Taqueria Catrinas, nestled in a shopping center in Carrollton, opened a couple of months ago, and while they still await their liquor license this new taqueria which emphasizes dishes with a Mexico City influence is cranking out some pretty good fare according to Yelp and social media reviews, so of course we had to try them out.
We were greeted by friendly staff, with a dining area that had about 10 tables and decorated throughout with multi-hued catrinas. We quickly looked over the colorful chalkboard menu, but we already knew what we were going to order.
Online photos of their signature dish, molcajete taquero, had caught our eye. This huge entree, priced around $62, is intended for three to four people, served in its namesake lava-rock mortar. It’s a meat-fest in a stone bowl, full of beef ribs, pork, steak, chorizo and shrimp, with some nopales, cebollitas and jalapeño thrown in there for good measure. Corn tortillas and a bowl of borracho bean soup for each person complete the dish.
While we loosened our belts in preparation for this rather large dish, the server brought us each a chicken tinga tostada along with a couple of salsas attractively presented on a tree trunk plate. The tostada had marinated and roasted chicken topped with lettuce, pickled onions and queso fresco. It was a wonderful bite, especially so since it was unexpected, and the tomatillo and asada salsas were bright and flavorful as well.
Next came the borracho soup, a large portion, full of beans and sausage, which was fine but not extraordinary.
Then, at last, the molcajete arrived, and the visual impact it made did not disappoint. It was large, 8 to 10 inches in diameter and at least half that tall, crammed with all the grilled meats, shrimp and veggies.
Three grilled and caramelized cebollitos, those wonderful little onions, provided a focal point, as did the five large shrimp that spilled out over the edge of the molcajete, not being able to be contained in the crowded vessel. The grilled green jalapeños provided a colorful contrast to all the grilled meat as well: thinly sliced pork (adobada) and beef (costilla asada), chorizo as well as cross-cut beef ribs (tablitas). Hidden underneath all of this were the nopales, soaking up the rich flavors from their neighbors.
It was all good, and we’d alternate between placing some of this and some of that in a tortilla and eating it like a makeshift taco to just piling a few slices here and some onion there on the plate and digging in. Unsurprisingly, we could only finish about half, and had the rest boxed up for lunch the next day. Spoiler: that was good as well.
Taqueria Catrinas definitely earned a return visit (or two) in the future. The menu has several tacos (birria, beef rib, adobe pork, beef head, mushroom, etc.), quesadillas, enchiladas, tortas (milanese, smoked pork, ham and cheese, egg and beans, et al.) as well as several starters such as Mexico City style guacamole, flamed cheese and tostaditas de pata: pickled beef feet. They had us at feet.
They take cash and credit card, but note that as is becoming the norm they do charge a credit card fee. As long as the molcajete taquero is that good, however, we won’t hold that against them.
We were greeted by friendly staff, with a dining area that had about 10 tables and decorated throughout with multi-hued catrinas. We quickly looked over the colorful chalkboard menu, but we already knew what we were going to order.
Online photos of their signature dish, molcajete taquero, had caught our eye. This huge entree, priced around $62, is intended for three to four people, served in its namesake lava-rock mortar. It’s a meat-fest in a stone bowl, full of beef ribs, pork, steak, chorizo and shrimp, with some nopales, cebollitas and jalapeño thrown in there for good measure. Corn tortillas and a bowl of borracho bean soup for each person complete the dish.
While we loosened our belts in preparation for this rather large dish, the server brought us each a chicken tinga tostada along with a couple of salsas attractively presented on a tree trunk plate. The tostada had marinated and roasted chicken topped with lettuce, pickled onions and queso fresco. It was a wonderful bite, especially so since it was unexpected, and the tomatillo and asada salsas were bright and flavorful as well.
Next came the borracho soup, a large portion, full of beans and sausage, which was fine but not extraordinary.
Then, at last, the molcajete arrived, and the visual impact it made did not disappoint. It was large, 8 to 10 inches in diameter and at least half that tall, crammed with all the grilled meats, shrimp and veggies.
Three grilled and caramelized cebollitos, those wonderful little onions, provided a focal point, as did the five large shrimp that spilled out over the edge of the molcajete, not being able to be contained in the crowded vessel. The grilled green jalapeños provided a colorful contrast to all the grilled meat as well: thinly sliced pork (adobada) and beef (costilla asada), chorizo as well as cross-cut beef ribs (tablitas). Hidden underneath all of this were the nopales, soaking up the rich flavors from their neighbors.
It was all good, and we’d alternate between placing some of this and some of that in a tortilla and eating it like a makeshift taco to just piling a few slices here and some onion there on the plate and digging in. Unsurprisingly, we could only finish about half, and had the rest boxed up for lunch the next day. Spoiler: that was good as well.
Taqueria Catrinas definitely earned a return visit (or two) in the future. The menu has several tacos (birria, beef rib, adobe pork, beef head, mushroom, etc.), quesadillas, enchiladas, tortas (milanese, smoked pork, ham and cheese, egg and beans, et al.) as well as several starters such as Mexico City style guacamole, flamed cheese and tostaditas de pata: pickled beef feet. They had us at feet.
They take cash and credit card, but note that as is becoming the norm they do charge a credit card fee. As long as the molcajete taquero is that good, however, we won’t hold that against them.
2515 E. Rosemeade Pkwy, Suite 115, Carrollton; Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
