In an area where taquerias compete to serve the most authentic taco, a Mexican restaurant in Arlington has decided to take a different approach and has turned a taco into a giant cone.
Taqueria Saltillo’s Taco Cone has become one of those Instagram-worthy dishes that also happens to be a complete meal at an affordable price.
The idea combines street-style taco elements with a cone presentation. Instead of a folded flour tortilla, the meat, cheese, rice, beans and other ingredients are placed inside a cone-shaped baked flour tortilla, making it a hybrid between a regular taco and a crispy tostada — all for $13.99.
“Some years ago, I saw this idea at a business in Orlando and loved it, but it took me five years to get it right,” Juan Carlos Flores, owner of Taqueria Saltillo, told The News. “It’s like the taco salad sold at Tex-Mex places, where the dish is a fried tortilla; here it’s almost the same, only it’s a cone.”
Flores said that for now, the Taco Cone isn’t very popular at his taqueria, but it is at private events and festivals where attendees can eat it while walking or doing other activities.
The first challenge Flores faced was creating the mold to make the cones. Although at first he wanted to use a fried tortilla for the cone, over time he discovered that he could bake the tortilla, which would not only make it easier to prepare but also more healthful.
Flores opened Taqueria Saltillo 16 years ago, when he was just 19 years old. Since then, it has become a popular spot in Arlington, and although it has only been at its current location at 419 W Randol Mill Road for seven months, people continue to come for dishes that are hard to find elsewhere, such as the traditional flour gorditas from northern Mexico.
Flores’s business has also been a supplier to the Arlington ISD since last September. The district serves his tacos every two weeks in high schools and every month in all its schools. Flores is an alumnus of Sam Houston High School, an Arlington ISD school.
“It’s really nice to return to the school where I studied, and now I am running my business. It’s a dream come true,” Flores said.
This isn’t the first time this restaurant has innovated with its food. For the Epiphany celebration on January 6, Flores created the Taco Rosca, a savory version of the traditional Rosca de Reyes cake eaten in Mexico.