Photography by Kathy Tran
MARIO MOYA SR. IS THE DESIGNATED CHEF OF THE FAMILY. Mario Bros Tacos is a family-owned business in Town Creek Shopping Center, between Dallas Ballet Center and MD Kids Pediatrics on Abrams Road. The restaurant has been in Lake Highlands for the past seven years, but the cooking has gone on longer.
Moya Sr. and his wife, Nancy, immigrated to Dallas from Allende, Nuevo Leon — about 30 miles from Monterrey, Mexico — in 1995. Twenty years later, he and his son, Mario Moya Jr., opened their first brick-and-mortar restaurant on Northwest Highway. Moya Jr. handles the behind the scenes operations of the restaurant, like social media, marketing and logistics, and considers himself a “rookie” in the kitchen.
Before they were selling out of trompo tacos and tacos al carbon at their restaurants, Moya Sr. and Nancy sold food from out of their apartment when they were 24 and 23 years old.
“We make a great team. I took several jobs in restaurants where I gained more experience,” Moya Sr. says. “My wife and I also sold hamburgers and tacos al vapor from our apartment on the weekends. We would sell out every weekend. We had the line out the door and around the building.”
Fast forward to this year, and the family still has its loyal customers in Lake Highlands from their first location. It’s food and conversation that keeps customers coming back. The restaurant is famous beyond our neighborhood for its trompo tacos, tacos al carbon and Mexican hamburgers. Tacos al vapor, another dish, are steamed like tamales. An order includes four shredded pork and one refried-beans tacos on single corn tortillas, served with menudo or pozole — and only available on weekends.
Trompo is seasoned pork shaved from a rotisserie rod onto tacos and other menu items. They go through 1,000 pounds each week. Sometimes, he’s even called the “Trompo King.”
“You can have trompo on tacos, on quesadillas, on burritos, on tortas, on hamburgers, on stuffed baked potatoes,” Moya Jr. says. “Coming in close second is our Mexican hamburgers. Our most popular burger is the hamburguesa especial, which is a double-meat, half-pound burger with ham and trompo.”
It had been the senior Mario’s dream to open a restaurant someday, but he didn’t know how or where to begin. He took up work in construction, truck driving and other jobs years before heading down the road of starting a restaurant. Back then, weekends were for family, friends and watching sports. Moya Sr. was the “designated grill man” and would cook for everyone. This was also around the same time the Moyas sold tacos and hamburgers outside their apartment.
“My friends and family would always tell me that my food was really good and that I should open up a restaurant because it would be very successful.” Moya Sr. says. “We moved to a suburb outside of Dallas in 2000. My neighbors — and later on when my son (Mario) was a teenager and had his friends over for the cookouts — they also would urge me to open up a restaurant because the rest of the world was missing out on my cooking.”
It was Moya Jr. who, after graduating college in 2013, urged his father to take the leap into finally starting his own restaurant. The next summer, he spurred his dad once again, but the cash investment and financially supporting his family made him hesitant.
So, Moya Jr. had two food carts shipped to them and posted ads on Facebook.
The first step on their path to restaurant ownership: catering.
“I convinced him that we would start off by just catering. The catering business blew up and we were booked with multiple events throughout the week, especially on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Moya Jr. says. “After working a year at my corporate job, and with the money I saved up, I finally convinced my father to leave his job and for him and I to go 110% into his American Dream.”
A year later, in April 2015, the original yellow, red and blue Mario Bros Tacos building opened.
Either of the Marios, Nancy and Moya Jr.’s siblings can be found behind the counter. The Moyas want to remain family-owned and credit the Lake Highlands community to their continued success.
Their motto is “Peace. Love. Mario Bros Tacos,” which they demonstrate through charitable acts and service. They sponsor events for local schools and churches and gave food where needed during the big freeze last February.
“All of our menu items take time and love to prepare,” Moya Sr. says. “People taste this love when they have our food. We prepare and serve each order like we were preparing it for a family member at our dinner table.”
Mario Bros Tacos, 8420 Abrams Road, 469.450.0360, themariobrostacos.com
