Mi Cocina

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Mi Cocina is a Tex-Mex restaurant.

History

Chef Michael "Mico" Rodriguez, with $77,500 in backing from Ray Washburne, Dick Washburne, Bob McNutt, opened the first location of Mi Cocina in the summer of 1991 at Preston Road and Forest Lane in Dallas. [1] It accepted Visa credit cards, uncommon for a restaurant at that time. The original restaurant was still operational as of 2021. [2]

Contents

The restaurant expanded to Highland Park Village in 1993. By 1999, the Dallas Morning News called this location "the most popular 'see and be seen' Tex-Mex restaurant" in Texas, popular with celebrities such as Dallas Cowboys players. [2]

Rodriguez left under acrimonious terms in 2009 over accusations he stole from the company. [1]

Mi Cocina opened a new restaurant within Klyde Warren Park in October 2021. In early 2022, its Uptown Dallas location relocated to McKinney Avenue. [2]

Sales of parent company M Crowd Restaurant Group reached $120 million in 2023. The Dallas Morning News credits Mi Cocina with bringing attention to Tex-Mex food. [1]

The restaurant expanded to Houston in November 2023 with a new 10,000-square foot location in River Oaks, the largest of its 24 restaurants. [3]

Cuisine

Mi Cocina serves Tex-Mex cuisine, such as tacos, fajita plates, enchiladas, and margaritas. [2] [3]

Mambo Taxi

The restaurant is known for its signature "Mambo Taxi", a frozen margarita with a sangria swirl. [2] [3] Mi Cocina and its sister restaurant Taco Diner served nearly 1.2 million Mambo Taxis in 2018. [4]

In a 2019 poll, D Magazine readers named the Mambo Taxi as Dallas' favorite margarita. [5] The margarita is associated with a famous saying, "With 1, you’re feeling good, with 2, you’re doing the Mambo and with 3, you need a taxi!" [4] The drink was featured on an episode of Conan in 2014. [6]

Taco Diner

In the late 1990s, Mi Cocina's parent company M Crowd Restaurant Group opened sibling restaurant Taco Diner, which served Mexico City-style tacos and Mambo Taxis in Dallas. It was known as a rare spot to eat sit-down tacos in Dallas. After most of its locations closed between 2019 and 2021, the last location shut its doors on January 13, 2024. [7]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Hall, Cheryl (2023-06-16). "How Edgar Guevara put homegrown Tex-Mex icon Mi Cocina back on course". Dallas Morning News . Archived from the original on 2023-06-16. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Blaskovich, Sarah (2021-10-11). "30 years after Mambo Taxi was invented, Dallas restaurant Mi Cocina makes biggest move yet". Dallas Morning News . Archived from the original on 2024-07-09. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Garcia, Sonia (2023-11-21). "Popular Dallas-based Tex-Mex restaurant Mi Cocina returns to Houston with new River Oaks location". Houston Chronicle . Archived from the original on 2024-07-09. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Dallas' Favorite Margarita: The Mambo Taxi". D Magazine . 2019-12-06. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  5. Downes, Catherine (2009-05-22). "The People Have Spoken and Their Favorite Margarita is Mi Cocina's Mambo Taxi". D Magazine . Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  6. Heid, Jason (2014-03-06). "Angie Harmon Introduces Conan O'Brien to Mi Cocina's Mambo Taxis". D Magazine . Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  7. Blaskovich, Sarah (2024-01-23). "Why Texas' last Taco Diner closed". Dallas Morning News . Archived from the original on 2024-01-23. Retrieved 9 July 2024.