Legendary Salsa and Tacos De Cabeza at La Salsa Verde Taqueria

Did you know that every time you give someone a taco recommendation in Dallas, you'll get about eight more in return?

This is what we found after getting our own Olympic gold in internet sleuthing. Name a taqueria worth trying and at least one person will tell you their birria tastes like water, another will name a vaguely located gas station that's the "best in the city" and the rest either join you or echo the internet trolls.

Anywhere you are in Dallas, you're likely near a homemade corn tortilla and the aromas of horchata. So, really, anyone's opinion is biased by a fault. (Some are just downright wrong, but we'll unpack that another time.)

After seeing so many posts of people dying on their consommé-soaked hills of barbacoa, we decided to start taking notes. In those notes, one taqueria came up quite a bit: La Salsa Verde Taqueria.

It's easy to assume that some type of unspoken tally system has formed: if one taco spot comes up more than all the others, it has to be one of the best, right? Truthfully, we don't know and at the end of the day, we all know the best are probably coming out of someone's tia's house.

So, listen. We're not making claims. We just enjoy tacos, and here are some you'll enjoy too.
La Salsa Verde Taqueria is a Dallas micro chain specializing in tacos de cabeza, or tacos made with meat from a cow's head.

Look to their tables to find out how they got their name. The bottle of salsa verde is not to be overlooked. While you're at it, drizzle on the others too.

The main highlight of the menu is the tacos al vapor, which are steamed tortillas with your choice of meat: cabeza (beef head), cachete (beef cheek), maciza (lean beef meat), lengua (beef tongue), lengua rebanada (sliced beef tongue) and molleja de lengua (back of the beef tongue).

Past that, tacos con queso, BYO tacos, quesadillas and tortas, tortas, specialty meat tacos, tostadas and a breakfast section let no order go unperfected. Wash it all down with agua frescas, horchata, Mexican sodas and coffee.

We almost forgot to mention the "gringas" section (no, we didn't). Not gonna lie, we really just ignored this when we went. Do people really order from this section? We hope not.
Passing over the gringas options, we have a standing order: two asada tacos, one quesa-birria plate and a horchata.

Birria, to us, is like when you go to a Thai restaurant and tell yourself you're not going to get the pad Thai, and then you order the pad Thai.

We're not ashamed, though. Had we known the consomme was so flavorful, we would have ordered two.

A lot of birria can taste like grease, but there are so many flavors happening in this that one dip transformed our entire taco. We even fished the spare beef chunks out of the cup to eat.

We never test the salsas before we coat our tacos in them, so the horchata is a fail-safe. But also it's delicious, so it's a win-win.

The tacos don't need the salsa, but after you add in the onion, cilantro and lime, the salsa is the cherry on top and pulls everything together. Most of the time you add sauce to save a meal, but it's not the case here. Just perfectly tender and well-seasoned beef.

Word on the street is that the cabeza and cachete here are some of the best in North Texas. Add those to your radar when you stop in, and go ahead and get that birria plate too.

There are seven locations: two in Plano, three in Dallas, and one each in Carrollton and Garland. As with any chain, hours vary, as can the quality across different locations. The OG is in Carrollton, but the tacos we had off K Avenue in Plano were debut-worthy.

La Salsa Verde Taqueria (multiple locations), 3300 K Ave., Plano. Sunday – Thursday, 7 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 7 a.m. – midnight.