Fuel City: Awesome Gas Station Tacos!

My job requires lots of travel.  I'm not talking about overnight or week-long trips to exotic locales.  I just cover  lots of miles travelling to remote locations around North Texas to gather water samples from lakes and tributaries to be taken to laboratories for analysis.  That much driving---sometimes over two-hundred miles in one workday---can take lots of time, and on days that require extra long distances it can be good to have a colleague along to help out.

Last Tuesday was just such a day.  

My friend and co-worker Matt came along for a trip around Lake Ray Roberts and after putting hard miles beneath us for the better part of the day, we needed a break for a late lunch.  We dropped off our first batch of samples at a lab and were heading to a second lab with the rest of our samples---travelling through downtown Dallas---when the idea struck that the best way to satisfy our hunger was with the best tacos in Dallas: Fuel City Tacos!

Located just south of downtown Dallas on 801 S. Riverfront Boulevard, Fuel City has---in a little more than ten years of existence---gained a well-earned reputation for tasty tacos.  In fact, they've received mentions for having the best tacos in prestigious and influential publications such as Texas Monthly, D Magazine, and the Dallas Observer.  And really, it's not hard to understand why.  Their tacos are good!

Fuel City is, first and foremost, a gas station, but look to the north side of the building and you'll find a window through which you order tacos.  The taco window menu lists the name of the place as Super Tacaso, but I don't know anybody who'd refer to it by that name.  Everybody calls it Fuel City Tacos.

 

When Matt and I stopped by on Tuesday afternoon, the window was busy as usual.  After a short wait, I placed my order for two chicken fajita and two pastor (spicy pork) tacos with diced onions and cilantro.  Matt ordered two tacos: a chicken fajita and a beef fajita.

 

Back in the truck, before chowing-down, I sprinkled my tacos with the juice from the lime wedges that come on the side.  Red and green hot sauce are also provided,  and I put the green on my chicken fajita tacos and the red on the pastor tacos.  After that, it was only a matter of seconds before my mouth was alive with flavor.

A few napkins were included with my order, and I mostly used them to wipe the sweat from my face caused by the spicy heat of the tacos.  The heat wasn't uncomfortable in my mouth, but rather a firm presence of spice.  I'm not a fan of heat that takes away from the flavor of the taco.  I really see no need for pushing the limits of what my taste-buds can take.  I like a good balance of heat and flavor and a sweaty face is a good indicator that I'm enjoying what I'm eating.

A few years ago, before a Motorhead concert at the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas, my friends and I ate our pre-show tacos at Fuel City.  Back then, the dining-in options were simple: we could eat in our car or outside of our car.   Since then, the success of Fuel City has given them the resources to build an outdoor patio.  They've also expanded the parking lot, beside which there are a few picnic tables.  If you eat at the picnic tables by the parking lot, you'll be sure to notice a very unlikely site: there are genuine longhorn cattle occupying the land between Fuel City and the river levee!

Fuel City tacos really are the best I've had and there is no telling, unregulated by time and money, how many of them I could eat in one sitting.  If you're ever anywhere near downtown Dallas and have a taste for tacos, you'd be hard pressed to do better than Fuel City.  After a long day of driving, Matt and I certainly left with no complaints.

Fuel City Tacos is a cool place to eat.  I recommend you give it a try!