After four years away, Revolver will finally reopen a location in Fort Worth, the city where it began. Chef-owner Regino Rojas, who first opened the Fort Worth taqueria in 2011, expects Revolver’s new spot to debut in just a few weeks.
Even more exciting is where it will be: in Sundance Square, in a former Taco Diner right on the pedestrian plaza.
“I couldn’t ask for a better stage for us to perform,” Rojas said. “I’m standing right now looking through one of the windows. You can see the plaza, people passing by, the breeze through the trees. We have to throw down, man. We have to showcase. This is an area where a lot of tourists come, so it must showcase the Fort Worth talent, from top-notch steaks to very good Mexican. You have to showcase and you’re representing, so I want people to come away with a great impression of Mexican culture and Fort Worth.”
Rojas moved to Fort Worth with his wife and parents in 2011, and the family settled in quickly. His father, Arturo Rojas, established an internationally renowned gun shop, adding elaborate designs to barrels and handles. But, Rojas told Texas Monthly last year, his mother grew bored in retirement, so he opened a taqueria where she could cook.
“It feels like I’m coming back home in a way,” he said about returning to Fort Worth. “I knew there was going to be a time.”
There’s a deeper symbolic meaning to the new location in Sundance Square. For Rojas, it represents a victory against a restaurant system, which can feel rigged, favoring big-money investors and white people. In a statement to columnist Bud Kennedy, he wrote: “The fact that I am taking over a space that symbolizes the oppression to my culinary culture is already a win!!”
From pulpo to ostrich to squash blossom and lengua, it's impossible to find a bad taco at Revolver Taco Lounge.
Kathy Tran
“It’s a good thing for other people like me to see,” Rojas said. “It’s possible to start in a little corner with no sign, showcase your work, your art, your culture. Things will come to you, man. You have to open your eyes and realize when it’s your time and take your chance. This is a great opportunity for me and for a lot of people behind me.”
The fact that the space used to be a Taco Diner — co-founded and part-owned by Trump megadonor Ray Washburne — is icing on the cake.
“It’s a multimillion corporation that was using Mexican culture to profit,” Rojas pointed out. “If you’re going to profit off someone’s culture, the minimum you have to do is respect it. In that sense, it’s really a win.” It’s a win for Fort Worth and a big, obvious symbol, too.
Meanwhile, changes are on the way for the Revolver Taco Lounge in Dallas, but those will come a little bit later. Rojas is preparing to sign a lease on a second space in Deep Ellum, very close to the first. He says that the current spot, which originally doubled as two restaurants in one and now is partitioned into a takeaway window and a sit-down tasting area, will remain and be fully dedicated to La Resistencia, the tasting menu concept. The window will serve as a staging area for online and delivery orders.
The new spot, meanwhile, will be a lot like what Revolver was when it arrived in Dallas in 2017. Rojas used the word “gastrocantina” and said that, like the new Fort Worth location, it will be a bigger space with more room for more customers. He’ll also continue to serve tacos at downtown’s AT&T Discovery District.
In other words, at the unlikeliest of times, one of Dallas’ best restaurants is expanding into a miniature empire. I had just one more question: Would there be a big difference between the experiences in Deep Ellum and Fort Worth?
Rojas replied that the Sundance Square spot will be more of a sit-down restaurant than Dallas’ lounge or gastrocantina. But that’s about it.
Then he added: “All the bullshit about Dallas versus Fort Worth ends at Revolver Taco Lounge.”
Revolver Taco Lounge, 156 W. 4th St., Fort Worth (opening soon)
