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On a wooden tabletop sit multiple Tex Mex dishes, including cocktails, a seafood cocktail, tortilla chips, and napkins.
The Tex Mex spread at Escondido Tex-Mex Patio.
Kathy Tran

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The Biggest Patio in Preston Hollow Will Open Next Week

Hit up Escondido Tex-Mex Patio on November 14 and eat a Tex-Mex pizza that puts Taco Bell to shame

by Courtney E. Smith
Courtney E. Smith is the editor of Eater Dallas. She's a journalist of 20 years who was born and raised in Texas, with bylines in Pitchfork, Wired, Esquire, Yahoo!, Salon, Refinery29, and more. When she's not writing about food, she co-hosts the podcast Songs My Ex Ruined.

Tex Mex is making a big, splashy return to Preston Royal. Escondido Tex-Mex Patio will open with the largest patio in all of Preston Hollow on Monday, November 14. The menu will have 12 types of margaritas and Tex Mex staples you’d expect: nachos, tacos, enchiladas, and fajitas. The tortillas will be both corn and flour, and delivered and made fresh daily by local tortilleria La Norteña.

The restaurant promises “always warm” tortilla chips, alongside guacamole, queso with brisket, or a trio of the two plus a cilantro ranch dip. There’s also a Tex-Mex pizza on the menu, pictured below, made with ground beef, flour tortillas, a three cheese blend, ranchero sauce, and lime crema. No need to stoop to Taco Bell and its inconsistently offered Mexican Pizza again — the whole dish gets an upgrade here.

On a table sits a dish with a shrimp cocktail in it, with a dish below holding tortilla chips. Other appetizers surround it. In the background is a yellow leather booth.
A Mexican shrimp cocktail is on the appetizer menu, made with poached shrimp in a citrus cocktail sauce and served with avocado and chips.
Kathy Tran
A ground beef taco plate with refried beans, Mexican rice, and a dipping sauce.
A taco plate is always a staple of good Tex Mex.
Kathy Tran
A dozen nachos are placed on a green plate, with pico on top and sour cream, guacamole, and pickled jalapenos in the middle.
The true test of good Tex Mex is the nacho plate.
Kathy Tran
A green plate holds a Mexican Pizza, made with pico and crema.
The Tex-Mex pizza here leaves Taco Bell in the dust.
Kathy Tran

The ancho butter fajitas are front and center on the menu, with chicken, steak, shrimp, a chicken and steak combo, and portobello mushrooms. Made with the same ancho chilis that make Texas chili so flavorful.

In addition to the margarita selection, its cocktail menu has ranch water, a paloma, a mezcal mule, a Hibiscus Vodka Spritz, and a Carajillo Martini (a take on the espresso martini). Escondido Tex-Mex Patio will have a happy hour on Sunday through Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m., when house margs, draft beer, and select wines are $6.

With seating inside for 75 and a patio big enough to hold another 75, getting a reservation shouldn’t be too difficult. The space was previously occupied by Ruggeri’s Italiano Pescatore, which Jon Alexis (the man behind TJ’s Seafood) also owned, until it was closed due to damage after the 2019 tornado.

Service starts with dinner, with brunch and lunch coming soon.

The restaurant was designed by Duncan & Miller, which also designed Tulum, Muchacho, and Dahlia, according to Paper City. The firm are known for their clean, modern style and that’s on full display here, along with touches of Mexican art, plants, and design.

A Tex Mex restaurant features booth seating with taupe and blue green, with reddish wood and numerous succulents and cacti as decor.
Succulents rule inside Escondido Tex-Mex Patio.
Kathy Tran
Lavender and navy blue seating at Escondido Tex-Mex Patio sit under colorful Mexican art.
A peek inside Escondido Tex-Mex Patio’s decor.
Kathy Tran
An outdoor bar with wicker barstools is decorated with blonde wood, Spanish tiles, and black iron.
The indoor/outdoor bar gives it that resort vibe.
Kathy Tran

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