Sergio Quijano grew up in Mexico City and worked his first job at a place called Dulcería El Metro — a candy shop near one of the city’s subway stations, which is where the name of his restaurant comes from. Not just the subway iconography covering the walls, though that’s there too, the colorful maps and signage of the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo rendered as decor in a Northwest Dallas strip center on Walnut Hill Lane. It comes from something more personal than that — a first job, a city, a specific kind of memory about where food fits into a life.
Quijano eventually left Mexico City, spent years cooking in Dallas kitchens including Julian Barsotti’s Italian operations, where he learned both the discipline of fine dining and the confidence to eventually build something entirely his own, and in April 2024 he and chef Mike García opened Tacos El Metro at 3720 Walnut Hill Lane, Suite 117. “After years of working for other people, I wanted something I could call my own,” he told CW33. The result is one of the most complete taco operations in Dallas, and most of the city hasn’t found it yet.
The menu is built around whole-hog pork — Quijano and García roast pigs in-house and break them down into the cuts that define the menu — but the range goes well beyond the obvious. The al pastor comes off a live trompo, shaved to order, and has already been called among the best in the city. The tortillas come from Tortillería El Maizal, which tells you something about how seriously the kitchen takes the thing that holds everything together. The Taco Metro is the flagship: slow-cooked pulled pork buried under crispy chicharrón on a warm corn tortilla, finished with house-made salsa.
The huesitos — pork rib tips, messy and intentional — get drenched in your choice of verde, roja, or the smoky morita, which is the one to order. The spicy salsa verde with fresh avocado cubes runs $1 extra and is worth every penny of it. The tortas are built on crusty bolillo rolls, layered with pork, pickled vegetables, refried beans, and whatever salsa makes sense that day — substantial enough that finishing one is an achievement worth acknowledging.
What separates Tacos El Metro from the taco operations it might otherwise be compared to is the breadth. This is not a one-trick kitchen. Weekday mornings start with chilaquiles verdes, huevos a la mexicana, and tacos de huevo con bacon — breakfast tacos in the Mexico City style rather than the Tex-Mex version, which is a meaningful distinction. The chicken tinga and barbacoa with consomé run alongside the pork options and hold their own.
Weekend specials rotate based on what’s available and freshest, which means longaniza, pork cheek tacos, and whole-pig service for parties show up when the week calls for them and sell out when they do. The catering program runs from 25 to 400 people, which is the detail that tells you how seriously Quijano takes the operation beyond the daily taco counter.
Tacos run $3.50 to $5, which in 2026 Dallas is almost disorienting in the best way. The strip center location next to A Step Up Lounge. Quijano and García spent months testing recipes through pop-ups and private dinners before opening in April 2024 — they knew what they were building before they built it, and the food reflects that. Open Monday through Wednesday 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (214) 434-1237.
