Muchacho

HEY BABY, MUCHACHO?

An El Paso-native’s spin on Tex-Mex

Story by RENEE UMSTED | Photography by KATHY TRAN

EVEN THOUGH HIS DAD

WORKED in the restaurant industry, Omar Flores never went out to eat until his early teens. Both of his parents were skilled in the kitchen. They cooked dinner at home, and Flores took packed lunches to school when he was growing up in El Paso.

“Thinking about when I was younger, I hated it because I always had friends that had different kinds of food, Lunchables and all different stuff, and I never got any of that,” Flores says. “It’s traumatizing as a kid, but you look back at it now, it’s like, oh, actually it was pretty cool, having a home-cooked meal every day. Miss it.”

Food has had a strong influence on his life. His early years in the workforce were spent in restaurants. When he was younger, his family moved to Chicago, and his dad and uncle opened Taco Piñata, which served Mexican cuisine.

“Just real, kind of homestyle cooking, counter service, nothing too elaborate. Just good, homecooked food,” he says.

When it was time for college, Flores headed to New Mexico State University and graduated with a degree in hotel and restaurant management. After that, he enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, to formalize skills he’d witnessed and honed since childhood. He already knew the basics, but the school trained him in French cooking methods.

Flores stayed in New York for a few years before moving to Dallas in 2006. He found a job at Abacus and eventually became executive sous chef there.

When he left, Flores began opening a series of restaurants. First there was Driftwood in the Bishop Arts District, which Texas Monthly dubbed one of its

LEFT Marinated beef flap steak is one protein option for fajitas al carbon.

CENTER Omar Flores designed the restaurant to be inviting and open.

RIGHT Muchacho opened in The Plaza at Preston Center in 2019. best new restaurants in 2012. Casa Rubia debuted in Trinity Groves in 2013 and was nominated for several James Beard Awards. In 2016, the first Whistle Britches, a chicken and biscuits place, opened in North Dallas.

Then a few years ago, the opportunity arose for him to act on his long-held desire to start a Mexican restaurant. In particular, he wanted one that would feature dishes modeled after El Paso’s version of Tex-Mex, which is influenced by the cuisine of Chihuahua, the city’s neighbor to the south.

Taco Diner had left The Plaza at Preston Center, and the shopping center’s owners were looking for a replacement. Flores and his business partners met with them, pitched the concept and provided tastings.

Their concept was selected, and in November 2019, Muchacho opened in our neighborhood. Inside, the bar was modeled after a Texas saloon, adorned with plenty of leather and wood.

“It’s a beautiful restaurant. It’s a very inviting restaurant,” he says. “You go in, it’s nice and open.”

So far, the fajitas, tacos al carbon and flautas have been the most popular entrees. Flores is partial to the tacos al carbon, a simple dish made with marinated, grilled meat and homemade tortillas. The ahi tuna taquitos — “really addictive and delicious,” he says — are favorites among the appetizers. He likes a little

kick in his food, which comes through in the salsa.

“It’s stuff that I wanted to incorporate on the menu here,” he says. “Stuff I’ve seen done before, but my take on it, my flavor profile from growing up and eating in El Paso.”

Flores says what distinguishes Muchacho from the rest of Dallas’ Tex-Mex establishments is its reliance on madefrom-scratch ingredients and high-quality suppliers of meat and produce.

“I think our customers can really taste the difference,” he says. “At least, I can.”

Muchacho , 4011 Villanova St., muchachotexmex. com, 469.513.2944

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