How Hipster Is the Cauliflower & Kale Taco at Resident Taqueria?

Welcome to How Hipster Is It, in which we try food and drink from popular Dallas bars and restaurants to evaluate their trendiness. We evaluate the establishment’s general atmosphere, plus its most hipster menu item, using the world’s universally recognized unit of hipsterness measurement, the Bill Murray.

This week: How hipster are the cauliflower-kale taco and guacamole with peas at Resident Taqueria?

The atmosphere: Resident Taqueria is a polished, handsome taco joint. For a full review, you can check the Observer's writeup from November. We're looking at the place through the vintage-inspired lenses of the hipster, though, so let’s observe the wall decor. Chalkboard-print food menu, specials hand-written on a roll of butcher paper, craft beer taps Sharpied onto the tiles: All welcome signs for the beard and suspenders crowd.

The experience: Order at the cash register and take a seat where you like. The bar has a good view of the chefs at work. There are also a couple colorful books about tacos lying around, but your food is served so quickly that there’s no time to leaf through their photo-spreads of Mexican street vendors. Notably absent is the ultimate hipster taco guide, Tacos: Recipes and Provocations by Alex Stupak.

The food: We couldn’t resist the siren song of the kale-cauliflower tacos. (But wait, are these technically yuppie?) The kale is charred on the grill until it has the flaky, crisp texture of baklava pastry sheets. The cauliflower is grilled ‘til tender, and the taco is topped with pepitas. It’s a harmonious bite with a good balance of flavors, but conspicuously lacking in spice. A few drops of Resident’s house salsa verde bring things together.
The highlight of a Resident Taqueria taco is the flour tortilla, which is flawless, and warmed to that perfect point where it starts to crisp up but doesn't become inflexible. So, even though the beef shortrib taco is kind of impractical (distribute the meat across your tortilla by smushing it with your thumb), we don’t mind.

As noted in the review, yes, the guacamole has peas in it. This is legitimately good guacamole, though, with a cool, refreshing, easy-going nature that makes the dish feel effortless. What this guacamole is missing is any onion or hot pepper for a bit of kick. It’s a matter of taste whether you will like that or not, but this author did.

A stop at Resident is about as healthy as a taco lunch can be, and the foods are presented as works of art. There may not be more beautiful, picturesque tacos anywhere in Texas. Also, they're $3 each. So not only are they fairly tasty, they also approach Maximum Hipster.

So, How Hipster Is It? The Final Ratings
Atmosphere:
Experience:
Food: 

Yes: the coveted Five Bill Murrays.

Resident Taqueria, 9661 Audelia Road, No. 112, 972-685-5280.
Kale-cauliflower taco, $3; guacamole, $3; beef shortrib taco, $4

Previously on How Hipster Is It:
How Hipster Is the Fancy Toast at The Theodore?