Tacos Mariachi

Few Dallas-area restaurants are making cheffy, inspired twists on classic foods in the lowest price bracket. Tacos Mariachi, with its brilliant riffs on seafood tacos, is one of them. Where else in Dallas can you find a smoked salmon taco, the fish folded into a griddle-melted blanket of cheese? Other offerings showcase octopus and shrimp, the shrimp taco noteworthy because, unlike many rivals elsewhere, it’s not smothered in a mountain of slaw. The fillings at Tacos Mariachi are always well-balanced — there’s just enough of everything — and the tortillas, made down the street from the original Singleton location, are some of the best in Dallas.

Top pick: Get to know the daily special tacos, like Tuesday’s fish battered in chicharrones and fried.

The downside: If you just order the typical taco-joint offerings, like asada or pastor, you might leave Tacos Mariachi without any idea of what makes this place special.

Fun fact: The second location, on Greenville Ave., is feeding that street’s revelers loaded carne asada cheese fries. We heard complaints on social media that the Greenville location served smaller tacos, but a recent visit -- and some snooping on other customers’ plates -- revealed no such deficit.