By ADAM SCHRADER
Published in The Lewisville Texan Journal on Feb. 17, 2016

Los Alisos Restaurant is an unlikely spot for some of the most delicious “street tacos” I’ve ever tasted.

The Mexican restaurant sits at the end of a strip center occupied by an Exxon gas station and a tire shop at the corner of Holfords Prairie Road and Business 121 in Lewisville.

On Wednesday, Steve Southwell and I stopped for a bite before shooting photos at the Coyote Drive In site just down the road. There was no line and only two other customers sat at their tables eating.

Inside, the menu and TV stations were displayed in Spanish language but the cashier spoke English and helped us with our order. We ordered at the counter and received our food at our table within five minutes.

First, we each ordered half-liter bottles of “Mexican coke” at $2.50 apiece instead of choosing popular Hispanic drinks like Juaritos or Topo Chico.

Steve ordered the Durango plate with three gorditas: chicharron, or pork skin; rajas, with green poblanos and cheese; and desebrada, with shredded beef and a spicy red sauce.

He opted to not help write the review, but said “The rajas could have used more cheese. The chicharron tasted fine, but pork skin had an odd texture, like eating fat. The desebrada was delicious and I’ll definitely order it again.”

The $7.50 plate came with rice and beans, “which were nothing special” and looked mediocre in quality.

I ordered three, two-bite tacos made with flour tortillas. They looked small in the fast-food basket with the burn marks that signify home-style tortillas. They never fell apart.

The meat in my tasty barbacoa taco was portioned well in the fluffy tortillas. It was moist and not too chewy.

The fajita taco, my least favorite, had grilled onions which added to the quality of the taco. The meat texturally felt more like ground taco meat than true fajita-quality beef, but tasted at the much higher price point.

On each taco’s last bite, I drizzled a little of the provided lime; but each time, I preferred it without the citrus addition.

None of the tacos had toppings other than meat, cilantro and onions. The barbacoa and pastor were more flavorful and less overpowered by the cilantro and onions.

The pastor taco had moderate heat. Neither of the others were spicy. I would have liked the opportunity to add jalapeños or otherwise spice up the dish—though I recognize spice isn’t in true street taco spirit.

The three tacos, at $1.40 each, were filling enough for a light lunch bit a larger dish is recommended if you’re really hungry.

The Mexican restaurant doesn’t market itself as a taco joint and its menu is dominated by other dishes. And, the menu had fewer options and toppings than Denton taco joints like Flatlanders and Rusty Taco.

But, when looking for a true “street taco”, Los Alisos fits the bill. They were much cheaper and more authentic—as if actually purchased off Mexican streets.