Picadera Serves Up Dominican Street Food Classics at Trinity Cider

At long last, Picadera has a home. Last weekend, the Dominican street food outlet held a grand opening for its permanent kitchen inside Trinity Cider in Deep Ellum. It’s all the vision of owner and chef Michael Tavarez, who turned Picadera into something of a nomad, operating out of ghost kitchens, pop-up events and even cramped booths at the State Fair of Texas, where he won the 2024 Best Taste Savory contest for the Dominican Fritura Dog.

Tavarez told us that Picadera won't be doing pop-ups for the time being, shifting the focus to refine his process at Trinity Cider. He's open to the idea of more locations in the future though, and says that he would like to keep the model of moving into kitchens at breweries. 
We stopped by Trinity Cider, which recently moved a few spaces over from its original location to 2721 Main St., to try Picadera’s limited menu. The restaurant inside the cidery offers four entrees, four sides, tres leches and a selection of fruity drinks. We ordered the award-winning Dominican Chimi, which is a traditional style of burger, with a side of fries, plus fried yuca balls and sweet plantains.

The place was packed when we arrived around 8 p.m. If you’re planning to check it out, know that seating was already very limited when Trinity Cider was just a bar; Picadera only makes it tighter. We’d estimate that only 25–30 spots are available, and most were already filled by this time.
If it wasn’t packed enough, Picadera also had a live DJ who took a break from spinning to teach a free bachata dance class in the bar’s foyer. Sometime later, a wandering street magician named Tamarcus Williams started performing card tricks for seated guests, which included prompting us to think of our birthdays, a male actor and any four-digit code, all of which he guessed correctly with little prompt. We still don’t know how he did it. He told us he wasn’t hired by Picadera to work for the night but reassured us that he wasn’t crossing any boundaries. “They know me,” he said, and we believe him.

Anyway, the food was spectacular. It had the taste and aesthetics of the food truck with the longest line at any given event, one that you know is probably worth waiting for, but you might be hungry enough to settle for less. But on opening night, word hadn’t fully spread about the restaurant so the wait was minimal.

The fried yuca balls, or bolitas de yuca relleno de queso, were exactly like how they sound. Crispy. Seasoned. Gooey mozzarella on the inside. These come five for $11, with a side of Picadera’s signature sauce.
Quick aside, why is every restaurant’s “signature sauce” the same? You know what we’re talking about, creamy in color and consistency with a slightly red/orange tint. You can find it at the biggest chains like Raising Cane’s or the smallest hole in the wall like a former ghost kitchen turned permanent kitchen in the back of a bar. It’s even worse when they call it a “secret sauce.” Let’s guess. Mayonnaise, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce mixed with other seasonings that a chef deems unique enough to claim as their own? The signature/secret sauce crosses all genre of restaurant too. You often find it paired with chicken, but also at burger joints, Asian eateries, ritzy taco bars and now, apparently, Dominican street food bars. It’s tired, but damn, it always tastes good. Can you tell we asked for a second cup?

The sauce was featured heavily on our Chimi sandwich, which is a traditional style of Dominican burger with grilled onions and tomatoes. It was fantastic, crispy like a smashburger but as thick as a quarter pounder. It's served in a thin sheet that you're meant to keep it in as you eat. According to Tavarez, the sheets are imported straight from the Dominican and are wrapped so tightly to catch the sauce and juices that drip out. It was $14 and five bucks extra for a side of yucca fries. 
Picadera is tasty and worthy of an automatic entry into your Deep Ellum dinner rotation.

Picadera, 2721 Main St. Monday – Thursday, 5–10 p.m.;  Saturday – Sunday, noon – midnight.