Mi Lindo Oaxaca

The Top 100 Dallas Restaurants, No. 9: Mi Lindo Oaxaca is an extraordinary restaurant showcasing one of Mexico’s most complex regional cuisines. To make its mole from scratch, the kitchen starts by making its own chocolate. Breads and tortillas are made in-house too. But this isn’t a chef-driven fine-dining place — it’s a cash-only Oak Cliff institution that gets traditional foods right. This is one of the best places in Dallas to try chapulines (grasshoppers), either in a generously filled taco or on a toasted-masa memelita. The enmoladas and enfrijoladas are fabulous, too.

Top pick: Share the loaded-to-the-brim tlayudas, which some food writers call “Oaxacan pizzas” but which Mi Lindo Oaxaca serves folded, like gigantic quesadillas with a bit of crunch. This is one of the only places to get a tlayuda in North Texas.

The downside: Mi Lindo Oaxaca is still growing into its large new space near the Kessler Theater, but the recent move also means the restaurant is finally accepting credit cards.

Fun fact: The original location on Fort Worth Avenue has been spun off into a new restaurant with a slightly different menu, called El Comalito Oaxaqueño.