Review: Tacos Rivero

Our family converted to local grass-fed meats early last year and as part of that change we made sure we found a quality small ranch when we moved to Dallas last July.  The place we found is called Burgundy Pasture Beef in Grandview, Texas. On our last drive to the ranch, I noticed we passed by two Texaco stations with taco stands.  Tacos Rivero was the second one we passed and the one I ventured out to try first.

I ordered four different styles of taco: beef fajita, steak, pork in green sauce and ground beef with potatoes (Picadillo.)

While the tacos were being prepared, I was asked if I wanted hot sauce. I of course said sure and the woman preparing my order squeezed out four lines of hot sauce, one on each taco, and then wrapped them up in foil with a lemon slice.  I’m sure you can ask for the hot sauce on the side, but this was a first as I’ve never had someone just add the sauce directly to the tacos. Oh well, glad it tasted good. Just know there are no choices of red or green sauce, there apparently is just one choice and it’s going straight on unless you specify otherwise.

Leaving the gas station, I was approached by a wonderful man who panhandled me as I was getting into my car after filling up and setting my tacos down in the passenger seat. It was a bit surprising since this place is literally in the middle of nowhere.

I drove off and started with the ground beef and potato taco. It was good with a bit more spice than the one Fuel City makes. I was enjoying it but unfortunately half of the taco landed on my center console as the corn tortilla ripped in half, spilling onions, cilantro, beef and potatoes and hot sauce all over my car.  So be careful as the tacos are loaded up here and the tortillas cannot bare the weight.

Carefully, I reached for the pork with green sauce taco.  This was by far the best choice at Tacos Rivero.  It is very rich in flavor and mostly lean.  The green sauce packs plenty of punch and the pork is generously slathered in the green sauce.  I really liked the flavors here with a good squeeze of lemon and the cilantro and onions bringing every bite to life.

Next the steak taco which was okay. Nothing really wrong here, just nothing really memorable. In fact, having waited a day to write this review I can barely recall how it tasted. There just wasn’t that much flavor.  Good news is the steak meat carries over to the beef fajita.  When I ordered the beef fajita taco, the cook went over to a small electric griddle and opened the lid to add the fajita meat and a few onions and peppers.  The flavors here were much more noticeable than the steak taco.  If you want a beef taco, I do recommend the fajita choice.

All in all, Tacos Rivero wasn’t that bad.  When I stopped by around lunch hour on a Friday afternoon, the counter was packed with plenty of locals and others like me stopping in for a good, inexpensive lunch.  There were even a couple wooden picnic benches outside on a small wooden deck to eat your lunch (or breakfast. They sale breakfast tacos too.)

Gas Station: Texaco

Address: 271 S Highway 67 Cedar Hill, TX 75104

Rating (3 out of 5 oil drops):