An inside look at Fort Worth restaurant’s family recipes that sparked Michelin recognition
Rogelio Cortez started with a $100 bill to buy some meat to make a few birria tacos.
Now, his four-year-old taco restaurant is recommended by the Texas Michelin Guide, a world-renowned guide that tells people where the best places to eat are.
Texas first gained a Michelin Guide honor in 2024 when 15 restaurants were awarded stars, though no Fort Worth restaurants were recognized. However, Cortez’s Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez and Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth were mentioned as restaurants Michelin recommended. Goldee’s BBQ was also recognized as a bib garamond, one of a selection of “restaurants that offer the best value for money,” according to Michelin.
Cortez and his family’s reaction to getting a Michelin recommendation carried out their American dream, they said.
“Never in a million years would we imagine that we (Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez) would have grown to this. It’s just something crazy, and God’s timing is perfect,” says Cortez, “But this, it’s just been a crazy ride. It’s unbelievable.”
How the Cortez family made their recipes into a best-seller
For Cortez, this business started out of necessity.
In 2019, he injured his spine while working for a commercial roofing company, which ended his career in construction. So, he started cooking his mother’s recipes for friends and family on Sundays after church. It got so popular that in 2020, Cortez’s dad, Rogelio Cortez Sr., went and bought a food truck.
The business hit the ground running.
“I made our Facebook page, and that same night I made it, we got about 10,000 followers overnight. What the heck?!” says Cortez. “We opened on a Sunday, Feb. 16, and man, there was a line of people already. And that day, people waited about eight hours to get served, and some didn’t even get any.”
Not even a year later, in 2021, their brick-and-mortar popped up down the street at 2108 E. Rosedale St. The food truck now operates as a drive-thru at 2220 East Rosedale St.
Cortez told his mother, Patricia Cortez, “You make the food, and I’ll sell it.” Their menu consists of authentic Mexican birria.
Michelin-worthy menu items at Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez
Birria is a style of cooking, not a kind of meat. It can be made with any meat but is often made from goat (how they cook in Mexico) or beef (how Cortez does it).
Cortez’s employees are up as early as 4:30 a.m. to prepare the beef, which takes eight hours to cook. Planning ahead is key in this cuisine since they also have to prepare, cut, and clean the meat that they get from a local vendor. They pride themselves on a fresh batch of birria daily and all other dishes offered that come out on an order-to-make basis.
“I tell everybody good food sells itself. It’s just good food and consistency,” says Cortez when asked about their menu.
Consistency is a key factor that plays into the Michelin Guide process. Anonymous inspectors visit restaurants multiple times before awarding recognition. Cortez says he wants to ensure customers will always enjoy the same exact flavors and recipes.
Their menu has the ever popular quesa-birria taco, but also specialty items like birria flautas and a birria pizza. A non-traditional twist that Cortez’s family was unsure about but obviously works was adding cheese to the menu items.
“It all started with the quesa-taco. Everybody would tell me, you’re crazy. Nobody’s gonna eat it with cheese,” says Cortez, smirking, “I put it on a Snapchat story one time while we were selling from home, and then it just went crazy.”
Their menu items range from $10 to $30 a person. Cortez made it a point to offer affordable options for the surrounding blue-collar community of Fort Worth.
More about Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez
Cortez has lived in Fort Worth for most of his life, attending James Middle School and then Fort Worth Polytechnic Senior High School. He shared full-circle moments in his career, where teachers have come into his restaurant to show support and even police officers who recognize him out and about.
The most rewarding part of these past four years for Cortez has been giving back to his hometown community.
“What really rewards me and keeps me going is the people that come to me and say they were in a really tough spot, and they came here, and our food really helped them out,” says Cortez. “That feeling beats any check.”
Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez is located on the east side of Fort Worth. It is open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Since opening in 2020, the business has been an instant success, but it is absolutely thriving now after the Texas Michelin Guide recognized it in November.
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 5:00 AM.