Tacos Mariachi Has a Whole New Taco Menu Just for Sunday Brunch

On weekdays, Tacos Mariachi is a great place to get seafood tacos — maybe the best place in Dallas. Shrimp, octopus and mahi mahi and, on Tuesdays, cod battered in chicharrones, are the stars of the show.

But now, during Sunday brunch, the restaurant is rolling out a new menu of tacos de guisados, the street-style tacos that incorporate stewed, braised or marinated meats. Each Sunday, they feature five or six out of a rotating selection of a dozen new tacos, so, for one day a week, the shrimp and fish are giving the spotlight over to pollo en mole, chicharrones en salsa verde and traditional cochinita pibil.

Sure, you could order one of these, or even a trio ($8). But go whole hog: get the sampler, a platter of five of that Sunday’s special tacos for $11. More than one person can eat? That depends on how hungry you are. These are petite street tacos, all double-wrapped for your protection in good corn tortillas, and although dinner might be a couple hours later than usual, you probably won’t feel like bursting.

When we stopped by this Sunday, just the second week for the new brunch items, the sampler included a potato and egg concoction, which Mariachi differentiates from the rest of Dallas by introducing the egg as a runny yolk, not an overcooked scramble. Next over on our plate was a taco featuring the simple, satisfying combination of tender, peppery-hot beef and smooth refried beans. Indeed, four of the five had refried beans, which are always a welcome contributor to a hearty taco.

They were most prominent, maybe, on the rajas and portobello taco, which tops the beans with roasted slices of poblano pepper and mushroom. This one’s a good place to reaffirm your faith in Mariachi’s fiery-hot and fire-engine-red chile de arbol salsa.

Another taco on our tray featured Mariachi’s house mole, which for a long time was used only on a stoner-snack basket of fries. Now it’s gotten a promotion and the bittersweet sauce, with a strong hint of dark chocolate but an equally strong tug of heat, blankets some tender chicken and another spoonful of refried beans. The choriqueso taco, meanwhile, sports chorizo that’s unusually mild and indeed a little bit sweet.

Not all of these match Tacos Mariachi’s very best regular menu items, but the bistek, mole and potato-egg tacos are surefire winners. And there are more Sunday brunch tacos to try some other week, when they’re available: the chicharron en salsa verde, pork marinated in a stew of pasilla chiles and rajas con crema. Combine those enticements with the restaurant’s one-day-only weekday specials, and it’s clear that Tacos Mariachi is the culinary version of Pokémon: You gotta catch ’em all.

Tacos Mariachi, 602 Singleton Blvd.