In 2021, Hugo Miranda checked into a hospital with COVID and didn’t leave for six months. He spent three of those months in a coma.
The timing could not have been worse. Hugo’s Invitados, the Mexican restaurant he opened in Las Colinas in 2018 with entrepreneur Mark Hulme, had built a loyal following and was growing. A Tex-Mex spinoff, Hugo’s Lost Colony, opened in Highland Village, and a second Hugo’s Invitados landed in Uptown’s West Village. The restaurants carried his name, but he wasn’t there to run them.
The company never got its footing back. Between Miranda’s long absence and the drag of the pandemic, Hugo’s closed for good in 2025.
Now he’s back on the floor, leading operations at Sophia’s Cocina y Cantina, a Mexican restaurant on the Mercer Boardwalk in Farmers Branch.
Anyone who followed Hugo’s knows Miranda’s story didn’t start there. He grew up in Mexico, where he went to the market every day with his mother to buy produce, meat and fresh tortillas for dinner. He worked in Dallas restaurants for two decades, including a long run at Meso Maya, before opening a place of his own.
Hugo’s was personal in another way, too. After he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Miranda wanted a restaurant where people watching what they ate wouldn’t feel left out. That’s why Hugo’s served baked tortilla chips, used grass-fed meat, and kept nearly the whole menu gluten-free, at a time when that was unusual for Mexican restaurants in Dallas.
After he recovered, Miranda worked at Chilango’s and went back to Meso Maya for a while. Then he met restaurateur Miguel Cavazos, who had opened Sophia’s in early 2026. The two formed a partnership, and Miranda went to work rebuilding the team he had before.
That meant calling Natalio Charles. Charles was chef de cuisine at Meso Maya and executive chef at José, then served as culinary director for Hugo’s. He’s now executive chef at Sophia’s, and his name is on the menu. Natalio’s Soup is a daily chef’s choice, so ask your server what’s in the pot.
The menu will feel familiar to Hugo’s regulars. It’s ambitious, polished Mexican cooking with a few Tex-Mex standbys for the people who need them.
Start with the Oysters Oaxacanfeller, a Mexican take on Rockefeller: charred oysters with creamy spinach, añejo mezcal, crispy pork belly, sweet corn and manchego. The Pork Belly Chicharron is braised, then seared, and served with smashed Purépecha avocado and chile de árbol salsa. The Sopa de Cebolla borrows from French onion soup, adding poblanos to the caramelized onions and topping it with melted Chihuahua cheese.
The crudo section is worth your time. The Shrimp Aguachile is cured to order, and you choose the sauce: mango-habanero, serrano-red beet, lavender, or a Sinaloan black salsa. There’s also Omega Azul Kampachi with citrus ponzu and chili oil, and a Veracruz Tuna Tartare made with house-cured yellowtail.
Among the entrées, the Huachinango is the showpiece. It’s a boneless whole Pacific red snapper served head and tail, with roasted poblanos and wild mushroom risotto, finished Veracruz-style, with lemon caper butter, or with beurre blanc. Bigger tables can share the Parrillada Mixta, a grill platter of Australian lamb, ancho-marinated hanger steak and mulato chile-charred pork loin. There’s also a 36-ounce Ribeye Tomahawk carved tableside with wild mushroom demi-glace.
On the enchilada side, the Enchiladas de Cangrejo come with blue crab, spinach and oven-dried tomatoes in blue corn tortillas with ancho chile sauce. If you’re there for comfort food, Enchiladas Suizas with free-range chicken and house-made corn tortillas are on the menu too.
Save room for the Horchata Tres Leches, which arrives with flaming whipped cream, or the Flan con Pastel de MaÃz Azul, flan napolitano over blue corn cake.
The bar has a full list of margaritas and cocktails made with fresh juice, plus a deep tequila selection. You can find it on the drinks menu.
Sophia’s serves lunch and dinner every day. It opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The full menu is online, and reservations can be made through the restaurant’s website. The address is 1980 LBJ Freeway in Farmers Branch, and the phone number is 214-242-9165. For updates, follow along on Instagram.
Five years after that hospital stay, Miranda is back where he has always done his best work, walking the dining room, checking on tables, and making sure the chef he trusts most has what he needs in the kitchen.
