Upscale taqueria Taco Diner shutters 2 locations including Fort Worth
January 4,2021
See full CultureMap article by Teresa Gubbins here.
An upscale taqueria in Fort Worth's Sundance Square has closed: Taco Diner, which had been open at 156 W 4th St. for six years, closed the location on January 1, with a post on its website and Facebook page, announcing the sad closure.
"Thank you for dining with us at Taco Diner over the last six years," the post says. "We have made the very difficult decision to close our Sundance Square location and want to thank our loyal guests in the Fort Worth community for embracing our style of Mexico City street food."
"We have taken steps to ease the closure by finding opportunities for all managers and team members at neighboring restaurants within the M Crowd family and look forward to continued service and great memories in the years to come," the post says.
This was the chain's only remaining location in Fort Worth. The chain simultaneously closed its location in Las Colinas, with a similar message to its Las Colinas audience.
That leaves just two locations, both in Dallas: West Village and Lake Highlands.
It's a big decline from what was once a thriving chain with locations in Southlake, Addison, Dallas' Preston Center, and Southlake, Fort Worth's Waterside, Plano's Shops at Legacy, Richardson's Cityline complex, and beyond.
Taco Diner, which describes itself as a "celebration of the authentic taco stands of Mexico City and the classic American neighborhood diner," was created in 1999 by restaurateur Mico Rodriguez as a casual younger sibling to the Mi Cocina chain, which he also co-founded.
When it debuted in Dallas' West Village, it was a fresh and lively concept that drew big crowds for its craft margaritas and soft tacos - far ahead of the ensuing glorification of tacos that exists today, and a glorification that also probably helped set the stage for its decline.
In its latter years, it broadened its menu to include crowd-pleasing items like burgers and Mi Cocina's signature margarita, the Mambo Taxi.
Its fortunes were not helped by Mico's departure from parent company M Crowd.
The chain closed down entirely in March after the onset of COVID-19, and the most recent three closures — Plano, Richardson, and Waterside — have all closed since the virus hit.