Yesterday I was back at La Banqueta for lunch. While I was waiting for my plate of suadero tacos, I chatted with a few guys who'd stopped in to give the place a try. One of the gentlemen had obviously fallen in love with La Banqueta's delicious street tacos previously, and talked his officemates into trying something new that afternoon. I was sad to see that many of them had ordered chicken tacos for their inaugural La Banqueta meal.
This made me sad because the chicken tacos at La Banqueta are rather forgettable. Compared to the suadero, pastor and cabeza tacos I've fallen in love with, they're actually pretty dismal. In fact chicken tacos at most taquerías around Dallas are usually awful because they're often fashioned from griddled poultry that's cooked until it's as dry as a saltine cracker.
Further down Carroll Avenue, Taquería El Paisano offers up dirt-cheap chicken tacos that blow most other offerings out of the water. The chicken tucked into the tortillas is mostly dark meat, and it's stewed in its own juices instead of cooked on a grill. The tacos weep when you eat them, dripping juices down your palms and onto your plate.
My only gripe with El Paisano is that they heat up their corn tortillas with so much oil they're almost inedible. These tacos have plenty of moisture and they don't need so much grease the tacos have a sheen. Opt for the flour tortillas instead, and relish one of Dallas' better chicken tacos.
The flagship location is on Lombardy Lane, just past Love Field, but more locations have been cropping up all over Dallas, including the one I visited on Carroll Avenue. Just look for the blue and white awning and make sure you're not mixing the place up with La Paisanita, which sports a similar color scheme but lesser chicken tacos.
Taquería El Paisano, 305 S. Carroll Ave.
