Barbecue stand in Dallas sells brisket sliders in a parking lot behind El Fenix

Starting March 29, 2024, Del Toro Craft Que and Brew will sell smoked bologna sliders, warm cornbread and brisket-wrapped jalapeños five days a week from the parking lot behind El Fenix in Dallas.

The red shipping container was once a fireworks stand, now a small barbecue joint with a deck attached. It’s meant to serve people in the Uptown, downtown and Victory Park areas who want a quick lunch.

More interesting is who’s behind it: Dallas chefs Matt McCallister and Nico Sanchez. McCallister operated Dallas restaurants Homewood and FT33; Sanchez created the Highland Park restaurant Tulum and scalable Mexican spot Meso Maya.

They both work for Local Favorite Restaurants, the company that owns legacy Dallas brands like El Fenix, Snuffer’s, Twisted Root and more. The group’s newest restaurant is UnaVida in West Village.

At Del Toro’s satellite location in Dallas, the plan is to serve a short menu of barbecue dishes inspired by the original Del Toro, which Sanchez opened in Mansfield in early 2022. It won’t have meat by the pound, like most traditional Texas barbecue restaurants do. Here, customers will probably order a sandwich, like the pulled pork slider topped with slaw or the smoked brisket slider with spicy pickles. McCallister is excited about the smoked bologna slider with slaw and potato chips.

Sides include potato salad, charro beans and cole slaw.

One of the staples at Del Toro in Mansfield that will reappear in Dallas is the Texas Twinkie. Each jalapeño is filled with brisket and lime-cilantro cream cheese, wrapped with bacon, and smoked. They’re like a bar snack that took a trip through the smoker.

The Del Toro stand will also sell sodas, beers and $5 margaritas.

It opens just in time for warmer weather in Dallas. A bonus is that the solar eclipse is on April 8, and Del Toro and its sibling restaurants Taqueria La Ventana, Meso Maya and El Fenix (all Local Favorite brands at nearly the same address) will participate in a party with food and drink specials and music, said Mike Karns, owner and founder of the company.

They’ve started calling the parking lot and its four restaurants “the compound.” It has 250 parking spots that are free to use while customers eat. The company recently fenced in the lot.

“There’s such an activation of people, with all those offices there,” said Chelsie DiPaolo, chief of staff at the restaurant group. “We’ve got our Mexican restaurants there, but not everybody has time for a sit-down meal. We wanted to create another option for the lunch rush.”

Del Toro Craft Que and Brew shares a parking lot with Taqueria La Ventana at 1611 McKinney Ave., Dallas. Open Wednesdays through Sundays for lunch and dinner, or until sellout. It opens March 29, 2024.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on X (formerly Twitter) at @sblaskovich.