Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Allen.
ALLEN, Texas — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
A Mexican-inspired barbecue eatery has garnered the attention of foodies and the backing of an influential restaurant group.
Vaqueros Texas Bar-B-Q opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Allen on Jan. 31, after upgrading from a food trailer in Grapevine. Owner Arnulfo Sanchez had been operating the food truck since 2019 at Hop & Sting Brewing Co. before shutting the trailer down in December, according to Community Impact.
The standalone location has already attracted rave reviews, including the Dallas Morning News calling it the “hottest barbecue joint” in North Texas.
The Allen restaurant was first announced in 2023, as Vaqueros partnered with M Crowd Restaurant Group, the parent company of Tex-Mex chain Mi Cocina. In addition to 24 locations of Mi Cocina, M Crowd owns The Mercury, an upscale American restaurant in North Dallas.
“I’ve never had support like this,” Sanchez told the Morning News, speaking of his partnership with M Crowd. With the management company handling the behind-the-scenes upkeep and maintenance, Sanchez is able to return his focus back to his passion: creating in the kitchen.
M Crowd will co-own the Vaqueros location alongside Sanchez, who is a partner and pitmaster at the location.
“Giving people the opportunity to grow their careers, expand their leadership opportunities and do something different than what they wanted to do is the most exciting thing,” M Crowd CEO Edgar Guevara said on a 2023 episode of Dallas Business Journal’s Texas Business Minds podcast. “The only way I know how to do that is we got to keep growing, right?”
Vaquero has gained a strong following in relatively short order and in 2023 made The New York Times’ list of “20 best Texas barbecue restaurants for the new generation.” The restaurant offers the expected barbecue fare such as brisket, ribs and sausage, but also ventures into tacos and burgers. And despite its emphasis on barbecue, it offers vegetarian dishes as well.
Like Mi Cocina, Vaquero is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, a relative rarity among barbecue spots. Its location in Allen’s Watters Creek Villages puts it in a thriving mixed-use spot alongside other restaurants such as Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, Village Burger Bar and Frog Coffee Bar & Crêperie.
