Los Torres Taqueria, Home to One of Our Top Tacos in Dallas, Has Closed

I’d never eaten or even heard of a “drowned taco” before. But I trusted José Ralat, the author of the Taco Trail blog, when he showered superlatives on the “taco ahogado” at Los Torres Taqueria in Dallas’s Oak Cliff neighborhood.

I took him at his word, but this fall we stopped by the little cafe one Saturday morning so I could try his favorite taco in the whole city. It was simple and delicious, the tender flour tortilla filled with deftly seasoned goat meat and submerged in a rich broth. Miraculously, the liquid did not dissolve the tortilla. (If you’re still having trouble with the concept, just think of a “smothered” taco rather than a “drowned” one. Or think French dip.)

We named the taco ahogado one of the best in Dallas—also one of the ten best tacos in Texas—in our December cover story. José, my chief collaborator on the story, texted me soon after our list published that the joint was jumping. But on Friday I heard from him again. The publicity was for naught. Beset by lease problems, Los Torres Taqueria closed last week. José wrote a moving eulogy for it on Friday.