Chinese-Mexican fusion sounds like a joke until you understand where it comes from. In the late 1800s, Chinese laborers working on the railroads and in the mines of northern Mexico put down roots rather than returning home. Over generations they built communities — in Mexicali, in Sonora, in Baja California — and their food blended with the Mexican cooking around them in ways that produced something completely its own. Birria and dim sum. Chile heat and wok smoke. Tacos with fillings nobody in either tradition had tried before. It’s a genuine culinary history, and most people in Texas have never encountered it.
Dragon Casa at 3355 E. Trinity Mills Road, Suite 213 in Carrollton is the restaurant making that introduction. It opened in October 2025 in the former Chef Chu space, a spinoff of Dragon House — the Southlake Chinese restaurant known for its dumplings — under co-owner Chris Choi and the JJ Food and Beverages group. Choi says the concept came from his own team: cooks who grew up moving between both food traditions and wanted a room.
The room telegraphs exactly what you’re walking into. Red and blue LED signs on the walls read “Mexican Fusion Cuisine” and “Chili Peppers” in Chinese characters. Neon chile peppers. Colorful lights. A long window into the kitchen where you can watch cooks pulling and cutting dumpling wrappers by hand. A booth in the corner has a wall of greenery and a stack of sombreros on a chair. It’s festive, intentional, and not taking itself too seriously — which is the right call for a concept this inherently fun.
The meal starts with chips and salsa that aren’t chips and salsa. The chips are crispy wonton strips. The dip is sweet and sour sauce. It’s a small thing that tells you immediately where the kitchen’s head is at.
The Birria Xiao Long Bao is the dish that has people coming back. Xiao long bao are Shanghai soup dumplings — thin wrappers filled with meat and a spoonful of hot broth that releases when you bite in. At Dragon Casa the broth is birria consommé, the slow-braised beef and chile preparation from Jalisco that became a national obsession a few years ago. The combination is not a gimmick. Birria broth inside a soup dumpling works because both traditions understand the value of fat and gelatin and chile heat in a confined space. Order them first and order more than you think you need.
The Dumpling Fiesta are pan-fried dumplings coated in a tangy, spicy dry rub — the Chinese pot sticker meets Mexican chile seasoning, served with dipping sauce. The Peking Duck Tacos put hoisin-glazed duck inside a corn tortilla with cucumber and green onion — the classic Peking duck service translated into taco format without losing what makes either good. The Mongolian Beef Burrito and the Orange Chicken Burrito are part of the “Chinopotle” section — yes, that’s what they called it — alongside a Honey Walnut Shrimp Burrito that sounds like a dare and tastes considerably better than it has any right to.
The noodle section is where the Chinese roots come through most clearly. Hand-pulled noodles, wok-fried with Mexican aromatics — roasted chiles, cumin, Mexican oregano — alongside the soy and ginger that belong in the wok already. The kitchen has a large see-through window specifically so you can watch the noodles being made. The drink menu runs Jarritos alongside Chinese beers, margaritas alongside hot tea, micheladas next to bubble tea. The whole thing is internally consistent in a way that suggests it wasn’t designed by committee.
Prices are affordable — most dishes land under $15, the dumplings and tacos well under $10 each. It’s the right call for a neighborhood strip mall in Carrollton where families are the primary audience, but it also means you can order across the menu without doing math. The restaurant has plenty of reviews and a 4.5 average after six months, which for a concept this new and this unusual is a signal worth paying attention to.
Dragon Casa is at 3355 E. Trinity Mills Road, Suite 213, Carrollton (Dallas 75287). Open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Last seating at 8:45 p.m. Phone: (469) 640-2855. Follow @dragoncasa_tx on Instagram.
