Casa Rosa Brings Its Pink Hued Tex-Mex Dining Room Back To Dallas

Casa Rosa opened in 1981 and for more than two decades lorded over Tex-Mex in the Park Cities. An offshoot of El Chico's, Casa Rosa was an institution, churning out hearty Tex-Mex favorites in a dining room that felt like a Mexican hacienda, replete with pink walls, Spanish murals and a skylight over a giant planter in the middle of the space. El Chico and Casa Rosa also introduced Dallas to fajitas, which would go on to become a Tex-Mex standby across the country.

Gilbert Cuellar Jr.'s family started El Chico's in 1940, which now has locations in six states and the United Arab Emirates. The family sold the Casa Rosa location around the turn of the century, which was rebranded as Cantina Laredo in 2003, and closed in 2013 to make way for the Trader Joe's on the eastern end of Inwood Village.
Fast forward 20 years, and Cuellar has revived Casa Rosa in a new location down the road at Inwood and Lemmon Avenue. The space used to hold an El Fenix, but Cuellar has brought back much of what made the original Casa Rosa stand out. Step inside, and the bountiful planter is back, center stage, with a large skylight shining down to create a courtyard feel. Colorful art adorns the unabashedly pink walls, and matching cloth napkins on each table pop against black linens.

Best of all, Casa Rosa's menu offers all the Tex-Mex favorites that hit high marks for flavor and affordability.  Our party of two opened with a pair of margaritas ($12), a classic house that's not too sweet and a prickly pear that is Barbie pink with a dash of tart sweetness to match. House-made chips soon follow, along with a smoky salsa roja served in small narrow-mouthed bottles. We also ordered a small serving of chili con queso ($5.95), dotted with bright red and green peppers in the creamy golden cheese.
To be in the restaurant of the family that put fajitas on the map and not order a sizzling platter would border on sacrilege. We went with a regular order ($18.95), half beef and half chicken; it was plenty for two people to share. The cast iron plate arrived in short order, served with the usual accompaniments, a mix of house-made corn and flour tortillas and a cup of frijoles negro and a plate of rice.

The beef fajitas use tenderloin and are imbued with grilled flavor in every tender bite. Chicken breast is equally tender and juicy, but less flavorful than the beef; next time we'll stick with the bovine. The rest of the pan overflows with red and green bell peppers and caramelized red and white onions. It's everything you expect fajitas to be.

We wrapped up our meal with Mexican apple pie ($14.95). Our waitress soon appeared with another hot cast-iron dish, this one smaller but loaded with a flaky apple pie. Before setting the dish on the table, she plopped on a scoop of cinnamon ice cream and drizzled a brandy butter sauce over the works. We do wish the flavor of the apples popped a little more, but that didn't stop us from grabbing the next spoonful of the buttery, bubbly pastry. Dig carefully, as the dish is served blisteringly hot, but the cinnamon ice cream cools each bite admirably.
Casa Rosa is everything you look for in Tex-Mex. It's honest food that's honestly good and served at a fair price. It doesn't hurt that Casa Rosa is helmed by Cuellar, whose family holds near legendary status in Dallas' Tex-Mex scene. Casa Rosa is the Tex-Mex many Dallasites grew up eating, and having it back in the neighborhood is a treat for the mouth and the soul.

Casa Rosa, 5622 Lemmon Ave., Tuesday – Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.