{{Short description|Tex-Mex restaurant chain in the US}} {{Infobox restaurant | name = Mi Cocina | logo = | image = | image_caption = | established = {{Start date|1991}} | closed = | current_owner = M Crowd Restaurant Group | previous_owner = | head_chef = | food_type = Tex-Mex cuisine | street_address = | city = Dallas | state = Texas | country = United States | coordinates = | seating_capacity = | other_locations = Highland Park Village<br>Klyde Warren Park<br>River Oaks (Houston) | other_information = | website = }} '''Mi Cocina''' is a Tex-Mex restaurant.
==History== Chef Michael "Mico" Rodriguez, with $77,500 in backing from Ray Washburne, Dick Washburne, and Bob McNutt, opened the first location of Mi Cocina in the summer of 1991 at Preston Road and Forest Lane in Dallas.<ref name="Hall23">{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Cheryl |title=How Edgar Guevara put homegrown Tex-Mex icon Mi Cocina back on course |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2023/06/16/how-edgar-guevara-put-homegrown-tex-mex-chain-mi-cocina-back-on-course/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=Dallas Morning News |date=2023-06-16 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230616135224/https://www.dallasnews.com/business/local-companies/2023/06/16/how-edgar-guevara-put-homegrown-tex-mex-chain-mi-cocina-back-on-course/ |archive-date=2023-06-16}}</ref> It accepted Visa credit cards, which was uncommon for a restaurant then. The original restaurant was still operational as of 2021.<ref name=Blaskovich21 >{{cite news |last1=Blaskovich |first1=Sarah |title=30 years after Mambo Taxi was invented, Dallas restaurant Mi Cocina makes biggest move yet |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2021/10/11/30-years-after-mambo-taxi-was-invented-dallas-restaurant-mi-cocina-makes-biggest-move-yet/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=Dallas Morning News |date=2021-10-11 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240709172346/https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2021/10/11/30-years-after-mambo-taxi-was-invented-dallas-restaurant-mi-cocina-makes-biggest-move-yet/ |archive-date=2024-07-09}}</ref>
The restaurant expanded to Highland Park Village in 1993. By 1999, the ''Dallas Morning News'' called this location "the most popular 'see and be seen' Tex-Mex restaurant" in Texas, popular with celebrities such as Dallas Cowboys players.<ref name=Blaskovich21 />
Rodriguez left under acrimonious terms in 2009 over accusations he stole from the company.<ref name="Hall23" />
Mi Cocina opened a new restaurant within Klyde Warren Park in October 2021. In early 2022, its Uptown Dallas location relocated to McKinney Avenue.<ref name=Blaskovich21 />
The parent company, M Crowd Restaurant Group, sales reached $120 million in 2023. The ''Dallas Morning News'' credits Mi Cocina with bringing attention to Tex-Mex food.<ref name="Hall23" />
The restaurant expanded to Houston in November 2023 with a new 10,000-square-foot location in River Oaks, the largest of its 24 restaurants.<ref name="Garcia">{{cite news |last1=Garcia |first1=Sonia |title=Popular Dallas-based Tex-Mex restaurant Mi Cocina returns to Houston with new River Oaks location |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/food-culture/restaurants-bars/article/mi-cocina-houston-river-oaks-opening-november-18503594.php |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=Houston Chronicle |date=2023-11-21 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240709172226/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/food-culture/restaurants-bars/article/mi-cocina-houston-river-oaks-opening-november-18503594.php |archive-date=2024-07-09}}</ref>
==Cuisine== Mi Cocina serves Tex-Mex cuisine, such as tacos, fajita plates, enchiladas, and margaritas.<ref name=Blaskovich21 /><ref name="Garcia" />
===Mambo Taxi=== The restaurant is known for its signature "Mambo Taxi", a frozen margarita with a sangria swirl.<ref name=Blaskovich21 /><ref name="Garcia" /> Mi Cocina and its sister restaurant, Taco Diner, served nearly 1.2 million Mambo Taxis in 2018.<ref name="Top10">{{cite news |title=Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Dallas' Favorite Margarita: The Mambo Taxi |url=https://www.dmagazine.com/sponsored/2019/12/mambo-taxi/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=D Magazine |date=2019-12-06}}</ref>
In a 2019 poll, ''D Magazine'' readers named the Mambo Taxi Dallas's favorite margarita.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Downes |first1=Catherine |title=The People Have Spoken and Their Favorite Margarita is Mi Cocina's Mambo Taxi |url=https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/2019/05/the-people-have-spoken-and-their-favorite-margarita-is-mi-cocinas-mambo-taxi/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=D Magazine |date=2009-05-22}}</ref> The margarita is associated with a famous saying, "With 1, you’re feeling good, with 2, you’re doing the Mambo, and with 3, you need a taxi!"<ref name="Top10" /> The drink was featured on an episode of Conan in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Heid |first1=Jason |title=Angie Harmon Introduces Conan O'Brien to Mi Cocina's Mambo Taxis |url=https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2014/03/angie-harmon-introduces-conan-obrien-to-mi-cocinas-mambo-taxis/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=D Magazine |date=2014-03-06}}</ref>
==Taco Diner== In the late 1990s, Mi Cocina's parent company, M Crowd Restaurant Group, opened sibling restaurant Taco Diner, which served Mexico City-style tacos and Mambo Taxis in Dallas. It was known as a rare spot to eat sit-down tacos in Dallas. After most of its locations closed between 2019 and 2021, the last location shut its doors on January 13, 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Blaskovich |first1=Sarah |title=Why Texas' last Taco Diner closed |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2024/01/23/why-taco-diner-closed-dallas/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=Dallas Morning News |date=2024-01-23 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240123201410/https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2024/01/23/why-taco-diner-closed-dallas/ |archive-date=2024-01-23}}</ref>
==See also== * List of restaurants in Dallas * List of Tex-Mex restaurants
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Restaurants in Dallas Category:Tex-Mex cuisine Category:Tex-Mex restaurants Category:1991 establishments in Texas Category:Restaurant chains in the United States Category:Restaurants established in 1991