The staff at Gabriela’s & Sofia’s prepares guacamole at the table.
Gabriela & Sofia’s Tex-Mex Restaurant opened last December on the west Central Expressway service road just north of Meadow.
In our upcoming April magazine, look for photos and a feature on Gabriela & Sofia’s, which shares a northeast Dallas area shopping strip with multiple ethnic eateries such as Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant and Bar.
Meanwhile, I went for lunch today, and the place is a gem.
To my delight, they serve eggs all day, every day, which is nice when you don’t get around to breakfast until noon. If you fancy eating breakfast at an actual normal breakfast hour, that’s good too, because it opens early — breakfast, lunch and dinner served daily.
Shrimp tacos: Photo from Facebook/Gabriela-Sofias
Weekday lunch specials — heaping platters with tacos, enchiladas and fajitas in brisket, chicken, pork and other varieties with warm corn or flour tortillas — run from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and about $8-$9.
The menu is pretty extensive offering a variety of the aforementioned as well as fish and seafood, salads and sides.
For my family’s part: I, the token vegetarian (not vegan), ordered Mexican scrambled eggs with wedge-cut potatoes (about $7). The eggs were fluffy, spicy and fresh off the skillet. The accompanying veggies were vibrant in hue and flavorful.
My companions — my husband and our son — enjoyed, respectively, the Chef’s Dinner (about $13), a combination plate featuring brisket taco, brisket enchilada, tamales and rice and rib-eye fajitas (about $14). If the price seems slightly high for a hole-in-the-wall Tex-Mex joint, I defend it. The cuisine is a grade above your typical strip-mall Tex-Mex fare (which, don’t get me wrong, can be quite good).
The place, in its short life span, has received some good buzz especially for its brisket. It’s warranted, according to my table’s tasters. They raved, too, about the other proteins. All of it came with hot authentic charro beans that warmed our guts on this cold, soggy day.
When you eat here — and eating here is a new must for Tex-Mex fans — order guacamole (about $9 for a large, and comes with limitless chips). It is robust, tangy and spicy to personal taste, but particularly impressive is the presentation — one of the restaurant’s proprietors prepared our guac tableside. Thing of beauty.
We also learned that the operators are still awaiting their liquor license. So meanwhile, because of Texas’ weird liquor laws, they are allowed to serve beer and margaritas, just not sell it. Yes, that means free booze, in limited quantity, for now.
And our server, Danny, who was perfect, says that once they get that license, we can expect some special cocktails.
Not only was the fare of good quality, but it also arrived in copious amounts. We wound up taking three boxes home. Granted, that in part is because we made the rookie mistake of gorging ourselves on chips, salsa and guac before the meal. (But it was so so so good.)
Gabriela’s & Sofia’s Tex-Mex Restaurant, 10455 North Central, #117, 214.647.1033, $7-$16
