shed an old skin and developed a new one as he matured. He created a more efficient kitchen while staying loyal to his commitment to deliver food true to Mexico’s interior. His popularity hit a frenzied pitch, and Rojas made the James Beard Awards’ semifinalist list in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
“Revolver is a destination place; its reputation is known as far as Germany,” Ralat says. “I think that’s due to the Gino’s creativity and spirit. I’ve called his the best tacos in Texas for at least five years. I’d put his tacos up against anyone else, from California to Chicago.”
But Fort Worth hadn’t forgotten Rojas. For a spectacular 2019 New Year’s Eve party in Sundance Square, the Basses asked him to participate with a pop-up taco stand. With a backdrop of music and fireworks, Rojas reacquainted himself with his old stomping grounds.
“They [the Basses] were really good customers of mine on 7th Street, and I was happy when Sasha said, ‘We’re throwing a little party,’ and it was crazy — a really nice party,” Rojas recalls. “Then later during the pandemic, they contacted me about this space.”
Rojas didn’t respond at first. He recognized a great opportunity, but the pandemic persisted, and he wanted to think through what a new Revolver would look like. “Finally, I thought, why would I say no? It’s a beautiful building and perfect scenario. They know I care about the cultural heart of our food. It’s a dream of mine to share that,” he says.
Rojas prefers calling the Basses partners rather than investors. He credits Sasha with creating the interior look, a fresh and genteel space painted a creamy peach and filled with greenery and marble-topped café tables. Water is served in green goblets from nearby shop Estelle Colored Glass. Windows overlooking the plaza and its fountains allow natural light to flood the space.
Rounding out this more refined Revolver is general manager Reynolds, who brings sommelier panache and the ability to touch tables with a deft hand. Reynolds introduced a compelling wine list and irresistible cocktails like a blood orange sidecar and a frozen tamarind margarita that complement nuanced dishes turned out by Rojas and his mom.
“Service is important to us. It is incumbent upon us to articulate why we use certain products, why we make tortillas constantly while we are open, where our prawns come from,” says Reynolds, who plans to add a martini cart for tableside service soon. “We are always developing and evolving, and we share that with our guests.”
Though he moved his family to Dallas a few years ago and still runs the Deep Ellum Revolver restaurant and tasting room La Resistencia, as well as a new location within Dallas’ AT&T Discovery District, Rojas spends evenings in the new Fort Worth store, seeming pleased with his decision to recreate Revolver in Fort Worth.
“People coming here travel the world and know what’s good. They’re finding a very avant-garde experience with us, understanding you don’t come here for chips and salsa or margarita happy hour,” he muses. “I’ve been seeing old friends coming in, telling me, ‘You made me want to come downtown again, I feel welcome here again.’ That’s what we want happening here.”
Revolver Taco Lounge is now open at 156 W. Fourth St., Fort Worth. revolvertacolounge.com. Open for dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, with plans for Sunday brunch hours soon. Revolver and its adjoining restaurant La Resistencia remain in Deep Ellum, at 2701 Main St., Dallas.