First Look: Dingo Ate My Taco’s New Abbotsford Restaurant Repairs Tex-Mex’s Reputation

For all the hype Hot Listed Taqueria Sin Nombre has garnered since opening last year, it was never the end goal. Before pivoting focus to the Chinatown taqueria, the Dingo Ate My Taco team had been working towards a bricks-and-mortar spot for its popular food truck, which will continue roaming. Dingo finally arrived – fittingly for a Tex-Mex restaurant – on July 4.

“We’ve been doing Dingo [Ate My Taco] for six years,” says Kady Simkins, who co-owns the business with Paul Walcutt and chef Isaac Castellano. “We went a bit sideways and did Taqueria Sin Nombre, but we’ve come back now and tried to give Dingo [Ate My Taco] a home.”

While Taqueria Sin Nombre is an ode to Mexico, the Abbotsford site – which Simkins sees as an extension of the food truck – returns to the brand’s Lone Star roots. Dingo Ate My Taco has “always been Tex-Mex,” she says. “Tex-Mex in Australia has this bad name. People say [Tex-Mex] dismissively as the word for bad Mexican food.” In reality, it’s a regional cuisine shaped by Mexican communities living in Texas, a former Mexican territory. While definitions vary, it’s often characterised by the intersection of Mexican cooking and Texan barbeque traditions.

At Dingo, that influence is clearly on display in the breakfast tacos – an occasional food truck special the team is excited to finally put front and centre. “If you had to have a state food in Texas, it would probably be a Mexican breakfast taco,” Simkins says. Signatures include brisket, egg and cheese on house-pressed flour tortillas, while a bean, spinach and bacon number comes on blue corn tortillas, also pressed in-house. Simkins’s personal favourite is the house-made chorizo with egg and Oaxacan cheese (a mild, stringy Mexican cheese). “We do two of those with a dirty horchata, and we call it the Hangover Special,” she says.

Breakfast is served alongside filter coffee from Proud Mary, with the option to add half-and-half (equal parts milk and cream), another American staple rarely found in Melbourne.

Lunch and dinner will also feel familiar to food truck regulars. The much-loved quesabirria has made its way onto the menu. And taco fillings span carnitas (shredded pork), huitlacoche (a corn fungus prized for its earthy, savoury depth) and fried avocado. They’re deliberately kept restrained, so diners can build flavour with a trio of house-made salsas.

Almost everything is made from scratch, with one notable exception: the queso. “We tried making fancier versions and it’s not the same,” she says. The ubiquitous American-style dip is made from processed cheese and butter, melted down into a smooth, dippable sauce.

The move into a permanent kitchen has also unlocked dishes the team simply couldn’t make within the constraints of the truck. The restaurant has the oven the truck longed for, meaning the team can serve more desserts. They’ll rotate between specials such as cortadillo – a Mexican sheet cake finished with pink icing and sprinkles – and a take on banana pudding featuring burnt corn husk and toasted peanut biscuits inspired by Nilla Wafers.

The drinks list leans heavily into mezcal, alongside Micheladas and 40s – the slang term for 40-ounce (1.18-litre) beers commonly drunk in the United States. A handful of taps remain from the site’s previous tenant, Range Brewing, which the Dingo team is using for beer, white wine and a Paloma.

Designed by Curve Build (Sporting Club Hotel, High Note), the fit-out, inspired by the bohemian desert town of Marfa in west Texas, draws on the simplicity of American diners. Booths retained from Range Brewing sit alongside bar stools, standing benches and an open kitchen that puts the entire operation on display. “We want people to see everything that’s happening in the kitchen.”

Dingo
272 Johnston Street, Abbotsford

Hours:
Wed & Thu 8am–10pm
Fri & Sat 8am–11pm
Sun 8am–10pm

Only open Fri to Sun until Wednesday July 22

@dingoatemytaco
dingoatemytaco.com