The Cortez family already has a Michelin recommendation. Two of them, back to back, in 2024 and 2025, for a taqueria on East Rosedale that does one thing and does it as well as anywhere in Texas. Now they’re opening a second restaurant, and if the first one is any indication of how they operate, Fort Worth should pay close attention.
Mariscos Cortez will open this summer at 1151 Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway — a short walk from Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez at 2108 E. Rosedale, across the street on the opposite side of the Valero. The space is a former Huddle House that the family has been renovating, painting the interior a marina-style aqua blue that signals exactly what’s coming. The menu will be tight — ten items or fewer, same philosophy as the birria operation — focused entirely on coastal Mexican seafood.
The story behind it starts with Rogelio Cortez Sr., who has cooked seafood his whole life. When the family launched Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez in 2021, it was Patricia Cortez — Mama Cortez — whose birria recipe became the foundation of everything. But Papa Cortez has his own specialty, and Mariscos is where it finally gets its own room. The early tease from the family’s social media is ceviche tostadas, fresh made-to-order offerings, and a seafood bar experience built around the same commitment to freshness and flavor that earned the taqueria its Michelin nods.
That taqueria origin story is worth knowing, because it tells you everything about how this family approaches a restaurant. In 2019, Rogelio Cortez Jr. was working as a roofer when an injury sidelined him. He started cooking with his mother at home, built a following, borrowed $15,000 from his father’s 401k to buy a food truck, and opened a brick-and-mortar location a year later. Five children — Rogelio Jr., Diana, Nancy, Diego, and Guadalupe — eventually left outside jobs entirely to work the restaurant as it grew.
Their Roots Make the Brand
The family is originally from La Noria in Jalisco, Mexico, and that regional identity runs through everything they make. The Michelin Guide noticed the birria in 2024. They kept the recommendation in 2025. The menu barely changed.
That’s the model at Mariscos Cortez too. Small menu, serious execution, family in the kitchen. “It’s going to be the same family, the same cooks and the same flavors you love, but a whole new menu,” the family said in announcing the opening. The food truck that launched the whole operation still runs as a drive-thru window at 2220 E. Rosedale, and that will continue running alongside both restaurants.
The opening is targeted for summer 2026. No confirmed date yet, and no full menu published. When it opens, CraveDFW will be there. In the meantime, if you haven’t made the drive to Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez at 2108 E. Rosedale for the quesabirria and consommé, that’s the place to start while you wait. The Michelin inspectors already told you what they thought.
