Restaurant review: Paco & John Mexican Diner provides refreshing take on fish tacos

by Colette Copeland of Colette's Dallas Mexican Food Reviews

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Ditch the tilapia and catfish for Paco & John's red snapper.

FORT WORTH — It's becoming more and more difficult to find a non-chain Mexican restaurant. Even the family-owned restaurants open multiple locations. As a friend reminded me, there's a reason for that. Usually it is because the restaurant has a good business model (good food, service, atmosphere, etc). My friend who introduced me to the Revolver Taco Lounge suggested Paco & John Mexican Diner. A casual breakfast and lunch place started by two friends, the menu offered some different options like roasted chicken torta and red snapper tacos.

The special soup of the day was carrot and anise. That sounded too interesting to pass up. It was the most brilliant buttercup yellow. No way plain 'ol orange carrots made that color. I didn't taste anise as in the fennel bulb, licorice-flavor. The taste was much more subtle. I asked the server who revealed that the hidden secret was STAR ANISE. Star fruit. What an unusual and delightful combination.

I then ordered one veggie taco and one snapper taco. The corn tortillas were fresh and didn't fall apart like the store-bought brands. I'm usually disappointed with veggie tacos, which sometimes feature the fajita left-overs (onions, peppers and an anemic looking squash parts). These veggie tacos included the requisite zucc & squash of the non-anemic variety, corn, mushrooms and spinach. Light on seasoning--heavy on freshness. Spicy green tomatillo sauce and guacamole added the perfect finish. The snapper was light, delicate, fresh and flaky. Snapper can be tricky. If it's old or overcooked, it's tasteless. I'm tired of tilapia tacos and refuse to eat catfish (which eat toxic river sludge), so yea! to snapper. Hope it doesn't make its way into the overfished category anytime soon.

Friendly service and reasonable prices.

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