by Steven Doyle
E Bar is a bit hidden, and it is a bit delicious. Actually it is plenty delicious. Platefuls of enchiladas, rellenos, tacos of all varieties can be found and used as a means of cutting the powerful margaritas that are requisite.
This is a perfect setting for National Taco Day which also happens to fall on that marvelous weekly Dallas holiday, every day.
Robb Walsh, author of the Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos, tells us that that crispy tacos are a bit of an anomaly, “I’ve never seen an authentic Mexican place with crispy tacos. They definitely come from our side of the border”.
Most of us are used to seeing the crispy tacos at chain family restaurants, or fast food giants such as Taco Bell. But tacos durado do have their place in history. Already in the 1940s, Mexican cookbooks are describing the way to make these, by taking a tortilla, frying it, and bending it over to form that U-shape. It’s hard to say when people started doing this for the first time, but clearly its being done at least a decade before Glen (Taco) Bell claims to have invented it.
When you check out E Bar, presumably today, be sure to order a round of the crispy tacos for the table for all to share. These are an excellent take on the hard shell and that certain crunch with please your need for the crispy element. Then order a plate of rellenos. Those are pretty damned awesome.
