El Rey del Mariscos — Restaurant in Dallas

If you are looking for a good hole in the wall Mexican food restaurant, look no further. The parking lot is a mess, you pretty much just guess where the parking spots are. The view out the barred windows is nothing too grand. The noticias playing on the TVs and the jukebox playing traditional Mexican music are nice touches for atmosphere. Each time I have gone there has been someone that speaks pretty good English but overall expect most servers to speak broken English. The menu is mostly in Spanish but even if you don't speak Spanish you should be able to figure it out.

One of the things I like about this spot is it's expansive menu which is good whether you are on the go or looking for a sit down dinner. The first time I came here I picked up the taco plate to go. That's 3 tacos with rice and beans for $6. You could also pick up a torta for $5. I ended up getting 1 asada taco, 1 lengua taco and 1 adobada taco. The carne asada taco was fine, the lengua taco was quite good, and the adobada taco was a step above most street tacos (comparable but better than al pastor tacos I've eaten at various taco shops). I got mine on flour but you can get corn as well. The rice and beans are very average. They aren't terrible but they aren't great either.

When I came that first time I noticed a lot of seemingly fancy dishes for a hole in the wall. I don't eat seafood but this place looks like a seafood lovers dream. Lots of good looking seafood dishes and some good looking micheladas. I also saw a server take a large raised grill to a table. It was some sizzling fajitas for 2 and it looked great.

So next time i came back and ordered the fajitas (for 1 person) ($10.50). They came out quite quickly and were sizzling. The tortillas were fresh and home made.. You get 4 smallish tortillas and I think that was perfect. The fajitas were quite good with yummy peppers and onions on the grill. The guacamole looked fairly mediocre but didn't taste bad. The lettuce was just iceberg lettuce but what would you expect at a hole in the wall? It also came with cilantro and lime plus rice and beans.

The chips are home made...they could use salt. The salsa is pretty good and is somewhat on the mild side.

If I were just judging this place based on tacos and rice and beans I'd probably give it a 3 out of 5. However, I really feel this place is a step above most hole in the walls. If you like Mexican food or seafood then I'd definitely check...

It was 5 stars for me I placed my order for pickup. I didn't realize how small this place was the parking lot is gravel so be careful with the pot holes. When I went inside the young lady at the cash registered looked really overwhelmed. I waited patiently told her I was picking up she told me to give her a few more minutes. Came back spoke to me I added a drink, before I gave her my card to pay she changed out her gloves and then again when she handed me my food. This had to be the cleanest hole in the wall I've ever been too. They should really give her some help it was a Friday afternoon and lets just say she was working extremely hard. Neatless to say my taco plate was delicious the food was well prepared I asked for well done, the rice and beans tasted home made no garlic flavor, and I plan on going back...

Went for an early Monday dinner. The parking lot was empty so we thought it was closed... the place was indeed open, but we were its only customers.

The place smelled a bit like pinesol and restroom...The food was OK...I had the small shrimp cocktail. While it was tasty, it came as is w/out a plate...so maneuvering it to not spill was tricky. The chips were a little stale, but the salsa was tasty...and spicy! The hibiscus water was a little heavy on the sugar for my taste, but perfect for my dinner mates. Overall, it was OK...I am curious about its...