This tiny cafe near Dallas Cowboys games serves unlimited enchiladas. Or try breakfast
When times get tough, it’s time for Bigotes.
The tiny, traditional Tex-Mex restaurant 1 mile south of Dallas Cowboys games and AT&T Stadium has been bargain-hunters’ favorite stop for 36 years.
Bigotes, 1821 E. Abram St. in east Arlington, serves all the simple cheese enchiladas and crispy tacos you can eat, and for an unbelievable price: less than $14 at lunch daily and at dinner Fridays and Saturdays.
It’s also one of central Arlington’s favorite stops for old-school Tex-Mex breakfast, similar to Paula’s on West Arkansas Lane.
One recent morning, the chilaquiles verdes with eggs were spicy, and Bigotes was packed for the Zavala family’s menudo and Laredo-style breakfast tacos.
Music played as the lights twinkled on a small Christmas tree set up in a corner booth, in front of the TV tuned at that moment to Houston pastor Joel Osteen’s sermon.
Families gathered around the big tables covered year-round with Christmas tablecloths.
Some were dining on carne guisada tacos, others on huevos rancheros with spicy sauce, most with aguas frescas or tall Coca-Colas imported from Mexico.
The flour tacos are called “mariachis” here, a Laredo term that refers to either to (1) the spicy flavor that makes customers shout like mariachis, or (2) the dish’s popularity with musicians dining in the wee hours.
The chilaquiles con huevos ($11 with home fries and beans) come in red or green, but the spicy green sauce is the more popular.
Bigotes opens at 8 a.m. daily to serve a choice of 12 breakfasts, then makes an early changeover to the enchiladas-and-tacos lunches.
Yes, there are other dishes, including fajitas, chiles rellenos, grilled fish or tacos al pastor.
As an online review at TripAdvisor.com warns, “This place is not for Dallas-type people.”
Bigotes’ phone is 817-274-1350; bigotesarlington.com.
If you need breakfast earlier or want a sweet dessert, Marquez Bakery is a few blocks away at 1730 E. Division St.; 817-265-8858, marquezbakery.com.
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
