The Best Taco and Burrito I Ever Had

Dallas is known for many things—Cowboys, Lee Harvey Oswald, and oil—but something that everyone forgot to mention to me was the food. My first meal in Texas was In-N-Out Burger, which also happened to be my first In-N-Out Burger experience. But even that pilgrimage didn’t prepare me for the meal that would change my life forever.

Nestled under the construction of an interstate overpass sits a little gas station called Fuel City. Within Fuel City is a little taco shop that you’ll find listed on Urbanspoon as “Fuel City Tacos.” I figured from its 94% rating that it had to be at least okay, and so we ventured the 2 miles between our very trendy-looking hotel to Fuel City, adorned with a raptor statue and inaccessible swimming pool. There’s seating outside, but most people just take their bounties home. At first glance, the place seems confusing: gas station, car wash, and tacos. But after one bite of their tacos, everything just seems to make sense.

You have five options for your taco: picadillo, chicken fajita, beef fajita, barbacoa, and pastor. Also, you’re not limited to just a taco. You can have a burrito as well. I got the barbacoa burrito and a pastor taco. My total? $6 tops. The tacos are only $1.40 a piece and the burrito’s $4.50. To help you picture the burrito, imagine the last burrito you got from Chipotle. Okay, now half the price and double the quality. This was easily the best burrito I’ve had that I can remember, and at least the best value.

I don’t usually get all the toppings on a burrito, but something in the air told me that it was a good idea. First bite had a spiciness I did not expect, but I welcomed it. It was a hearty burrito, one that I lament that I may never have again unless I return to Dallas. But I have no regrets. Even the spicy pastor taco that did a hatchet job on my stomach was worth the religious experience of eating Fuel City tacos.

Sounds pretty good, right? So good there must be a catch? None. The experience is akin to getting a taco from a food truck, but there is no food truck. Just a building with windows for you to order your tacos. We didn’t even wait that long, maybe five minutes. And we still saw several people coming in and out with nondescript plastic bags toting their culinary treasures. The food won’t break the bank—maybe your stomach. In fact, it’s almost as cheap as Taco Bell and it seems reasonable that the tacos would be made from actual meat.

Fuel City Tacos are the now the standard by which I measure all other tacos, fast food or not. It is a high bar for other restaurants to reach, but don’t think for a second I’ve turned into a taco snob. There may be another taco to usurp this throne, and I welcome the challengers who lay down their gauntlets. Especially if they do so for free.